World Cup: Guantanamo Detainees v Prison Guards

Sounds like a great idea to raise awareness of what is happening.


Guantanamo Bay Protest Game To Kick-off

http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=14744

23/06/2006

A MOCK football match between "Guantanamo Bay detainees" and "prison guards" will kick-off at the Al Fateh Corniche, Manama, tomorrow.

Players on the detainees' team will have to play with their hands tied behind their backs and their goalkeeper will be blindfolded to symbolise the fact that detainees are not able to compete on a level playing field.

The players on the "US military" team will be free to commit fouls on their opponents with disregard for the referee, who in this case will represent the United Nations (UN).

The game is being organised by Amnesty International (AI) Bahrain to highlight the "continuing miscarriage of justice" at Guantanamo Bay.

It is being called "The Great Game of Injustice: Guantanamo Bay" and kicks off at 5.30pm.

The mock play-off between the "US government and military" and "Guantanamo Bay detainees" is being held as part of the AI Bahrain campaign against the continued detention of more than 450 prisoners without access to free and fair trials at the US military base in Cuba.

The event also marks the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, which falls on June 26, AI Bahrain co-ordinator Nasser Burdestani said.

"Because of World Cup fever these days, we decided to use a football game to highlight the continuing miscarriage of justice at Guantanamo Bay," he said.

"Ev-erybody worldwide will be focusing from now until July 9 on the latest statistics of the World Cup matches: shots on goals, penalty kicks, ball possession, fouls committed, yellow and red cards.

"Meanwhile, a different kind of statistic will continue to go unnoticed in Guantanamo Bay - where there are no red cards handed out because the referee is not watching the game.

"By showing what these games of football would look like if the rules and the human beings involved were treated the way they are at Guantanamo Bay, we hope to highlight this injustice."

Former prisoners of Guantanamo Bay have described appalling prison conditions and torture inflicted by prison officials including physical abuse, sexual humiliation, force-feeding and psychological mistreatment, Mr Burdestani said.

"This has been repeated by FBI and prison staff," he said.

None of the prisoners, some of whom have been held at the prison camp for more than four years, has been given access to trials based on international standards of fairness, he added.

"We must take our responsibilities and stop being complicit with this human rights scandal through apathy and silence," he said.

The event is open to spectators.

For more information, contact Nasser Burdestani on 39423421. SOURCE: Gulf Daily News