By ANITA SNOW
The Associated Press
Thursday, January 11, 2007; 5:08 PM
GUANTANAMO, Cuba -- Cindy Sheehan marched with the mothers of a Guantanamo prisoner, a New York firefighter killed on 9/11 and other peace activists Thursday to demand the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay be closed five years after the first terror suspects arrived.
The protest in Cuba came as demonstrators in Washington and London, as well as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, called for the prison's closure.
"What I've read happens in this prison makes me sick to my stomach," the 49-year-old Sheehan said outside the post where Cuban officials stopped the dozen protesters from entering the Cuban military territory to reach the U.S. base's main gate.
"I'm calling for the cycle of violence to stop now, to close this prison," she said, wearing a peace sign medallion around her neck.
Sheehan, who became a war protester after her 24-year-old son Casey died in Iraq in April 2004, joined the other women in fastening bouquets of yellow and pink wildflowers to the barbed-wire fence, as well as a bright pink cloth reading, "Women say NO to torture."
The protesters had hoped to march down the lonely asphalt road past the Cuban mine fields dotted with scrub brush and cactus, but Cuban Lt. Col. Edilberto Rivera said all civilians were prohibited from the zone.
Zohra Zewawi, the mother of British detainee Omar Deghayes, traveled from the United Arab Emirates with another son, Taher Deghayes, to join the protest. She said her son had been tortured and blinded in one eye after he was imprisoned in September 2002 and still has not been charged.
Adele Welty, whose firefighter son Timothy was killed in the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attack, called on Americans to contact Congress to demand the closure of the prison and fair trials for the detainees.
The protesters also included Asif Iqbal, a British Muslim who spent 2 1/2 years at the prison. He expressed support for those still inside.
"Every day, every minute, they are in our thoughts," the 25-year-old said.
Rick Mines, a 63-year-old agriculture economist from Rail Road Flat, Calif., made his own dramatic statement, appearing in an orange jumpsuit, black hood, goggles and headphones similar to what the terror suspects wore when they first arrived five years ago.
The U.S. military is holding about 395 men on suspicion of links to al-Qaida or the Taliban, including about 85 who have been cleared to be released or transferred to other countries. The military says it wants to charge 60 to 80 detainees and bring them to trial.
Critics say the camp, where most of the prisoners face indefinite incarceration, is an affront to democratic values. Allegations of abuse have fueled worldwide outrage.
The military says the detention center is vital to the fight against terrorism and that instances of abuse have been investigated and the perpetrators disciplined. The detention camp commander, Adm. Harry B. Harris, says aggressive interrogation tactics are no longer used.
Army Col. Lora Tucker, a spokeswoman for the detention center, said the military had no plans to acknowledge the protest Thursday or increase security at the outside gates.
"Nothing changes for us based on a demonstration being held somewhere in Cuba," she said, adding that Thursday was "a normal work day" at the base.
At the United Nations, the new secretary-general echoed an appeal by his predecessor, Kofi Annan, who urged the Bush administration to shut down the prison.
"Like my predecessor, I believe that prison at Guantanamo should be closed," Ban told his first news conference since taking the reins of the U.N. on Jan. 1.
In Washington, about 100 protesters were arrested inside a federal courthouse after a brief demonstration demanding the prison's shutdown. Earlier, outside the Supreme Court building, several hundred demonstrators and dozens of rights activists wearing orange prison jump suits and black hoods also called for the closure of Guantanamo.
Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, told the crowd the Bush administration has engaged in an "unprecedented overreaching of executive authority."
About 100 people protested outside the U.S. Embassy in London, wearing orange inmate outfits. Three "guards" wearing green camouflage shouted orders for them to stand up or kneel down. Similar demonstrations took place in Greece, Hungary and Italy.
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Associated Press writers Michael Melia in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thomas Wagner in London and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.