Witness Against Torture

Researched, Produced and Directed by Abir Alsayed

A part of Asdekaa Al Arab series

A procession of roughly 40 people in jumpsuits, accompanied by guides and supporters, marched two by two to the White House one more time. The men and women in jumpsuits were arranged along the fence encircling the White House, in the “picture postcard” zone, creating what Paki called an “orange out,” obscuring the iconic view of the president’s mansion.

by Andy Worthington
January 10, 2012

Today, prisoners at Guantánamo will embark on a peaceful protest, involving sit-ins and hunger strikes, to protest about their continued detention, and the continued existence of the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, three years after President Obama came to office promising to close it within a year, and to show their appreciation of the protests being mounted on their behalf by US citizens, who are gathering in Washington D.C. on Wednesday to stage a rally and march to urge the President to fulfill his broken promise.

Ramzi Kassem, a law professor at the City University of New York, and one of the attorneys for Shaker Aamer, the last British resident in Guantánamo, said that his client, who is held in isolation in Camp 5, told him on his last visit that the prisoners would embark on a peaceful protest and hunger strike for three days, from Jan. 10 to 12, to protest about the President’s failure to close Guantánamo as promised.

WITNESS AGAINST TORTURE

Press Advisory, For Immediate Release

January 3, 2012

Press Contacts:

Frida Berrigan, , 347-638-4928

Helen Schietinger, , 202-344-5762

Jeremy Varon, , 732-979-3119

ANTI-TORTURE ACTIVISTS TO GO ON TRIAL FOR SPEAKING OUT AGAINST GUANTANAMO, INDEFINITE DETENTION, AND THE NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT (NDAA)

PRESS CONFERENCE SCHEDULED FOR WEDNESDAY, 1/4

WITNESS AGAINST TORTURE
Press Advisory, For Immediate ReleaseDecember 27, 2011

Press Contacts:Malachy Kilbride, on the trial, , 571-501-3729 Helen Schietinger, on the fast, , 202-344-5762Jeremy Varon, on January 11, , 732-979-3119

ANTI-TORTURE ACTIVISTS TO “OCCUPY” WASHINGTON, JAN. 2-12 MARKING 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF GUANTANAMO, EVENTS TO INCLUDE 10-DAY FAST, COURTROOM SUPPORT FOR ACTIVISTS WHO SPOKE OUT IN CONGRESS, AND A HUMAN CHAIN FROM THE WHITE HOUSE TO CONGRESS WASHINGTON, D.C. — January 11 will mark the tenth anniversary of the first detainees’ arrival at the U.S.-controlled detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. To remember this travesty, Witness Against Torture is planning 10 days of activities in Washington, D.C. demanding an end to torture and indefinite detention at Guantanamo, Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, and elsewhere, and that the president reject the just-passed National Defense Authorization Act. Jan. 2-12: WAT sponsors Hungering for Justice, a 10-day fast highlighting the ongoing crimes at Guantanamo and Bagram. Dozens of activists are expected to participate in the fast in Washington as well as other cities. Locations of daily activities in support of the fast to be announced.

Save the Dates

January 2-11, 2012 - Fast and Vigil to End Torture and Indefinite Detention

January 11, 2012 - National Day of Action Against Guantanamo

Join a rally in Chicago and help create a memorial to indefinite detention remembering individuals still detained without charge or fair trial at Guantanamo and Bagram and victims of Chicago police torture and Illinois detainees.

by Brian Terrell
October 4, 2011

Despite ten years of occupation and untold millions of dollars spent on rebuilding Afghanistan’s broken judicial and criminal justice system, the Afghan courts are “still too weak,” the Washington Post reported on August 12, for the United States to relinquish its control over the Parwan Detention Center on Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. On September 21, the same paper reported that the U.S. military is seeking contractors to significantly increase the capacity of the prison there.

Fast for Justice
January 17, 2011
Washington D.C.

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Washington, DC and Day Seven of the Fast for Justice. We are 40 or so in Washington, DC and over 100 throughout the country.

In this brief note, we hope to share with you some sense of what our days have been like as we pass the halfway mark of the Fast for Justice.

July 1st, 2010
The Burge trial, Police torture scandal, and The Illinois Coalition Against Torture

With the recent conviction of former Chicago Police commander Jon Burge for perjury, Voices for Creative Nonviolence is excited to see some progress towards justice in the Chicago police torture scandal. Starting in the 1970s and continuing into the 1990s, Jon Burge and officers under his command allegedly tortured and extracted coerced confessions from more than 100 victims, almost all of them black men from Chicago’s South and West sides.

In July of 2006, the United Nations Committee Against Torture recommended that the government: “promptly, thoroughly and impartially investigate all allegations of acts of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment by law-enforcement personnel and bring perpetrators to justice…” It was not until Burge’s 2008 indictment that any formal charges were filed in the police torture cases.

With the statute of limitations being expired for relevant crimes relating directly to torture, Jon Burge was convicted on Monday of federal perjury and obstruction of justice charges for lying about the torture and now faces a possible 45 years in federal prison.

June 29, 2010

On February 22, 2010, Chris Gaunt began conducting a weekly sit-in at the local offices of her US Senators, Chuck Grassley and Tom Harkin, in Des Moines, Iowa, urging them to refuse any further funding for war. A number of other local peace activists joined Chris in conjunction with The Peaceable Assembly Campaign. As part of the sit-ins which took place during office hours, Chris made a point of connecting with the office staff, person-to-person, while she endeavored to educate them on the dire urgency of ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Despite these efforts, it was clear that the Senators themselves were not willing to seriously consider voting against war funding or even listen to the rationale that Chris and others were offering. Chris recognized that, to be taken seriously, more had to be done.

On March 11, 2010, Chris changed the weekly peaceful sit-in to a peaceful die-in. She lay down on the floor as if she were dead, with a note explaining that she would remain there until she could get a straight answer from the senator about cutting off funds for the wars. The office staff called on the police to physically remove and arrest her. She and others have returned to conduct die-ins nearly every week, a total of eleven times, since. Speaking of the results, Chris describes the opportunities she has had to interact with a variety of people, including Senate staffers at all levels, both in Iowa & DC, Federal Building Security Officers, Police Officers, Prosecutors, and now Judges.

Below is a poem Chris wrote about her experience as well as an excerpt from a letter to Senators Grassley and Harkin and their staffs.