Brain Drain Blog

Posts Tagged ‘ACLU’

From the ACLU:

This Friday, you can join thousands of people across the country in marking a sad anniversary with an act of hope.

The first prisoners arrived at the U.S. prison at Guant?namo Bay on January 11, 2002. Guant?namo quickly became an international embarrassment. It has made a mockery of our laws and values for six long years. We won?t allow seven; this is the year we are going to end the national disgrace.

Nationwide, the ACLU has set January 11th as a day of protest, declaring that it?s long past time that we put an end to illegality and close down Guant?namo. The ACLU and organizations across the country are asking people of conscience to wear orange to protest Guant?namo. I hope you will consider standing in solidarity by wearing orange on Friday as well.

Guant?namo is a reminder that fundamental values of justice and fairness can sometimes be violated by the very government entrusted with upholding them. That?s why we hope you will get involved in one of the following ways:

Pledge to stand up for American ideals and values. Sign the Pledge. And ask your friends to get involved.

Throughout this week, there will be events across the country- protests, prayer vigils, marches, and more – to bring focus to the injustices being perpetrated at Guant?namo.

Check out the materials available online: you can print out a poster and fact sheet, download a blog badge and get a toolkit with tools and tips on how to get further involved on January 11th.We?re running online ads on over 100 blogs to raise awareness and ignite further activism in new audiences. If you have a blog, please consider downloading and posting a badge, and blog about closing Guant?namo this week. Let us know about your blog and we?ll keep you on the inside track with updates, interviews and additional resources.

Guant?namo has become a stain on our nation?s honor. That is why it is so important you join the hundreds of thousands of Americans who are demanding the closure of the prison at Guant?namo on January 11th.

Thank you for standing with people of conscience to demand the US government close Guant?namo once and for all.

Thank you,

Anthony D. Romero
Executive Director ACLU

P.S. There is so much more we can do to spread the word and encourage others to join in this protest. Check here for more ways to get involved.

? ACLU, 125 Broad Street, 18th Floor New York, NY 10004

The term “Gitmo-mentum” was coined by Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU, to describe the growing support behind the restoration of our Constitution and the closure of Guantanamo Bay.

Notes from the?June 26th, 2007 Day of Action to Restore Law and Justice.

As I mentioned in?a previous post, I?traveled to Washington DC calling for the?restoration of?habeas corpus,?the closure of?Guantanamo Bay (and other?torture facilities?like it), and?for repairing portions of the?Military Commisions Act?which give?the President sole power as? judge, jury and jailer.

Although this was one of the smallest rallies I’ve attended, it?was also one of the best organized and?most powerful.?Attendance reached about 4,000, but we represented millions. It?was a pleasure to see,?first hand,?Senetor Leahy?hold our petitions in the air with emphatic support after hearing him say, in essence,?that the war on terror is no excuse for torture.?A most?poignant?speaker was?Sister Diana Ortiz, Executive Director of Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International. Her lasting horrors?from unwarranted torture?moved me in a way I cannot explain.?You can find?a full list of speakers and video clips by visiting the ACLU?website.

After getting all fired up, activists from every state?stormed the Hill. This was the first time I have been?part of?a lobbying session and it was a thrill. I have posted?pictures?of the rally and of our Albany/Renssealear County?based group preparing to lobby the offices of Senator Clinton and Representative Gillibrand.

The following?progress report was sent out on July 6th by Anthony D. Romero, the Executive Director of the ACLU:

It was overwhelming to see so many people in Upper Senate Park as we delivered more than 250,000 petitions to restore our rights. Together with our partners ? more than 85 of them ? we represented millions of people.

More than 4,000 of us, from every state in the nation, rallied and then stormed Capitol Hill for meetings with Members of Congress, demanding that we restore the Constitution. Thousands more who couldn?t make it in person took action from home. Since the Day of Action we’ve seen real progress ? and more is?in the works. Here?s just a small sample:

• In less than 24 hours, five lawmakers signed on as co-sponsors of critical habeas restoration bills. And the list of co-sponsors has continued to grow this past week.? Just since June 26th, two senators co-sponsored the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act, four?representatives co-sponsored the Restoring the Constitution Act, and three?representatives co-sponsored the House?s version of the?Habeas Corpus Restoration Act.? We expect more activity and co-sponsors in the coming weeks.
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• Over 140 representatives signed an open letter to President Bush urging him to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay on Friday, June 29th.? You can read the letter and see if your representative signed here.
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• Rally speaker Senator Leahy has promised to do everything he can to get a floor vote on restoring habeas corpus in the Senate in the coming weeks.?You?ll be hearing from us with more details and a call to action whenever this happens.?See Senator Leahy?s webpage, featuring the day of action, here.
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• The Supreme Court decided to review an appeal by Guantanamo detainees. The detainees are seeking to challenge the legality of their detention in federal court.? The Court had previously declined to hear the appeal in April, but reversed course in an order issued on Friday, the final day of the Supreme Court Term.? For more insight into this unique and highly unusual turn of events read Gabe Rottman?s post on our Find Habeas blog.

I’m grateful for this update. It’s fabulous to know that there has been measurable success and that the people still do have the power to create change, even without the coverage of the “liberal” media.

June 26th – Day of Action to Restore Law and Justice

It’s 0′dark hundred. Generally unfamiliar with this part of the day, I’m?making a?trial run for tomorrow’s journey to Washington DC. The bus leaves at 3 a.m.?and I still need to get my sign and tee shirt together.

I’m off to fight for the restoration of Habeus Corpus and the closing of Guantanamo Bay. This administration may think?it has?the power to revise the constitution at will, Bush may think “It’s just a piece of paper,” but I’m not buying it.

Torturing hundreds of terror suspects who have yet to be charged with any viable evidence,?human beings who have been traded to the military for a reward?or who have been turned in falsley by those who want to save themselves, it is unconscionable to keep these people prisoners indefinitely. The families who have suffered without fathers, husbands and brothers, the men who have been released without apology only to be?banished by their own country, the children who were imprisoned at fifteen and are now adults… nothing breeds fruitful terror more than this type of arrogant injustice.?And to think that this has been allowed to continue for?five full years.

It’s time for the citizens of the United States?to make our politicians acknowledge the International Acts of the Geneva Convention, not bow with eyes closed to a president on a crusade just as dangerous as Bin Laden’s. Obviously, Guantanamo is just the tip of the iceburgh, but it also the greatest symbol of our country’s own horror and arrogance.

If you too would?like to fight for the?restoration of?human and?constitutional rights?pulverized by?Resident Bush, those?rights which remain?defenseless in the hands of a gutless Congress,?read the ACLU petition.?Take back the power?as “We the People.” Sign today and I’ll be glad to hand deliver?your sentiment?in person tomorrow… along?side the thousands of concerned citizens from all over the country who will be pouring into our nation’s?Capital.

The ACLU is not alone in this fight.
Visit the following organizations for more info:
Amnesty International
Human Rights Watch
And many, many more…

The Executive Office (and Cheney’s too) does?NOT equal unlimited power!

“I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power.” — Thomas Jefferson to William C. Jarvis, 1820