Sat-Sun 6/26,27 Torture Awareness Month events | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Fred H Olson (fholsoncohousing.org) | |
Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2010 06:10:06 -0700 (PDT) |
Patty Guerrero pattypax [at] earthlink.net posted the information below. It was re-posted by Fred, the list manager <fholson [at] cohousing.org> after reformatting. -------------------- FORWARDED MESSAGE FOLLOWS -------------------- Saturday, June 26, 11am-1pm:The Center for Victims of Torture honors torture survivors on UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. 717 E. River Parkway, Minneapolis (outdoors) Saturday, June 26, 7:00-10:00pm: screening and discussion of the film "Torturing Democracy" by Sherry Jones, Walker Community Church, 16th Ave S and 31st St E, Minneapolis 55407 Sunday, June 27, 9am and 11am: Capt. James Yee speaks at services at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, 4537 3rd Ave S, Minneapolis Sunday June 27, 3:00-5:00pm EDUCATIONAL FORUM ON TORTURE Plymouth Congregational Church, 1900 Nicollet Ave S (at Franklin), Mpls Marjorie Cohn, immediate past president of the National Lawyers Guild Captain James Yee, former Army Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo Ellen Kennedy, PhD, Interim Director, Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Univ. of MN, Exec Dir, World Without Genocide ( http://www.worldwithoutgenocide.org ) Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, Associate Professor of Peace and Justice Studies, Univ. of St. Thomas, and MN Senatorial candidate (2008) Co-sponsored by : Amnesty International Minneapolis and St. Paul chapters of Amnesty International Endorsed by: The Center for Victims of Torture Veterans for Peace From calendar produced by Tackling Torture At The Top (T3), a committee of W.A.M.M. We are formed to call for investigations and prosecutions of those who have authorized torture in the name of the USA. We also work to educate the public on this crucial issue and keep it in the public consciousness Women Against Military Madness 310 East 38th Street, Suite 222, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55409 Phone: 612-827-5364 -- 612-827-6433 http://www.worldwidewamm.org -- wamm [at] mtn.org (Note, earlier events not included here) Torture is not a partisan issue. It... Endangers our soldiers Breaks the law Destroys the torturer" Creates more enemies Diminishes our credibility on human rights Decreases cooperation from our allies Sets a dangerous precedent Creates false leads Emboldens the enemy Promotes disrespect for law Weakens our treaties Results in blowback Dries up intelligence sources Corrupts the torturing country High officials in our government have confirmed that our country has engaged in torture. Judge Susan Crawford, the convening authority of the Guantanamo Military Commissions, refused to allow a prosecution to go forward because she said we tortured the detainee. Major General Antonio Taguba said, "the Commander-in- Chief and those under him authorized a systematic regime of torture." Former Navy General Counsel Alberto Mora has written that approved interrogation techniques "could produce effects reaching the level of tor- ture" and "almost certainly...[constituted unlawful] ʻcruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.'" Yet few have been held accountable. Some lower level people have been convicted, but no one who ordered torture, no one who authorized torture as policy, and no one who "legalized" it for those seeking a golden shield. Since the Federal Torture Statute was passed in 1994, only one person has been charged and convicted under it--and that was for torture committed in the name of the government of Liberia. His name was Chuckie Taylor. He was the son of the President of Liberia, Charles Taylor, and he tortured people as part of that country's Anti- Terrorism Unit. Sounds too familiar, doesn't it? Former Vice-President Mondale says the danger of these abuses of power is that they remain as precedents "like a loaded pistol that you leave on the dining room table." But even he is loathe to hold people accountable through prosecutions. He has said, "I'm not talking about prosecuting anybody, but the people at the management level, who made these policies surely should be subject to a hearing. We should have a clear record of what they did. Beyond that, I've got trouble with prosecuting people. I think it would just tear us apart." And so the loaded pistol just sits there. In fact, torture now is almost legal. Our local U.S. Attorney's office claims the Executive Branch has made a policy decision not to prosecute for torture. Unfortunately, that is not their choice to make. Other governments are now asserting their rights under the doctrine of universal jurisdiction. A Spanish judge is investigating high Bush administration officials for torture. And last year, an Italian court convicted in absentia 23 Americans for kidnapping a suspect and transferring him to a country that practices torture. Join us in our efforts to seek accountability for the torture commit- ted in our names. TacklingTorture [at] gmail.com
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