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Leverett (MA) Town Meeting Approves Resolution to Welcome Cleared Guantánamo Detainees
LEVERETT,
The resolution, Article 27 on the warrant, was the last article considered. Elizabeth Adams, a Leverett resident, initiated the resolution's placement on the warrant by petition. She is a founding member of
Adams was pleased by town voters' favorable vote, which she said "will go a long way toward healing the wounds inflicted on prisoners and our collective conscience by
Over several weeks leading up to the vote, Adams and other Leverett residents distributed information to residents about the resolution and the two men whom Pioneer Valley No More Guantánamos would like to welcome, Ahmed Belbacha, of Algeria, and Ravil Mingazov, the last Guantánamo detainee from Russia. The resolution itself does not name specific detainees, however.
The committee also organized a public forum, held in the Leverett Library on April 13, where several speakers, including two lawyers for some of the detainees, shared stories about several Guantánamo prisoners and knowledge about past and current government policies related to the prison and the detainees. Town residents who had attended the forum spoke in favor of the resolution at Town Meeting and responded to a few other residents' concerns and questions, including the potential danger and costs to the town.
Portia Weiskel, a Leverett resident, said she was struck at the forum by individual stories of some of the men still held at the prison. She wanted her government representatives to know that "there is a community that stands for something."
Another town resident, Joe Levine, explained why he felt both main clauses of the resolution were important. "If you send a letter saying ‘Lift the ban, but don't bring them here,' you're being hypocritical." He said it was necessary to say that Leverett is willing to do its share.
Nancy Talanian, director of No More Guantánamos [1] and a member, with Adams, of its
Talanian noted that Congress's ‘not-in-our-backyard' ban stands in the way of encouraging international cooperation in closing the prison. "Guantánamo detainees who cannot safely return home are really no different than other refugees whom western Massachusetts communities have welcomed in the past," she said. "And if the US governemnt, which has held the men for more than eight years, can tell allied governments the men would not pose a danger if sent to live in their countries, then Americans should rest assured
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No More Guantánamos [1] is a coalition of concerned U.S. residents, communities, organizations, and attorneys who are working together to ensure justice for the prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Bagram air base in Afghanistan, and other offshore prison sites maintained by the CIA and the Pentagon around the world. We work to ensure basic human rights for all prisoners, including the right to be either charged for crimes and tried or released, in accordance with international law, and not held indefinitely, and to find homes for prisoners who cannot return home.
The organization formed soon after President Obama's executive order to close Guantánamo Bay prison by January 22, 2009. Chapter locations besides the Pioneer Valley include Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; New York City; Denver, Colorado; and Tallahassee, Florida.
URL to article: http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2010/04/26-5
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"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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