WASHINGTON--Human rights groups plan protests worldwide on Wednesday to mark the 10th anniversary of the opening of the U.S. military detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, organizers said.
Demonstrators in Washington including Amnesty International and the Center for Constitutional Rights will rally at the White House and then march to the Capitol and Supreme Court, an Amnesty International spokeswoman said. Several hundred protesters are expected.
Protests by human rights groups are planned for Miami, Boston, San Francisco and Chicago, she said. Events have been scheduled for Paris, Toronto, Madrid, Berlin, London, Brussels and other cities.
The United States set up the prison after U.S.-led forces invaded Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001, attacks. The first 20 prisoners arrived on January 11, 2002.
The camp has held 779 foreign captives, and 171 remain. The prison was set up to hold and interrogate detainees suspected of links to al Qaeda, the Taliban and other groups classified by the United States as terrorist organizations.
After his 2008 election, President Barack Obama ordered the camp closed by January 2010 but missed the deadline.
(Reporting By Ian Simpson; editing by Paul Thomasch)
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