Major Anti-Torture Demo/Arrest Action at White House 4/30 to Demand Prosecution of U.S. Torture and Release of Innocent Detainees
Fri, 04/24/2009 - 6:09am
Anti-Torture Activists to Rally, Engage in Civil Disobedience at the Obama White House to Protest the Continuation of Bush Detention Policies and Refusal to Prosecute Torture
Witness Against Torture’s “100 Days Campaign to Close Guantanamo and End Torture” will conclude on Thursday, April 30th with an 11:15 am rally at Lafayette Park and a noon protest at the White House, in which 55 activists, representing the 55 men cleared for release but still in Guantanamo, will risk arrest-- the first such arrest action at the Obama White House. The demonstrations reflect mounting frustration at President Obama’s failure to live up to his campaign promise to break with the Bush administration’s detention policies and bring accountability to government. “Despite early, encouraging signs,” says Matthew Daloisio of Witness Against Torture (WAT), “the first months of the Obama administration have been a grave disappointment with respect to detainee issues and torture. Many of the immoral and illegal policies of the Bush administration remain in place, and President Obama has been reluctant to investigate possible past crimes. We are demonstrating at the White House to push Obama to fully reverse the Bush policies and commit to a criminal inquiry.”
Witness Against Torture demands, with a growing chorus of voices, that the Obama administration investigate and possibly prosecute alleged acts of torture by CIA officers operating under the pseudo-legal cover of Bush administration internal memos. A Justice Department inquiry must also extend to the architects of the torture policies, as well as to the widespread use of “enhanced interrogations” beyond the CIA’s notorious program. International and domestic law in fact requires that the United States investigate evidence of the violation of bans on torture. “President Obama cannot restore the rule of law,” says Matt Vogel of WAT, “while failing to enforce the law. We need accountability, not immunity.” In line with the Bush administration before it, the Obama administration has twice invoked the “state secrets” defense in efforts to dismiss lawsuits seeking redress for those rendered and tortured and damages against private companies participating in rendition (Arar v. Ashcroft et al; Mohamed et al v. Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc).
ANTI-TORTURE DEMONSTRATION AT THE WHITE HOUSE TODAY
Wed, 04/29/2009 - 11:38pm
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 30, 2009
CONTACT: Matt Daloisio, 201-264-4424, daloisio@earthlink.net
Frida Berrigan, 347-683-4928, frida.berrigan@gmail.com
Demand Prosecution of U.S. Torture and Release of Innocent Detainees
Today, Thursday, April 30th, hundreds of human rights activists will gather near the White House to call on the Obama administration to support a criminal inquiry into torture under the Bush administration and to fully break with past detention policies. “We listened to President Obama’s speech last night hoping to hear decisiveness and resolve,” says Tanya Theriault, an organizer with Witness Against Torture, “instead we heard that ‘torture is a mistake.’ It is not a mistake, it is a crime.”
Faith-Based Anti-Torture Activists Demonstrate/Risk Arrest at White House 4/30 to Demand Prosecution of U.S. Torture and Release of Innocent Detainees
Fri, 04/24/2009 - 6:07am
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - APRIL 24, 2009
CONTACT:
Matthew Daloisio, 201-264-4424, daloisio@earthlink.net
Frida Berrigan, 347-683-4928, frida.berrigan@gmail.com
Anti-Torture Activists to Rally, Engage in Civil Disobedience at the Obama White House
Protest the Continuation of Bush Detention Policies and Refusal to Prosecute Torture
Catholic peace activist Paul Magno arrested at White House while dramatizing the crucifixion
Fri, 04/10/2009 - 5:31pm
WASHINGTON -- Dramatizing a contemporary 'crucifixion,' a local peace and justice activist was arrested during a Good Friday nonviolent protest at the White House.
After two colleagues helped chain Paul Magno to the fence of the president's home, an assembled group of protesters, many with Witness Against Torture's 100 Day Campaign (http://www.100dayscampaign.org/), began to sing "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord." The action occured shortly after 12 noon, amid a crowd of tourists.
The activists are calling for the immediate closure of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and the end of all torture. The group has also begun calling for the closure of Bagram, Afghanistan, despite U.S. military plans to double the size of the military prison.
Local activist Paul Magno to mark Good Friday with a dramatic
Fri, 04/10/2009 - 5:30pm
WASHINGTON -- On a day holy to all Christians, a local peace and justice activist will risk arrest during a dramatic protest against the indefinite detention of prisoners at places such as Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. The planned action will attempt to nonviolently recreate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ at the White House.
The action will happen at about 12 noon at the White House during Witness Against Torture's daily vigil (http://www.100dayscampaign.org/) calling for the immediate closure of Guantanamo and the end of all torture. The group has also begun calling for the closure of Bagram, despite U.S. military plans to double the size of the military prison.
"I want to call on the president to do the morally correct and just thing, and release all the prisoners who have never been charged with anything, and to shine an even brighter light on these unlawful places of injustice," said Paul Magno, a Washington activist.
CITIZENS URGE NEW ATTORNEY GENERAL HOLDER & PRESIDENT OBAMA TO RELEASE 17 UIGHUR GUANTANAMO PRISONERS INTO THE US: PROCESSION TO JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TODAY
Tue, 02/03/2009 - 9:04am
Washington, DC--February 3, 2009--Key human rights groups are urging President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder to take a simple step that will right a seven-year wrong: they want him to lift the Bush administration’s appeal of Judge Ricardo Urbina’s order to release the 17 Uighurs imprisoned in Guantanamo. This act would let stand Judge Urbina’s order to bring the men into the United States immediately. Part of a Muslim ethnic minority in China, the Uighurs would likely face persecution by the Chinese government if returned to China.
WITNESS AGAINST TORTURE PRAISES EXECUTIVE ORDERS ON GUANTANAMO AND TORTURE; CALLS ON OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO TAKE ADDITIONAL STEPS
Fri, 01/23/2009 - 10:24am
WASHINGTON, January 22—Today, Witness Against Torture — the organization that first marched to Guantanamo in 2005 to protest the prison there — applauds President Barack Obama's executive orders to shut down Guantanamo and the CIA "black sites," and to end the "enhanced interrogation techniques" used by the CIA at Guantanamo and other prisons. According to the Guantanamo order, "The detention facilities at Guantanamo for individuals covered by this order shall be closed as soon as practicable, and no later than one year from the date of this order."
"President Obama has taken important first steps to undo much of what was worst about Bush administration policies," said Matthew Daloisio, one of those who marched to Guantanamo. "We remain concerned, however, that the order leaves open the possibility that Guantanamo will stay open another year, allows for a new system of detention without charge, and does not adequately address other facilities, such as that in Bagram, Afghanistan, that share the problems of Guantanamo. We therefore call on the Obama administation to take additional steps to restore fairness and the rule of law and to advance true security."
JAMES YEE TO SPEAK ON OBAMA’S EXECUTIVE ORDER TO CLOSE GUANTANAMO
Wed, 01/21/2009 - 12:39pm
January 21, 2009: Witness Against Torture, a group devoted to closing Guantanamo and ending torture, is hosting an evening talk with James Yee, who served as Muslim Chaplain for the US Military at the prison camp at Guantanamo. Yee will address the anticipated Executive Order from President Obama mandating the prison’s closure.
"YES, WE CAN" CLOSE GUANTANAMO IN 100 DAYS: Nine-day fast to close camp reaches 100, while 42 detainees hunger strike in Guantanamo
Tue, 01/13/2009 - 10:38am
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 13, 2009
CONTACT:
Matt Daloisio, 201-264-4424, daloisio@earthlink.net
Tanya Theriault, 718-419-7619, tanyatheriault@yahoo.com
"YES, WE CAN" CLOSE GUANTANAMO IN 100 DAYS:
Nine-day fast to close camp reaches 100, while 42 detainees hunger strike in Guantanamo
January 13, 2009: Witness Against Torture, a grassroots group dedicated to closing Guantanamo and ending torture, is heartened by the announcement from unnamed members of Barack Obama’s transition team that the new President will sign an executive order to close Guantanamo on January 21st , his first full day in office.
ANTI-TORTURE ACTIVISTS MARK SEVENTH (AND LAST) YEAR OF GUANTANAMO INJUSTICE WITH RALLY AND FAST
Sun, 01/11/2009 - 10:45am
PRESS RELEASE
Witness Against Torture
www.100dayscampaign.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 11, 2009
CONTACT:
Frida Berrigan, 347-683-4928, frida.berrigan@gmail.com
Gary Ashbeck, 410-913-2342, cruz69j@hotmail.com
ANTI-TORTURE ACTIVISTS MARK SEVENTH (AND LAST) YEAR OF GUANTANAMO INJUSTICE WITH RALLY AND FAST
WASHINGTON, January 11, 2009- More than 200 human rights advocates gather to observe the seventh anniversary of the Guantanamo prison today with a rally in DuPont Circle and a dramatic prisoner procession through the city. The event also marks the beginning of the nine-day Fast for Justice which involves nearly 100 people and takes place against the backdrop of yesterday’s shocking revelations that 30 men at Guantanamo are engaged in a hunger-strike.
