Haggis, Ruffalo urging Bush to close Gitmo

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Paul Haggis and Mark Ruffalo have joined a protest urging the Bush administration to close the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility, Amnesty International said.

Haggis directed the films "Crash" and "In the Valley of Elah." Ruffalo has starred in "You Can Count On Me" and "Reservation Road."

Amnesty International U.S.A. said it plans to bring its national tour of a realistic-size Guantanamo prison cell replica to Santa Monica, Calif., starting Thursday and running through Saturday.

Haggis, Ruffalo and others are scheduled to join AIUSA Executive Director Larry Cox and lawyers challenging the alleged unlawful detentions at Guantanamo for a news conference Thursday in Santa Monica, calling on the Bush administration to shut down Guantanamo, Amnesty International said.

Members of the public will be invited to tour the cell and record a 30-second reaction video that will be posted on AIUSA's tearitdown.org Web site.

On the outside of the cell is a large LCD screen showing a time line of alleged illegal U.S. detentions and torture, as well as related facts and quotes. After visiting the cell, visitors will be encouraged to sign a global petition, the human rights group said.