NORTH CAROLINA
STOP TORTURE NOW
PO Box 50345
Raleigh, NC 27650
e-mail via:
contact AT ncstoptorturenow.net
(919) 834-4478
(evenings, or messages during business hours)
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What can you do to help end extraordinary rendition?
First and foremost, use our resources pages to learn about the criminal conduct your tax dollars support. Torture-by-proxy is as morally abhorrent as murder-for-hire.
Once you're convinced that torture is immoral, illegal and ineffective, share the message and teach your friends and neighbors.
In the words of one NCSTN activist, the most effective work is witness.
NCSTN actively seeks to diversify individual and group membership in our coalition. If you have suggestions, would like to host a speaker at your organization's meeting, or can assist in this initiative, please let us know.
***Write Your Congressional Representative
Visit the ACLU's excellent resource pages, and look to the bottom left for a link labeled: TAKE ACTION. This will guide you to a form for submitting questions to the House Judiciary Committee, whose chair, Rep. John Conyers, issued a subpoena on May 7 to the Vice President's Chief of Staff David Addington requiring his testimony at a June 26 hearing into the administration's and Justice Department's design, authorization and implementation of torture.
In addition to the fine list of questions the ACLU suggests, consider adding one or more of the following:
"In March, 2007, North Carolina's Attorney General told 22 state legislators that he had referred allegations of federal crimes committed in North Carolina by employees of Aero Contractors, Ltd.., to the Charlotte office of the FBI.
On April 23, Congressman Mel Watt asked FBI Director Robert Mueller for an update on that investigation. When will this update be shared with the public?"
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"Why does the CIA transfer captives to black site prisons and third countries where they have no access to legal counsel and are hidden from human rights and humanitarian monitoring and aid organizations such as the International Red Cross, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International?"
--
"Are private contractors used in the transfer of these captives to deceive our allies or to provide plausible deniability for their complicity in war crimes?"
Also, please revisit this page, as a guide or template for writing your Congressional Representative will be posted soon.
***
PLAN NOW TO JOIN NCSTN and the ACLU of NORTH CAROLINA TO LOBBY ON BEHALF OF H.B. 1682
Plan now to join the ACLU of North Carolina and NCSTN from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., Tuesday, June 17, to lobby the NC General Assembly to act on the NC Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission's observation that "the people of North Carolina do not condone torture and that it is contrary to who they are as Americans."
In preparation of the lobby day, consider gathering signatures from your neighbors and present your state elected official with this petition. And,
Pass the page around at the next meeting of:
Your church's social justice committee;
your garden club or bowling league; or
your poker gang or neighborhood association.Then, please recall that petitions are notoriously ineffective sitting on your desk.
***
WRITE YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND URGE A CONGRESSIONAL OR FBI INVESTIGATION OF AERO CONTRACTORS
On April 23, Congressman Mel Watt (D-12th District, NC) asked FBI Director Robert Mueller for an update on the investigation into Aero Contractors' support of the extaordinary rendition program during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee.
Watt noted during questioning of Mueller that the North Carolina Attorney General had referred the matter to the FBI more than a year ago following an inquiry from 22 state legislators. He also noted that three Aero employees had been indicted in Germany.
And, Watt wondered, when might Mr. Mueller provide the committee an update on an investigation of which Mueller claimed he was completely unaware.
Congressman Howard Coble (R-6th District, NC) also sits on the Judiciary committee.
Congressman Brad Miller (D-13th District, NC) sits on the House Foreign Affairs committee, which earlier -- during a special joint session with the House Judiciary -- heard testimony from and then apologized to Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen intercepted at JFK and flown to Syrian torture chambers by a private air carrier.
Arar was returned to Canada, where his government apologized and offered compensation for his mistreatment. So far, the U.S. administration has refused to admit anywrondoing.
Contact information for the NC Congressional delegation
(courtesy of NC Peace Action)The Attorney General can be reached at:
Attorney General Michael Mukasey
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001***
HOST A SCREENING OF OUTLAWED
Contact NCSTN to borrow a copy of Outlawed and host your own screening of a film that tells the story of two men whom the CIA captured and tortured as part of the extraordinary rendition program.
Be forewarned: This Witness productions film contains graphic descriptions of physical mutilation read by the family member of a man still in US custody at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
***
SEND MONEY!
Donations in support of NCSTN's work may be made payable to :
North Carolina Stop Torture Now
and mailed to:
PO Box 50345,
Raleigh, NC 27650
Questions about how to direct donations that may qualify as charitable, tax-deductible contributions should be directed to: contact AT ncstoptorturenow.net***
WANT TO DO EVEN MORE?
(1) Ask your elected representatives and candidates for public office:
"What action have you taken to sever North Carolina's link to kidnapping, extrajudicial detention and torture?"
"What will you do to ensure North Carolina is a torture free zone?"
Here are the questionnaires we sent every candidate for Governor, U.S. Senate or NC Attorney General. None of the candidates nominated during the May 6 primary has yet responded to our inquiries.
(2) Are you a plane spotter? Do you live within a few miles of the Johnston County Airport and own a radio scanner? If so, numerous allies have asked our help learning what planes Aero is now flying. Or, if you have an old, but functional VHF radio scanner, NCSTN could put it to good use. For details see our Planespotting pages
If you live in proximity to Johnston County Airport, Kinston JetPort, or Fayetteville Regional/Grannis Field, let us know so we can alert you when suspicious aircraft are incoming or outbound:
Introductory and background on North Carolina's Torture Taxis including pointers for volunteer plane spotters, is available: http://www.stlimc.org/newswire/display/947/index.php
(3) Can you devote some time to monitoring Arabic and Asian media outlets? Do you have language skills to help summarize and retell the human side of rendition as reported by victims and their families? If so, please let us know
(4) Join our listserve to learn of other upcoming opportunities. Visit the contact page to learn how.
(5) MORE? Check Act Against Torture's quick list of ten things you can do, with links to additional resources.
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Please report broken links or other concerns.
updated 11 May 2008, JMcI