From the Archive

Join us in DC for Torture Awareness Week

Dear Friends and Supporters,

We need your help to lift up the voices of those who will be speaking out next week all over the world to bring an end to torture. There are many ways to do this:

Join Witness Against Torture (WAT) in Washington DC during Torture Awareness Week (June 21 to 28, 2015) for the trials of WAT members who were arrested on January 12 for protesting in Congress.  Twenty-two people spoke out on behalf of those who have been detained, tortured and murdered by our government, in two different places in the Capitol. We will also be supporting TASSC and their advocacy to end torture. We have a packed week of trial support, public discussions and vigils. Check it out below!

Join or organize a local vigil and Fast for Justice on June 26 – this is the United Nation’s International Day in Support of Torture Survivors. We are calling for a national day of fasting (sunrise to sundown) in solidarity with the hunger strikers at Guantanamo Bay.  See the facebook event here and Read More information here

Promote our work through social media and conversations with your friends, family and organizations. We will be posting pictures and updates on Facebook for you to share, respond to and talk about with your social groups. Please take this opportunity to lift up this important issue.

Donate to support our work. Witness Against Torture is completely volunteer driven and run. We have no paid staff, but do have expenses associated with our organizing work. If you are able, please donate here.

Come to DC for Torture Awareness Week: WAT Members on Trial for Witnessing in the Capitol

Monday June 22

9:30 a.m. WAT Senate Gallery TrialCourtroom 116, Magistrate Judge Karen Howze
Superior Court of the District of Columbia
500 Indiana Ave, NW, WDC 20001
(trial likely to continue until Tuesday)

Tuesday June 23

6 to 8 p.m.: Panel: Legalized Torture: Gitmo to Rikers
Friends Meeting of Washington
2111 Florida Ave NW, DC 20008-1912

Wednesday June 24

9 to 5: TASSC Conference on Torture
9 a.m. to 2 p.m. speakers, 2 to 5 p.m. advocacy training (required for those doing advocacy Thursday)
Aquinas Hall, Catholic University (near Brookland Metro)
(entrance for cars at Michigan Ave NW and 4th St NE)

Thursday June 25

10:30 to 11:30 a.m.: Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission
Testimonies by TASSC Survivors at the Lantos Commission
United States House of Representatives

2 p.m.: WAT Visitors Center Trial
Courtroom 120, Magistrate Judge Rainey Brandt
Superior Court of the District of Columbia
500 Indiana Ave, NW WDC 20001
(trial likely to continue Friday morning)

Friday June 26 – All Day Fast for Justice

4:00 p.m.: Rally at the Department of Justice
Constitution Ave between 9th St & 10th St NW WDC
(Amnesty Int’l, WAT, CCR, NRCAT, NCPCF, and others)

7:30 p.m.: Iftar (breaking Ramadan fast)
White House on Pennsylvania Ave
(AI, NCPCF)

Saturday June 27

10 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Torture Abolition and Survivor Support Coalition Vigil
TASSC annual vigil in Lafayette Square

Sunday June 28

6:30 p.m.: Targeting Muslims: State Violence in the War on Terror
Ramadan Iftar fundraiser and documentary for National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms (CPCF):  $20
Impact Hub DC, 419 7th St NW WDC 20004
(cosponsored by Impact Hub and Washington Peace Center)

Join us for all or part of the week!  We’ll be at St Stephens Episcopal Church.  Contact Helen Schietinger to sign up at h.schietinger@verizon.net

For more information on trial dates and times: Click here.

Mark your Calendars – August 3rd, 2015 : Witness Against Torture Vigil in collaboration with No Separate Justice in NYC.

The human rights and civil rights abuses taking place in the military prison at Guantanamo Bay have, rightly, been placed under a spotlight by people of conscience around the world. Some believe that if only those detained at Guantanamo could be transferred to American soil, to be held and tried as civilians, the abuses would end and justice would be done.

Yet many of the same abuses can be found in the hundreds of “war on terror” cases that have been processed through courtrooms and federal prisons across the United States since 9/11. These abuses–which include inhumane conditions of confinement both pre- and post-trial; secret evidence; intrusive surveillance; vague material support charges; FBI-created plots brought into communities through paid informants; and the criminalization of Islamic speech and association–remain largely invisible.

The mission of the No Separate Justice campaign is to place these abuses, taking place in prisons and courtrooms across the United States, firmly on the agendas of human and civil right organizations, the media, and the U.S. public through education and activism that draws directly upon the experiences and voices of those most directly affected.

Contact Jeremy Varon at jvaron@aol.com to get involved in the August 3rd Vigil.

Witness Against Torture on Social Media:

Please “like us on Facebook & follow us on Twitter & Instagram
Check out our latest news and updates on Tumblr.
Post any pictures of your local activities to our flicker account and we will help spread the word.

Donate to support our work:

Witness Against Torture is completely volunteer driven and run. We have no paid staff, but do have expenses associated with our organizing work. If you are able, please donate here.