Students at Columbia
College this week brought the reality
of torture to light, with events on Human Rights Day and John Yoo’s visit to Chicago.
At Columbia
College on Monday,
December 10th, many students anxiously scurried to their classes to
take their final exams. In the midst of the busiest week of the semester,
twelve students from Columbia College and the Art Institute of Illinois, took
time out to remind students of a harsh reality: Despite the distraction of the
busy work load of finals, despite the Democratic victory in November, people in
Guantanamo and around the world are still being tortured, and under the
military commissions act of 2006, this is now legal.
Ten students dressed in orange jumpsuits and hoods and
gathered with signs and banners for a silent but powerful display of this
reality in one of the busiest spots on the Columbia College Campus. At first,
passer-bys were few. We got a couple of strange looks, but people were taking
our flyers. At lunchtime, however, the lunchtime rush kicked in, and hundreds
of students passed by our display. We were able to get out hundreds copies of
the Silence+Torture=Complicity statement, as well as information with actual
accounts of torture that took place at Guantanamo.
The response was mixed. Some walked by and scoffed. When one
woman came up to look at our posters with the infamous pictures released from
Abu Ghraib. “Don’t talk to them!” her friend called out. “These pictures are
really scary!” the woman replied, and took a flyer. Others stopped by to take
pictures and engage with student organizers. One person came up and immediately
asked how he could get involved. Another took a flyer and read the entire thing
while standing in front of us. “What’s going on is really messed up. It is good
you guys are out here.” One professor
came up to an organizer and asked for a stack of flyers and said that she
wanted to take them to her class. Two other supportive faculty members
expressed their support and thanked us for being there. A student who lives in
the largest dorm on campus came up and asked, “What do you mean torture is now
legal?” He had seen the pictures from Abu Ghraib, but thought that because of
the large controversy over them, that those type of practices had been stopped.
He was shocked to hear about the military commissions act, and after our
conversation, grabbed a stack of flyers and said he wanted to get them up all
over his dorm.
Overall, the response was positive. The event certainly made
a strong impact on people, despite their political sentiment. Generally, we
noticed there was a strong appreciation for what we were doing, but a
disconnect between the reality of torture and personal responsibility to act to
stop it. Most we encountered we unaware
of the Military Commissions Act and its implications.
We had a similar experience the next day, when a couple
student organizers from Columbia went to welcome
John Yoo, Berkley professor and one of the main
architect of the Bush regime’s policy on torture, at the Freedom museum in
downtown Chicago.
Organizers were unable to get in, but Yoo happened to be speaking in the lobby
of the museum, surrounded with clear glass windows. One organizer dressed in
the jumpsuit and hood and kneeled in clear view of the stage and crowd inside
with a WCW poster at his side. While the event went on, another organizer
passed out the Silence+Torture=Complicity statement to passers-by. It was a
cold and rainy night, so the streets were quite empty, but those who did pass
definitely took notice. Two men who work at the Redeye, a local newspaper, came
up to us and said “Right on!” Both had heard of WCW, and aid that though they
were supportive of what we are doing, they think that without a draft, people
will not care enough to make the sacrifices needed to actually drive out the
regime. Neither had heard of the military commissions act, and were both were
horrified when they heard that it passed through the both houses of Congress
and that many Democrats voted in its favor.
One older man came up and asked what we were doing. He too,
had not heard of the Military Commissions Act, and said that he was not
surprised, and that the United
States has been torturing people for
hundreds of years. When an organizer posed that up to this point, though
practices of torture have gone on, it has not been legal, he said, “You”re
right, but how can we stop this? People are too comfortable.”
Through the course of the evening, we heard many similar
responses. As the event let out, many people came up and thanked us for being
there, and said that they were glad to see young people out standing up for
something important. This included two people who worked at the freedom museum,
who gave us their cards, and took a picture for their website. One young
professional came out and said that he feels generally disappointed by the left
and that he thought Yoo’s ability to articulate himself was much better than
his debater that evening. He talked about the severity of the situation in the
world today, and compared Bush to Hitler. When confronted with the necessity of
the people taking responsibility to stop this, he said that he thought that was
true, but feels unsure of what that looks like, or exactly what to do. An older
man that was leaving the debate said that Yoo had not even mentioned torture,
and he felt that he was avoiding the issue. He said that he thought it was up
to the younger generation to stop this, but he is cynical because unlike during
the Vietnam war, there is no draft. He said he knew that many young people care
about what’s going on, but because it is not directly affecting them, they will
not be compelled to act.
After the evening came to a close, it was clear that there
is a need for more of these type of displays, and to continue to contribute to
the transformation of the political climate and to bring this severity of the
Military Commissions Act, its implications, and the reality of the Bush program
to light, and even more, the need for a massive movement of resistance to stop
it.