81 protesters arrested at Supreme Court
- The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Eighty-one people were arrested at the Supreme Court Friday in a protest calling for the shutdown of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Demonstrators wearing orange jump suits intended to simulate prison garb were arrested inside and outside the building in the early afternoon. "Shut it down," protesters chanted as others kneeled on the plaza in front of the court.

The court is considering whether prisoners still detained at Guantanamo Bay have a right to challenge their confinement in U.S. courts.

Seventy-one people had been arrested by 2 p.m. EST. They were charged with violating an ordinance that prohibits demonstrations of any kind on court grounds.

Officials briefly closed the court building. It reopened around 2 o'clock.

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Guantanamo: Global day of protest calls for camp closure

London, 11 Jan. (AKI) - Human rights campaigners held a global day of protest on Friday in cities from Washington to Budapest calling for the closure of the US Guantanamo Bay detention centre.

Amnesty International built a replica prison cell and held an all-night vigil near the US embassy in London, and similar protests were held in Rome, Edinburgh, Budapest and Manila.

The international protests were to mark the sixth anniversary of the camp which Amnesty describes as an "unlawful black hole".

More than 1,200 parliamentarians from countries including the UK, Japan, Israel, Bahrain and Germany, also joined Amnesty in its call for an end to all illegal detentions and either to charge detainees and bring them to trial in civilian courts, or release them.

"It is time for Guantanamo Bay to close," said Amnesty's UK director, Kate Allen.

"After six long years these totally illegal detentions must come to an end."

About 300 detainees are currently reported to be held at the camp including the alleged architects of the September 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

"Guantanamo Bay is an unlawful black hole. It has completely failed to make the world a safer place," Allen said.

"Instead it has become a symbol for abuses in the 'war on terror' and has had a disastrous effect on respect for human rights around the globe."

Amnesty said the detention system adopted by the US had had a corrosive effect on human rights. It claimed that governments from Pakistan to Africa and Europe had become complicit in illegal practices.