we have been talking for some time about the efforts this week on behalf of the habeas corpus restoration act and have ourselves been planning a lobby visit to senators corker's and alexander's offices respectively...well about 4,000 people rallied in washington d.c. today to advocate the restoration of habeas corpus and other constitutional rights undermined by the bush administration, according to estimates from the aclu and amnesty international...thousand of self-identified christians joined other activists and withstood the capital's oppressive summer heat to rally against torture, indefinite imprisonment and other tactics the united states has used in the war against terrorism...
woot woot!
amnesty international members in orange jumpsuits stood near the front of the stage, duct tape sealing their mouths...amnesty executives jumana musa and mona cadena said they thought of wearing jumpsuits in 2004 as a way to raise attention about the plight of detainees at the u.s. military's guantanamo bay detainment camp in cuba..suspected terrorists are being held there indefinitely by the u.s. government, with little access to legal counsel...
"The tape is to show that the [detainees] have now been silenced," Musa said. "They can't even go to a court and ask the simple question of, 'Why am I being detained?'"
according to ari melber over at the hufffington post organizers of the event are delivering about 200,000 petition signatures to congress that demand immediate action to "restore habeas corpus, fix the military commissions act, end torture and rendition and restore our constitutional rights,"...
this is not a one-day affair, either...the rally is designed to continue online until congress acts...a coalition of over 50 organizations, led by the aclu and amnesty international, is recruiting supporters through an official website; senate judiciary chairman pat leahy started a website asking people to pressure his senate colleagues into supporting the habeas bill; and moveon has launched a new campaign to end torture, pass habeas legislation and restore the rule of law... moveon organizer nita chaudhary is leading the important effort, which includes support from retired generals robert gard and john johns, who spoke out in favor of closing guantanamo this week...
here in nashville we will likely have to schedule our lobby visit a couple of weeks but you can check and see if a delegation from your state has anything lined up by clicking here...
today demonstrated that this has become a mainstream bipartisan issue...david keen, chairman of the american conservative union, spoke at the rally and said his presence proves opposing illegal imprisonment knows no political boundaries...
"I'm here today because as a conservative I believe that America is the greatest and freest nation on the face of the earth...And I want to do what I can to make sure that my children and their children will be able to say the same."
as a sidebar enjoy this episode of this american life and their presentation of habeas schmabeas...
peace out <3
No comments:
Post a Comment