Dead Prez Urge Shutdown Of Guantanamo Bay Prison

Rap duo, Dead Prez, teamed up with the Hip-Hop Caucus, the American Civil Liberties Union and Amnesty International to spark a movement calling for a shutdown of the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. During a news conference in Capitol Hill on Tuesday (June 19), Dead Prez's M1 compared the targeting of African-Americans by the U.S. government to current policies that deny accused terrorists the right to challenge their accusers in court, according to AFP. "We are victims of a war that has been directed at our community under the guise of the war on drugs," M1 told a group of anti-war activists and reporters. Civil liberties activists have long accused the government of using torture and coercion while interrogating terror suspects at the Guantanamo Bay facility. The organizations involved are planning a petition urging Congress to restore habeas corpus -- the legal action that allows a prisoner to challenge their detention in a court of law -- via a "Hip-Hop fo r Habeas" concert at Washington's famed 9:30 Club and a rally in the nation's capital on June 26. The press conference and concert both coincide with the unofficial "Juneteenth" celebration, which marks the day slavery was abolished in the United States on June 19, 1865.

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