Twelve years a prisoner: guilty until proven innocent

It has been 12 years this January since the Guantanamo prison opened. After these 12 years, there has still been no trial for many of the detainees. It hass been 12 years of harsh solitary confinement, mental abuse and no contact with their family. With no trial, these detainees are guilty till proven innocent. At what point do we as a society say enough is enough? Either put these detainees on trial or release them.

This has been a failure on both sides of the political aisle. Many representatives support closing Guantanamo but still refer to the detainees as enemy combatants rather than prisoners of war, thus refusing them Geneva Convention protection. It's all a bunch of malarkey. If our soldiers are taken captive, we have no credibility to demand fair treatment if we don t provide the same. Twelve years in prison without a fair trial is enough. To raise awareness of this issue, concerned citizens from all over the world are holding peaceful demonstrations this weekend. Join me, our group, and other Sussex county residents Sunday, Jan. 12 at 3 p.m. for a vigil in the Newton town square to do the same.

Michael Aloi, Sparta
Member, Amnesty International