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Cheers!

Stephen Colbert

Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert took on Attorney General Eric Holder's legal justification for killing American citizens abroad suspected of terrorism, particularly Holder's argument that "due process and judicial process are not one and the same."

"Trial by jury, trial by fire, rock, paper scissors, who cares? Due process just means that there is a process that you do," Colbert said. "The current process is apparently, first the president meets with his advisers and decides who he can kill. Then he kills them."

Pretty much.

WikiLeaks

Discover the truth

of the unjust, illegitimate war in Iraq and Afghanistan: WikiLeaks releases hundreds of thousands of military records revealing thousands of civilian deaths, execution squads,
other war crimes.

The Guantánamo Files

documenting torture, abuse, and years of unjust imprisonment.

Watch "Collateral Murder"

The military's own video documenting the killing of 12 Iraqis from a helicopter circling above

Help Stop these Crimes: Collateral Murder Video Showings and more...

Support Bradley Manning

The young soldier accused of releasing the US military records.
Find out more.

NATO Summit Protests

Chicago Spring:
Protest the War Criminal (NATO) Summit!

The "North Atlantic Treaty Organization" (NATO) promotes its mission as “security, cooperation among nations, and peace keeping.”
In fact,it is an organization led and dominated by the world's best-armed war criminals, led by the United States.
Join us in protesting NATO
in Chicago May 20/21!

Stop the Drones

Drone Wars

The use of Predator drones (unmanned flying vehicles
that are often armed with video-guided missiles) by the
US military and CIA is a largely untold story of the "Global
War on Terror / Global Contingency Operation" - yet has caused thousands of deaths in Pakistan and Afghanistan, many of whom are women and children.
Find out more and take action to stop the drones.

Call to Action: Shut Down Guantanamo!

Friday, 08 January 2010 17:13

"I have said repeatedly that I intend to close Guantanamo, and I will follow through on that. I have said repeatedly that America doesn't torture, and I'm going to make sure that we don't torture."

- President-elect Barack Obama, November 16, 2008

From Witness Against Torture

On January 22, 2009, President Obama committed his administration to closing the prison camp at Guantanamo within a year. Since that time, the process of releasing, relocating, or prosecuting its remaining detainees has become mired in bureaucratic machinations, Congressional grandstanding, fear-mongering, and political backsliding. Despite his claim to break from the past, President Obama has upheld many of the worst Bush policies - from the denial of habeas corpus, to immunity for torturers, rendition, and indefinite detention without charge or trial.

Indeed, for many in Guantanamo the most change they have seen in the last year is the switch of the presidential portrait from Bush to Obama. The new plan to house the detainees in a super-max facility in Illinois is not closing Guantanamo when the detainees remain subject to detention without charge or trial and inhumane treatment. Unless the men who have been held at Guantanamo are released or charged and tried by a legitimate legal process, we will bring our protest to the Illinois facility, as we did at the gates of the Guantanamo prison in 2005.

As the Obama administration expands the war in Afghanistan and operations at the U.S. prison at Bagram Air Base, struggles over the fair and just treatment of detainees are sure to continue. More than ever, we need principled, nonviolent witness and action to secure due process, accountability, and a world without torture, cruelty, and endless warmaking.

It is with resolute and heavy hearts that we in Witness Against Torture come to Washington, D.C. to mark January 11 (the day the prison camp opened in 2001) as the eighth year of torture, abuse, and illegal detention at Guantanamo. We will call attention to the Obama administration's hypocrisy, expose the injustice of its policies, and demand again that the facility at Guantanamo be immediately closed. We will hold a fast and daily vigil from January 11 through January 22 - the day by which the President had ordered Guantanamo closed - and engage in a series of events and actions opposing Guantanamo and torture.

We invite you to come to Washington and participate, or else join or plan an event in your own community.

January 11 - January 22, 2010
Daily Vigil and Fast for Justice

· SIGN-UP or endorse the Fast for Justice

· READ Witness Against Torture's response to President Obama's failure to close Guantanamo

· FACEBOOK: Join our cause, group, or RSVP

We will have a daily routine of reflection and action, bringing our message to the White House, Congress, the Pentagon, the Justice Department and other sites throughout the city. We will break our fast on January 22. Please join us!

We will provide housing for those gathering with us in Washington DC, and resources to those who will be fasting in their own communities.

For up-to-date details, as well as information about housing, food, rides and directions, legal support and more, please visit www.witnesstorture.org.

January 21, 2010
Direct Action Against Torture, Indefinite Detention

While we vigil and reflect, we will also be planning a dramatic direct action aimed at drawing attention to the ongoing suffering and injustice of Guantanamo and other "war on terror" facilities. Visit www.witnesstorture.org for more information on our action plans.

WHO WE ARE

In December 2005, Witness Against Torture drew international attention after it walked to Guantanamo to visit the prisoners. Since its return, the group has organized vigils, marches, nonviolent direct actions, and educational events to expose and decry the administration's lawlessness, build awareness about torture and indefinite detention, and forge human ties with the prisoners at Guantanamo and their families. Last January Witness Against Torture organized the highly visible 100 Days Campaign in Washington, D.C.

The Fast and Vigil to Close Guantanamo is being organized by Witness Against Torture with the support of Center for Constitutional Rights, No More Guantanamos, Pax Christi USA, School of the Americas Watch, September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International, United for Peace and Justice, the War Resisters League, and World Can't Wait.

Ask your group to endorse the Fast!

SUPPORT OUR CAMPAIGN

Buy a Witness Against Torture T-Shirt.
Donate online or send a check made out to "Witness Against Torture" to Mary House Catholic Worker, 55 E. Third Street, New York, NY 10003.
Post your local community's anti-torture event to our calendar.
Spread the word! Forward this e-mail, download and distribute flyers, or put a button on your website.