100 days against torture in DC

Witness Against Torture and other groups will spend the first 100 days of the Obama administration in an intensive effort to persuade our government to end America’s policies of torture.

I’ll be in Washington, DC from January-April 2009 as part of the core organizing team.

We’re first calling for the closing of the Guantanamo prison. With luck, this will happen quickly and we can encourage to government to take further measures against torture.

You can contribute to this project by coming to DC for a week, or by donating via PayPal at the Witness Against Torture site. If you’d like to sponsor me/help me with my costs directly, e-mail pieandcoffee@gmail.com. This money would go to staples like my transportation, food, and (possibly) internet costs, not beer or movies or anything like that. I’ll donate any leftover funds to Witness Against Torture.

  • January 11-20: Public fast for an end to torture. (The first detainees reached Guantanamo on January 11, 2002.)
  • January 20: Inauguration Day.
  • January 20-April 30: 100 days of lobbying, vigils, and education to bring an end to America’s policies of torture.

I’m still getting up to speed on all this. I’ll blog more details here and at the 100 Days site.

Barack Obama, August 1, 2007: “As President, I will close Guantánamo, reject the Military Commissions Act, and adhere to the Geneva Conventions.”

TIME/AP, Nov 10, 2008: “President-elect Obama’s advisers are quietly crafting a proposal to ship dozens, if not hundreds, of imprisoned terrorism suspects to the United States to face criminal trials, a plan that would make good on his promise to close the Guantanamo Bay prison but could require creation of a controversial new system of justice.”

ACLU: “Therefore, on the first day in office, the next president should issue an executive order directing all agencies to modify their policies and practices immediately to: . . . Close the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay and either charge and try detainees under criminal law in federal criminal courts or before military courts-martial or transfer them to countries where they will not be tortured or detained without charge . . . .”

Updates
Words & deeds of first 100 days of every president since Roosevelt, via Kottke

2 thoughts on “100 days against torture in DC”

  1. Not sure of the details of the fast. I believe we’ll be staying in a Buddhist temple/residence of some sort. More details as I get them.

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