Anti-Torture Organizing AI-USA January 11th Action National Religious |
Torture is a Crime Against Humanity! We Won’t Live in a Torture State!
YOUR GOVERNMENT is openly torturing people, and justifying it. Caught destroying evidence of torture, the Bush Regime is every day providing more reasons why they must be driven from office, and their crimes repudiated.
Will people living in the United States quietly accept? World Can’t Wait – Drive Out the Bush Regime is calling on people to get out publicly — immediately — as the “Waterboardgate” scandal unfolds, to signal our outrage to the rest of the world, in these ways:
- Cultural, religious, and educational institutions, businesses, and apartment buildings can hang orange banners saying “no torture.”
- Before December 25, people should mass silently, holding signs in busy holiday shopping areas, saying “we will not live in a torture state” or “torture is a crime against humanity”
- People with public platforms in the arts, religion, education, or politics should be speaking out strongly encouraging public protest against torture, for the removal of Bush and Cheney, and the repeal of the Military Commissions Act.
Friday, January 11, on the day six years ago when the U.S. opened its detention camp at Guantanamo, should be a day when people wear orange against the torturing Bush regime. The ACLU is distributing orange armbands saying “close down Guantanamo.” Students, especially in high school can wrap themselves and their environs with orange, and hold teach-ins on the Bush administration’s use of torture. Teachers/students write notorture@worldcantwait.org to arrange speakers.
World Can’t Wait is part of Shut Down Guantanamo, a protest at the White House led by Amnesty International and the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, followed by a Guantanamo Prisoner Procession to the Supreme Court, and a funereal ceremony remembering the four men who died in custody at Guantanamo, and mourning the death of Habeas Corpus. witnesstorture.org
World Can’t Wait urges everyone to TAKE ACTION against the torture state on January 11th. Join in protesting
in Washington DC or where you are.
1) Line the streets full of people doing last minute shopping with a sharp injection of reality and moral clarity with each individual holding a sign that simply states: “. Call people on the spot to join the action, to hold a sign and stand for something that means something. Make sure to have some people in Guantanamo jumpsuits to make a very powerful visual statement that this is real and we need to stop it. Last year WCW did a similar action of lining up along Macy’s or other shopping malls with people in Guantanamo jumpsuits that drew a lot of attention and provoked responses ( negative and positive) from crowds walking past. This year, we need a different orientation of giving people who support the action a way to do something if they are also outraged by what their government is doing. What is that thing? ORANGE, ORANGE. Sign people on the spot for DIN/333 and provide a way for people to act as they are shocked by the visual statement we are making on the eve of the holiday.
2) While taking this into account lull caused by Christmas and New Year’s, we need a real plan to follow up with the people we meet during the holidays and the relationships we begin to develop with groups opposing torture as part of looking towards January 11th and future struggles. For instance, while many people will be away or spending time with their family encourage them to use this opportunity to talk about something real as opposed constant, mind numbing discussions about things that people bought at the mall. This is an opportunity to talk to family and friends about wearing orange and the kinds of conversations that will jump off from that. Throw an Orange New Year’s Party! Or while hanging out on New Year’s, take the opportunity to discuss what has happened in the past year and what people think about it, within the swirl of whatever else people are talking about.
“What will your New Year’s Resolution be”? Many people ask that at parties; let’s talk about deciding to commit ourselves to something that really matters.
3) Making orange visible in a big way on the streets by asking cultural, religious, and educational institutions, businesses, and apartment buildings to hang orange banners saying “no torture.”
WitnessTorture January 11th to Shut Down Guantanamo
http://witnesstorture.org/
ACLU Close Guanatanamo
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/detention/closeguantanamo.html
AI-USA January 11th Action at the Supreme Court
http://www.amnestyusa.org/MidAtlantic/
January_11_Close_Guantanamo/page.do?id=1091456&n1=5&n2=50&n3=801
National Religious Campaign Against Torture
http://www.nrcat.org/
Center for Constitutional Rights Beyond Guantanamo
http://ccrjustice.org/beyond-guantanamo