Witness Against Torture marches to Clinton’s office (Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)
New York, NY – June 27, 2007. Tuesday, June 26th – the United Nations International Day of Action Against Torture – was observed in New York City with an interfaith service at St. Bartholomew’s Church in Midtown Manhattan: Buddhist prayer bells and meditational breathing; a Christian prayer for the victims of torture; a Jewish request for divine help – to “restore due process and the rule of law” in the US, and; an Islamic appeal to Allah – to grant the gift of mercy to the tortured and the gift of compassion to the torturers, our nation’s leaders who “are acting so unmercifully”. Following the service a long column, clad in orange “Shut Down Guantanamo” tshirts, wound it’s way past Chuck Schumer’s office – finally arriving at Hillary Clinton’s NYC office where a press conference and vigil was held. Turnout was very good, despite the intense heat and humidity.
Black shrouded coffins, placards calling for an to US torture of “enemy combatants”, none of whom have ever been convicted of a crime, and black hooded protesters clad in orange prison jumpsuits occupied the square in front of Presidential hopeful Clinton’s office space. As the press conference began, staffers from Schumer’s office appeared to announce that Schumer would meet with the group at some future point. Organizers called on Clinton to do the same and eventually received word from her staff that she would “continue to work to close Guantanamo”.
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Frida Berrigan of Witness Against Torture, who helped organize the press conference, introduced the speakers:
Sister Ann Montgomery, a Christian Peacemaker who has traveled to Iraq and to Guantanamo, recounted the personal stories of victims of US sponsored torture in Iraq.
Reverend Noel Chin of the United Methodist Church spoke about the need to restore our dignity by stopping the practice of torture wherever it occurs.
Michael Kendall, Archdeacon for Mission of the Episcopal diocese of New York, a fiery orator, said that “we (the US) have become a sadistic nation”. He urged the assembled to write their congresspeople and announced that the hooded Abu Ghraib figure has replaced the Statue of Liberty as our national symbol.
Rachel Kahn Troster, of Rabbis for Human Rights, called for the restoration “of habeas corpus and due process” citing the Jewish people’s understanding of the dangers and inhumanity of collective punishment.
Matthew Kenneth of Amnesty International called habeas corpus “the backbone of our rule of law in this country” and stated that “we need to hold on to the rule of law – the rule of law is what anchors us.”
Michael Ratner, of the Center for Constitutional Rights, argued that closing down Guantanamo is only the first step – “until we restore that right called habeas corpus we’re no better off” as prisoners’ rights can be violated in any location: “Guantanamo, Fort Leavenworth or Afghanistan…” Ratner went on to list a number of torture victims he has defended – all of whom the government denies victimizing “with a straight face” despite all of the evidence to the contrary. Ratner went on to say that Schumer and Clinton could deny funding to the torturers and thereby shut down the US torture centers worldwide, without a majority vote – rather than just signing a bill saying they oppose torture. “We’ve got to put the feet to the fire of Schumer and Clinton”, Ratner said. “This is unamerican … to torture and to keep secret CIA detention sites,” he added.
The press conference ended with Carmen Trotta of Catholic Worker demanding that not only must the detainees be charged and tried – but the architects of the torture policies of the US government must be charged, tried – and convicted.
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