David Harrold, with the London Guantanamo Campaign, speaks to a small crowd that gathered outside the U.S. Embassy on Sunday calling for the closure of the detention facility at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay. (Charlie Reed / S&S)
David Harrold, with the London Guantanamo Campaign, speaks to a small crowd that gathered outside the U.S. Embassy on Sunday calling for the closure of the detention facility at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay. (Charlie Reed / S&S)
A member of the National Guantanamo Coalition hangs a banner along a fence outside the U.S. Embassy on Sunday showing the faces of some of the men being held at the detention center at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay. The group organized the rally to mark the seventh anniversary of the opening of the facility, which has been criticized by Britain, other members of the European Union and human rights organizations around the world. (Charlie Reed / S&S)
David Viesnik, left, and Doreen Brown stand in orange jump suits and shackles during a rally outside the U.S. Embassy on Sunday. (Charlie Reed / S&S)
Mohammed Yahya, a British hip hop artist, recites a poem during a demonstration outside the U.S. Embassy in London on Sunday calling for the closure of the detention center at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay. (Charlie Reed / S&S)
LONDON — British activists rallied outside the U.S. Embassy on Sunday calling for the closure of the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The late-afternoon demonstration — held on the seventh anniversary of the controversial site’s opening — drew several dozen activists, reporters and passers-by.
Some members of the London Guantanamo Campaign and the National Guantanamo Coalition donned orange jumpsuits and shackles and wore black bags over their heads to show the conditions under which detainees have reportedly been held. They contend that not only are some prisoners being held without charge in violation of the Geneva Conventions but many are also subjected to torture.
Speakers, including a member of parliament, focused mainly on the need to continue pressuring President-elect Barack Obama to keep his pledge to shut down the detention facility after he takes office next week.
"We look to (Obama) to honor his election promise," said MP Martin Linton, who spoke of Shaker Aamer, a Saudi man who is being held at Guantanamo and is the husband of a constituent in Battersea.
"As far as I’m concerned no one is asking for special favors. (Detainees) should either be charged or released," said Linton, a member of the Labour Party, the United Kingdom’s center-left political party.
"We believe it should be closed. It’s always been a point of disagreement between the U.S. and British governments," he said.
In an interview Sunday on "This Week With George Stephanopoulos," Obama said it was unlikely he would close the facility in the first 100 days of his administration, according to the ABC News Web site.
"It is more difficult than I think a lot of people realize," Obama said, "and we are going to get it done. But part of the challenge that you have is that you have a bunch of folks that have been detained, many of whom who may be very dangerous, who have not been put on trial or have not gone through some adjudication."
Repatriating those who have been cleared of charges will likely be among Obama’s biggest challenges when it comes to closing Guantanamo, said speaker Andy Worthington, author of "The Guantanamo Files."
"It’s not going to be easy," Worthington said.
Worthington, who said he based his book on 8,000 pages of flight logs and other U.S. documents, claims that 248 prisoners of a total of 779 remain at the remote U.S. military base in communist Cuba.
Even if Obama shuts down the detention center at Guantanamo, activists say they would continue working against similar camps being established by the United States in Afghanistan and against "rendition" flights, the transport of terrorist suspects around the world for interrogation.
The event was low-key compared to the demonstration that took place Saturday outside the Israeli Embassy in London, where thousands reportedly gathered to condemn the Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.
The U.S. Embassy on Friday released a statement rejecting new reports that said Robert Tuttle, U.S. ambassador to the U.K., had formally requested that the U.K. accept detainees from Guantanamo available for transfer or release.
"While we can’t discuss the specifics of our bilateral negotiations with our friends and allies on this issue, we have been in contact with dozens of countries about resettling those detainees at Guantanamo Bay eligible for transfer or release. These efforts have been ongoing for years," the statement read.
