Posted by CODEPINK Staff

This Week in #Accountability, September 17, 2011

While Congress and the White House cannot come to an agreement on the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detainees are languishing away in a political limbo or as in the case of former detainee Saad Iqbal Madni who after 6 1/2 years of being held at the detention facility is faced with having to start over.

Madni was tortured day and night and attempted suicide while at Guantanamo. In 2008, he was released and sent back to his home country of Pakistan where he is under suspicion and harassed by local law enforcement. Madni is an Islamic scholar who was picked up in Indonesia, transferred to Egypt where he was interrogated by local officials, moved to Bagram prison in Afghanistan and spent the remainder of his detainment at Guantanamo. Even though the White House is still pursuing the closure of Guantanamo, the longer it remains open the U.S. Justice system weakens and transition for former detainees into community is hindered.

The man who authored the infamous 'Torture Memos' John Yoo was debating the ACLU President in Washington DC, an event hosted by the Heritage Foundation. Yoo's appearance didn't go unnoticed by CODEPINK DC. CODEPINK cofounder Gael Murphy made her way into the debate and shouted "Shame on you, Mr. Yoo!” According to the Daily Caller, Yoo joked that the protest made him feel at home - Berkeley. Activists including CODEPINK have been protesting John Yoo inside and outside the classroom where he teaches law at the University of California, Berkeley.



CODEPINK activists in Dallas decided to have a vibrant presence at a George W. Bush speaking event, dropping a banner in the hotel atrium where the conference was taking place. The fierce women were eventually questioned and confronted by local law enforcement and Secret Service.



George W. Bush was scheduled to speak at a Christian university in Toronto, Canada, but had to cancel because students and faculty launched a petition drive against his appearance. Even though this event was cancelled, Bush still has a full itinerary of public engagements throughout the U.S., and St. Louis Park, Minnesota is next on his stop. Former FBI Whistleblower Coleen Rowley writes 'Bush Kept Out of Canada, Can We Keep Him Out of Minnesota Too?'