torture

Earlier this year, on the sixth anniversary of the day that the first group of prisoners were incarcerated at the Guantanamo Bay camp in 2002, a couple hundred protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court in Washington, DC. Thirty-four of them then walked up the steps and engaged in nonviolent civil disobedience. They were arrested, and when that happened they did not provide the Capitol Police their "given" names but rather the names of individuals who have been held at Guantanamo for years and who have never received trial. They sought to be names and faces for the nameless and faceless.

Yesterday, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) -- of which the Fellowship of Reconciliation has been a participating national member since its inception two years ago -- sent out an action alert to its supporters. With the recent revelations that top Administration officials approved torture tactics of detainees, NRCAT has organized two ways for people to act concretely to oppose torture in the coming weeks.

On Friday morning, I attended a mini-conference on ending torture, organized by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) in connection with the Interfaith Peace Witness held by the Olive Branch Interfaith Peace Partnership. While there was some encouraging news, based on evidence of a growing faith-based movement to oppose torture, we were also faced with a start "realpolitik" presentation by former U.S.

January 11, 2008 Shut Down Guantanamo

During the next two weeks an incredible wealth of great programs are being held in New York City and the lower Hudson. Here is a "Top Ten" list I have organized, and I hope to see many FOR members and friends at some of these gatherings over the coming fortnight. Short descriptions are immediately below this paragraph, and greater detail is offered about each event further down the message: