January 11, 2008, marked the sixth anniversary of the first arrival of prisoners at the now-infamous Guantánamo Bay detention center in Cuba. The continued existence of this facility - and the peculiar brand of “justice” practiced there – betrays our nation’s most precious values.

The ACLU of Utah recognized this sad milestone with a Candlelight Vigil in front of the Federal Building downtown. We are proud to report that over 80 Utahns, of all ages and backgrounds, joined us to express their outrage and sorrow over the situation at Guantánamo Bay.

When asked by a local reporter why she joined the vigil, Nancy Applegate of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship said simply, “Because I love my country and because I don’t like to see my country doing things I regard as immoral.”

The abuses of power at Guantanamo Bay strike many Americans very deeply. Mary Danzig told a reporter that she’d never been to a candlelight protest before, but she brought her daughters to our peaceful action to help educate them and encourage them to be involved. “I want my children to know that we shouldn’t be silent when people are being oppressed,” she said. “(Guantanamo detainees) have been kept for six years without any rights. Even an 8-year-old can understand it’s not the American way.”

Our local demonstration was part of a national wave of action, led by the ACLU and other leading human rights organizations. Thousands of people of conscience participated in rallies, vigils and protests to denounce torture, abuse of power, and indefinite detention.

The ACLU of Utah also will be hosting a screening of the ACLU-produced Freedom Files' "Freedom from Abuse of Power: Torture and Unlawful Imprisonment." Click here to learn more.

Criticism is so widespread that both Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates favor shutting it down. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has declared that “we have shaken the belief the world had in America’s justice system by keeping a place like Guantánamo open and creating things like the military commission.” Yet still it remains open!

Our nation’s leaders seem to believe they can indefinitely deny basic legal rights to those we hold captive. One detainee has now spent a fourth of his life in captivity - Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen, was only 15 when he was first locked up over five years ago. Four men have died in captivity; all believed to have committed suicide amid the despair of Guantánamo. In the meantime, not a single military commission trial has been completed.

In order to redeem our standing as a leader in the democratic world, the prisoners at Guant ánamo should be transferred to the United States, charged with a crime and tried, or sent to countries where they will not be tortured. It’s long past time to reclaim our respect for the rule of law, for human rights, for the Constitution. It is time to shut down Guantánamo.

For more about the nationwide movement to close the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center, visit www.aclu.org/safefree/detention/closeguantanamo.html.