Washington, DC: Mark seven years of Detention and Torture at Guantanamo

January 11, 2009 at 12:45pm
Gather at DuPont Circle Park

Mark seven years of Detention and Torture at Guantanamo. Join us to make it the last time we come to Washington to demand the closing of the detention camp at Guantanamo and an end to torture!

Jan 11 we begin a 10-day fast as well as the following events:

Part One: 12:45pm-1:15pm Gather at DuPont Circle Park.

• Frida Berrigan, organizer with Witness Against Torture from Brooklyn, New York. Witness Against Torture’s 100 Days Campaign to Close Guantanamo and End Torture brings together a coalition of groups and individuals who will take part in demonstrations, educate Congress and the public, and engage in nonviolent direct action.
• Michael "Wes" Macleod-Ball, chief legislative and policy counsel for the ACLU's Washington Legislative Office. ACLU Close Guantanamo Page.
• Njambi Good, Amnesty International, Campaign Director for Denounce Torture project. Amnesty is urging the U.S. President-elect Barack Obama to make human rights central to his new administration. The organization is calling for certain concrete steps in his first 100 days in office that would demonstrate a genuine commitment to bringing the United States into line with its international obligations.
• Valerie Lucznikowska, September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. Valerie is a New Yorker whose nephew Adam Arias died in the World Trade Center.
• Hector Aristizabal from Medellin, Colombia and currently lives in Pasadena, CA. Hector’s commitment to the human rights work forced him to leave his country in 1989 due to death threats. He is a theater director and actor and a practitioner of the techniques known as Theater of the Oppressed, developed by Brazilian Augusto Boal. Hector is also a member of The Colombia Peace Project, which aims to educate Americans on the U.S. role in war torn Colombia and build up grassroots solidarity with the millions of Colombians who support a peaceful, negotiated solution to the conflict.

Part Two: 1:15pm-2:00pm Procession of Guantanamo Prisoners through streets of Washington.

Part Three: 2:00pm-2:30pm Return to DuPont Circle Park.

• Demissie Abebe, Executive Director, Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition.
• Linda Gustitus, President, National Religious Coalition Against Torture.
• Col. Ann Wright (ret)
• Anna Brown, Witness Against Torture

Conclusion: Theater Against Torture

Later, meet at 7pm - Huong Peace Art Mural, 3336 M Street, NW, Washington, DC. - Presentations by Hector Aristizabal, Torture Survivor, Theatre Director and Actor & Witness Against Torture.