This week of January 8th, 2007, thousands of people will act together to demand an end to torture and indefinite, illegal and immoral detention of men and boys at Guantanamo. In concerted actions from Australia and Amsterdam to South Bend, Amherst, Boise and Wichita, and in more than 40 other cities around the world, citizens heed the call for an International Day of Action to Shut Down Guantanamo.

In South Bend, members of the Michiana Peace and Justice Coalition will highlight the issue at their weekly vigils on Monday 5-6 p.m. at the corner of Jefferson and Main, South Bend, and Saturday 1-2 p.m. at the corner of Grape and Cleveland, Mishawaka, and also at a demonstartion from 5-6pm on Thursday, January 11, on the greenspace in front of Morris Civic. This demonstration will also respond to President Bush's January 10th speech escalating the Iraq war.

Five years after the first hooded, shackled men were brought to the U.S. prison at Guantánamo, not a single prisoner has been charged, tried or convicted of any crime. Many have been released because no evidence has been found against them. Five years later more than 400 men remain in indefinite detention without hope of release. Five years later, thousands will stand up on behalf of the victims of the war on terrorism and on behalf of law and justice.

In Washington, DC, there will be a press conference at the Supreme Court, followed by a procession of 400 hooded people wearing orange jumpsuits to represent all of those imprisoned. Once the march arrives at the U.S. Federal Court, some participants will bring the names, stories of the prisoners at Guantánamo, as well as Habeas petitions on their behalf into the criminal justice system.

With these actions throughout the world, people of conscience and justice call on the United States government to:

* Repeal the Military Commissions Act and restore Habeas Corpus.
* Charge and try or release all detainees.
* Withhold funds for the proposed $125 million construction of new military courts at Guantánamo.
* Clearly and unequivocally forbid torture and all other forms of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, by the military, the CIA, prison guards, civilian contractors, or anyone else.
* Pay reparations to current and former detainees and their families for violations of their human rights.
* Shut down Guantánamo, Abu Ghraib, Bagram and all other U.S. prisons overseas, including secret CIA detention facilities.

For more information on the International Day of Action, visit www.witnesstorture.org, email jan11@witnesstorture.org or call 347-683-4928.