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Friday, January 12, 2007

Iraq war foe Sheehan visits Cuba

Posted on Wed, Jan. 10, 2007

Iraq war foe Sheehan visits Cuba
FAIR TREATMENT SOUGHT AT GUANTÁNAMO PRISON
By Gary Marx
Chicago Tribune

HAVANA - Calling members of the Bush administration the ``enemies of
humanity,'' Iraq war protester Cindy Sheehan demanded Tuesday the
closing of the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay and fair treatment
for all detainees in America's war on terrorism.

Sheehan, the Californian who became a controversial symbol of the U.S.
anti-war movement after her son was killed in Iraq, said her weeklong
trip to Cuba is designed to highlight the ``barbaric activities at
Guantánamo'' and prod the U.S. Congress to challenge the Bush
administration's detention without trial of hundreds of prisoners.

``George Bush and his administration are enemies of humanity,'' Sheehan,
of Berkeley, told reporters in Havana. ``The images coming from
Guantánamo have been horrific. The news from there has been unspeakable.''

Sheehan's photograph topped the front page of Tuesday's Granma, the
official daily newspaper of the Cuban Communist Party.

Miriam Leiva, a prominent Cuban human-rights activist, said in an
interview that she welcomed Sheehan's trip but wished she could speak to
her about the 280 opposition figures held in Cuban prisons.

Human-rights officials say Cuba's political prisoners are housed in
violent facilities with poor hygiene, inadequate health care and
insufficient food. Cuban authorities have refused to grant international
human-rights groups access to the country's prisons.

Sheehan, 49, who first gained attention when she camped out near Bush's
ranch in Texas, arrived in Havana last weekend as part of a 12-member
delegation that includes a former U.S. Army colonel, a constitutional
law expert, the mother and brother of a prisoner held at Guantánamo and
a former detainee.

The group is scheduled to travel to the city of Guantánamo today, where
they will participate in a conference focusing on conditions at the
military base. Thursday, the group will march to a Cuban military base
near the U.S. facility to mark the fifth anniversary of the arrival of
the first prisoners at the remote site.

The U.S. military holds about 395 men on suspicion of links to Al-Qaida
or the Taliban at Guantánamo, which has been the subject of heated
debate for alleged human-rights violations of prisoners.

One delegation member is Taher Deghayes, a Dubai resident whose brother,
Omar, was arrested 4 1/2 years ago in Pakistan and sent to Guantánamo.
Deghayes said Omar has no links to Al-Qaida or the Taliban and demanded
his release.

``Omar is kind, articulate and intelligent,'' Deghayes said. ``He
frequently spoke out against terrorism in the name of Islam because
Islam signifies peace.''

Delegation members also visited the Latin American Medical School in
Havana, where students from across the region study for free, and met
representatives of Cuban government organizations.

``The ill treatment of prisoners in Guantánamo is really appalling,''
said José Miguel Vivanco, executive director of the Americas Division of
Human Rights Watch. ``But the political prisoners in Cuba are subjected
to all sorts of abuses, including psychological torture.''

Sheehan called for the fair treatment of all prisoners worldwide,
including Cuban opposition activists, and said her trip was not an
endorsement of the Cuban government.

``This is where Guantánamo is, and this is where we have to be,'' she said.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/16425184.htm?source=rss

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