June 26 – Los Angeles

 

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Santa Monica/6/20/2013/Tom Hofer

June 20,21,23,24,26  between 3PM and 7PM 

Pacific Coast HWY and McClure Tunnel

Small teams will do bannering vigils at various overpasses or other sites around town: Teams will create signs out of Deer Fencing and Letters out of Water Proof House Wrapping (some are ready for assembly and more can be made with supporting teams of 2-3 people)

Contact Kathleen Hernandez: 310-339-1770

Sign up Doodle.

 

 

Torture is Torture from Pelican Bay to Guantanamo Baye
June 26, 2013 - UN International Day 
in Support of Victims of Torture
Wednesday, June 26 Vigil: 10 AM -12 PM at 
West Los Angeles Federal Building (Wilshire and Federal)
 
Also, June 26 Vigil: 4:30PM-6:30PM at Pacific Palisades Park / Pacific Coast HWY
and McClure Tunnel Pedestrian Overpass.
SANTA MONICA AND WEST LA VIGILS MARK INTERNATIONAL DAY IN SUPPORT OF VICTIMS OF TORTURE
Contact: Kathleen Hernandez of Veterans for Peace, (310) 339-1770, e-mail: hernandezkathleen@hotmail.com
    Traditionally the United States has seen itself as a beacon of human rights. But in recent years, it has become notorious for torturing prisoners, both overseas and in the U.S. This practice violates the Eighth Amendment, Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions and the UN Convention Against Torture. To protest US government torture, a coalition of progressive groups will stage vigils in West Los Angeles and Santa Monica on Wednesday, June 26, International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. (June is also Torture Awareness Month.)
    In the morning, a vigil will be held at the Federal Building at Wilshire and Federal in West Los Angeles from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. In the afternoon, a second vigil will be held on the McClure Tunnel Pedestrian Overpass at Palisades Park and Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. (Media wishing to attend these events are encouraged to come at 11 a.m. for the West LA vigil and 5:30 p.m. for the Santa Monica vigil.)
    Participants at the vigils will express their solidarity with hunger strikers at Guantanamo Bay protesting their prolonged, arbitrary and tortuous imprisonment. They will also express solidarity with hunger strikers in the SHU (Special Housing Unit) of California’s notorious Pelican Bay Prison, where prisoners are held in solitary confinement for years and sometimes decades. Prolonged solitary confinement has been found by the United Nations to constitute torture.
    “Torture is torture, no matter where it is, whether it’s at Pelican Bay in California or Guantanamo Bay in Cuba,” says Kathleen Hernandez of Veterans for Peace. “It’s un-American and immoral.”
    Three members of Veterans for Peace, Elliott Adams, Diane Wilson and Tarak Kauf, are currently engaged in hunger strikes in sympathy with the Guantanamo and Pelican Bay hunger strikers and are available to be interviewed.
    The vigils are organized by Veterans for Peace, Code Pink, and Interfaith Communities United For Justice and Peace. Endorsers include March Forward, Progress Democrats of the Santa Monica Mountains, the Topanga Peace Alliance and the MLK Coaltition for Jobs, Justice and Peace, SOA Watch – LA.
 
Accessibility: Contact Kathleen Hernandez: 310-339-1770
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GTMO has been open:

U.S. Hunger Strikers

Hunger Striker's Blog

 U.S. Faster in Solidarity w/Gitmo & Pelican Bay Prisoners


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Foreground: EMT prepares the tool for the nasal intubation.       Background: U.S. Embassy, Buenos Aires, Argentina Middleground:...agony awaits. 


The feeding demo is extremely painful, yet it is done with consent. The long-term solidarity fast continues with nasogastric nourishment in front of U.S. governmental symbols of power. The twice-daily force-feeding of Gitmo hunger strikers is nonconsensual and therefore real torture by the standards sponsored by U.S. taxpayers and authorized by members of Congress who just raised the debt ceiling to nearly $17 trillion. President Obama's actions continue to belie his empty words "Close Guantánamo."  As Commander-in-Chief, he could easily order an end to what the Pentagon refuses to call "forced-feeding."   The force-feeding is premeditated  relentless forced penetration of plastic into their innermost sacred cavities !


Andrés Thomas Conteris - fasted on water and coconut water with vitamin and electrolyte supplements. Solidarity fast began July 8, 2013 with 30,000 hunger striking California prisoners urging fulfillment of 5 Core Demands of the Pelican Bay supermax prisoners.  Force-feeding protests began Sept. 6 & Sept. 25 in front of the White House & later in front of the Oakland Office of CA Dept of Corrections and Rehab (CDCR) to depict how prisoners in Guantánamo are tortured with force-feeding twice-daily and how CA prisoners as future hunger strikers have been threatened with a court order authorizing force-feeding.  On Oct 4 and Oct 8 he was tube-fed in front of the U.S. Embassies in Montevideo, Uruguay and Buenos Aires, Argentina. On Oct 15 a similar protest took place in Santiago, Chile.  On Friday, Oct 18 the feeding protest returns to Washington, DC outside a Federal Court hearing on the lawsuit challenging force-feeding in Guantánamo.  He is now on a maintenance fast losing about 1 pound per week, unlike the 5 pounds/week the first 11 weeks.  In January 2014 with the anniversary of Guantánamo on Jan. 11, the force feeding protests will recommence.  Please spread the word. 

Join a Rolling Fast

U.S. Hunger Strikers who have suspended their fast


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Diane Wilson - Water only 58 days (lost 48 lbs). Diane, co-founder of CodePink and member of Veterans for Peace, suspended her hunger strike on June 27, 2013 after detention following her arrest for scaling the White House fence the day before. She faced a jury trial in DC District Court on Sept. 5th, 2013.


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S. Brian Willson - Suspended Hunger Strike on June 10, 2013 after 31 days on 300cal/day, when a car accidentally hit him. Supporters continue a vigil with a rolling fast, in Portland, OR.

 

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Elliott Adams - Went 80 days on 300 cal/day from May 18, to August 4, 2013 losing 45 lbs.   He is past President of Veterans for Peace.

 


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Tarak Kauff - Ended fast on August 4, 2013 after 58 days on 300 cal/day since June 7.  He lost 29 lbs. On Board of Directors for Veterans for Peace.


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Cynthia Papermaster - After 84 days on 300 cal/day, Cynthia suspended her  hunger strike on Sep. 6 which began June 15, 2013. Code Pink member,  lost 35 lbs. The transfer of two Algerian prisoners on Aug. 29, 2013, inspired her to suspend her fast. 


Collaborative of CloseGitmo.net Organizations

- Arlington West Santa Monica

- Campaign for Alternatives to

   Isolated Confinement - NY

- Close Guantánamo.org

- Code Pink

- Global Exchange

- Fast for the Earth

- The Jericho Movement

- The Justice Campaign

- The London Guantánamo

  Campaign

- Meta Peace Team: "Pursuing peace

   through active nonviolence"

- Metta Center for Nonviolence

- NRCAT

- No more Guantánamos

- Nonviolence International

- Nuremberg Actions

- Office of the Americas

- Peaceworkers USA

- Save Shaker

- Stop Mass Incarceration

- Witness Against Torture

- The World Can't Wait

- Veterans for Peace

Pelican Bay Hunger Strike

Daily Updates

www.CAhungerstrike.net

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