Inside the Belly of the Beltway Beast

By James Carroll THE BOSTON GLOBE May 26, 2008 TOMORROW a number of the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay will finally get their day in court - although, alas, not literally. Thirty-five Americans who were arrested at the US Supreme Court last January during a demonstration protesting the illegal detention center will go on trial in Washington. They are charged with "causing a harangue." Instead of entering their own names, each defendant will enter the name of a prisoner held at Guantanamo. Father Bill Pickard, a Catholic priest from Pennsylvania, will identify himself as Faruq Ali Ahmed. "He cannot do it himself," Pickard says, "so I am called by my faith, my respect for the rule of law, and my conscience to do it for him." The protesters acted on Jan. 11, the sixth anniversary of the establishment of the US detention center at Guantanamo. They were demanding the restoration of habeas corpus - the right of the prisoners to have their day in court. Wearing...

WASHINGTON -- California peace activist Toby Blome will be arraigned in DC Superior Court Friday after she interrupted General David Petraeus during a Senate confirmation hearing. Petraeus was confirmed to be the new leader of Central Command. Blome stood and challenged the general to immediately end the illegal and immoral war and occupation of Iraq. Blome was a co-defendant in the Rumsfeld 4 trial in the fall of 2006. That jury trial stemmed from a protest in former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's front yard, and ended in a hung jury. The government decided not to retry the peaceful protesters. A member of Code Pink, Blome has helped organize many protests outside of Nancy Pelosi's home in the Bay area. Friends and fellow activists will be in DC Superior Court (500 Indiana Avenue NW) awaiting her arraignment and release Friday afternoon.

In eight days, Eve Tetaz, a 76-year old retired D.C. public schoolteacher, will enter a courthouse in Washington, D.C. and engage in the legal debate over the fate of America's detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The name of Noor Muhammad has never appeared in an American criminal court. On May 27th, Tetaz will change that. On that day, she will appear at the Washington, D.C. Superior Court as Noor Muhammad. Tetaz was arrested, along with 78 others, at the U.S. Supreme Court on January 11, 2008, protesting the denial of habeas rights to and the torture of inmates at Guantanamo. Like her fellow protestors, Tetaz took the name of an inmate during her arrest. ( See the January 13 Washington Post article "Activists Pose as Guantanamo Prisoners" ) Tetaz says she felt compelled to participate in the protest at the Supreme Court because detainees are being tortured at Guantanamo. "Torture is a terrible crime and sin against humanity," she said. Thirty-four ...