Guantanamo on the Hudson
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 09/02/2004 - 11:04
(Originally published at Greater Democracy)
The other day Jock asked if it was excessive to talk about Baghdad on the Hudson, “a city occupied by a power elite who treat the residents as second class citizens with fungible civil rights. The way the occupiers have redefined NYC, it now has its own very own "Green Zone" -- just like Bagdad. A bubble of fantasy and dogma dictated "reality".”
This morning, I received an email from a person who was detained yesterday. I’ve posted it here.
Theoria over at DailyKOS writes about his friend Jeff being detained when he was photographing the demonstration at the public library. You can hear my audioblog about this here and a few pictures here
SteveW also at DailyKOS writes about his experience http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/9/1/234944/4308 >here.
Many people are referring to it as “Guantanamo on the Hudson”. Others are complaining that this is a bit of an overstatement.
The NYCLU has issued this statement: “The NYCLU is concerned that individuals arrested during RNC protests are being held in unsafe conditions at the Pier 57 holding facility”
“Paul Brown, a senior police official, insisted that no protester had waited more than 12 hours before being released. Officers had been "restrained and professional throughout," he said.
However, the according to an AP story in The Globe and Mail, the courts don’t agree. “New York — A Manhattan judge ordered city officials Thursday to process and release 560 anti-GOP protesters within hours after hearing that the detainees had all spent at least 36 hours in custody since their arrests.”
Indy Media from New York reports, “The court just reconvened to check the City's compliance with the writ. As of 2:40, ony 27 of the 117 people who were supposed to be released by 1:30 have been released. The judge ordered that those not in court or the feeder pen must be released immedately. For the 3rd time in 24 hours the city is directly disobeying a court order. “
They also request that you contact city officials here.
