Tackle the Shackles, Close Guantanamo
IMCista | 11.01.2007 23:12 | Anti-militarism | Repression | Birmingham
Some 70-80 people gathered today in Perry Barr, Birmingham, in front of Hiatt, a UK company that makes shackles and other torture equipment, to 'celebrate' the 5th anniversary of the notorious US-run prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where 10 British residents and 400 other prisoners are held illegally. The protest was part of a UK-wide day of action and was called by Reprieve (a UK charity that legally represents the British residents held in Guantanamo), Birmingham Guantanamo Campaign, Save Omar Campaign and Amnesty International. Hiatt manufacture the shackles used by the US military in Guantánamo Bay over the last 5 years. The company has never missed a business opportunity in over 200 years, from supplying "nigger collars" to the slave trade to shackles used during torture by various unsavoury regimes (see press release).
warming up
banner and truck
this is no costume party
cops..
.. and an 'evidence gatherer' trying to profile protesters
marching down Baltimore Road
the front of the march
Dr David Nichols talking about Guantanamo and presenting speakers
Abu Bakr Deghayes talking about his brother, Omar, in Guantanamo
Sandy Mitchell talking about his torture in Saudi prison
a phone call from Omar's brother on 'the other side of the fence' in Cuba
Seize The Day singing "Shackle-Shuffle"
and people in orange jump suits doing the "shackle-shuffle"
and more
presenting the cake
the cake
shackled..
.. and humiliated
delivering the cake to Hiatt..
.. but they wouldn't open up
IMCista
Additions
Sandy Mitchell tortured using Hiatt's shackles
11.01.2007 23:57
Sandy Mitchel handcuffed to Hiatt's fence
close-up
and posting his handcuffs back to Hiatt
Sandy spoke of how he was shackled above the door of his cell by his wrist using Hiatt's shackles. He was held there for between 10-12 hours a day for 8 days. He tried to stand on tiptoe to relieve the pressure on his wrist, but whenever he drifted off to sleep the prison guards would beat him with wooden axe handles to keep him awake. His body from the waist down was literally black and blue from these beatings. Just before leaving Hiatt, he put some closure on his horrific experiences by giving back his Hiatt's shackles to their manufacturers through the letter box.
IMCista
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