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In Their Shoes: Guantanamo in Second Life

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January 10, 2008

Do you Second Life? If you do, join activists from around the country on Progressive Island tomorrow starting at 11 a.m. SLT/2 p.m. EST for the ACLU's Close Guantanamo Day of Action. A series of live, interactive events will mark the sixth anniversary of the arrival of the first prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba:

  • On the island, visit "Gone GITMO," a virtual Guantanamo in Second Life, created by Nonny de la Peña, the director and producer behind Unconstitutional, and USC professor Peggy Weil. At Gone GITMO, you can put on an orange jumpsuit, be hooded and flown on a C17 plane to Cuba, and arrive at Camp X-Ray where you'll be penned in a 6- by 8-foot cyclone fence cage topped with barbed wire. To learn more about the creation of Gone GITMO, check out draxtordespres' YouTube video on the creation of the virtual detention center:

    Please note that by playing this clip You Tube and Google will place a long-term cookie on your computer. Please see You Tube's privacy statement on their website and Google's privacy statement on theirs to learn more. To view the ACLU's privacy statement, click here

  • At 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. SLT, Juel Resistance, a blues acoustic band, will perform.
  • At 2:30 p.m. SLT, ACLU Staff Attorney Ben Wizner will speak about his experience as a human rights observer at Guantanamo's military commissions.

We hope to see you on Progressive Island in Second Life tomorrow, and we hope you'll wear orange in real life, too, to show your support for the closure of Guantanamo.

CORRECTION: Nonny de la Peña is the director and producer of Unconstitutional, not just the producer. And Ben Wizner will be speaking at 2:30 p.m. SLT, not 2 p.m. SLT. Juel Resistance will perform at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. SLT.

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