Protest at White House demands Guantanamo closure

Demonstrators converged on the White House to demand that US President Barack Obama make good on his promise to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
Representing about a dozen organizations, the estimated 50 protesters -- some in black hoods and orange prison suits -- also called for an end to the indefinite detention of foreign terrorist suspects.
The yesterday's demonstration came a year to the day that Obama reaffirmed his commitment to shut the Guantanamo facility, set up at a US naval base on Cuba after the September 11 attacks in 2001.
"Since the president spoke these words, there has been progress -- but at a very slow pace," said Ron Stief of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture.

Given the slow speed, most detainees now at Guantanamo Bay will still be there when Obama leaves office in January 2017, Stief said.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch were among the organizations represented at the protest, which coincided with similar demonstrations in 40 cities across seven countries, organizers said.