(ACTION ITEM) Stop the torture bill
Sep. 26th, 2006 02:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdNormally, I have a mailing list for this kind of thing. This is too important to be left there.
This is an ACTION ITEM against President Bush's torture legalisation bill. If you want any response to matter at all, you must take action immediately Last I heard, the bill modifying the War Crimes Act was still in committee. You can see my discussion of the summary of changes here. The youtube link near the bottom is a link to some short bits of the testimony against it.
I think Andrew Sullivan puts it well here:
Don't think this just applies for foreigners, either. If that's your excuse for not bothering, throw out that excuse. It doesn't; the Bush administration has already detained Americans and I have no reason to believe they wouldn't do it again, or successor administrations wouldn't do it even more freely. If you ever have done or are ever going to do anything political, do this. Stop. This. Bill. Email or phone your Senator and Representative saying they must vote against that any bill which includes:
* Any deviation from Geneva Convention Common Article 3 that will lead to the cruel and degrading treatment of detainees in prisons
* Any trials that utilize coerced or secret evidence
* Interrogation techniques that allow torture or inhumane punishment
* The President to interpret “the meaning and application” of the Geneva Convention
Or you can just refer to the "Torture bill" or the "McCain compromise" or the modifications to the War Crimes Act and I imagine they'll know what you're talking about.
The Congressional switchboard number: 202-224-3121. You can call and ask to be transferred to your Representative and Senator(s).
Washington State contact information:
Stop This Bill
26 September 2006, 4:12pm Eastern Daylight Time
andrewsullivan.com
http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/2006/09/stop_this_bill.html
A series of impassioned pleas on Capitol Hill - from the military, Catholic bishops, intelligence experts and others - not to pass a bill allowing the president the right to seize anyone in this country, detain him or her without charges indefinitely and torture them in secret. Please do not look away. Fight back - for your freedom.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXI-MiQdL0U&eurl=
This is an ACTION ITEM against President Bush's torture legalisation bill. If you want any response to matter at all, you must take action immediately Last I heard, the bill modifying the War Crimes Act was still in committee. You can see my discussion of the summary of changes here. The youtube link near the bottom is a link to some short bits of the testimony against it.
I think Andrew Sullivan puts it well here:
All I know is that al Qaeda is winning battles every week now. And they are winning them because their aim of gutting Western liberty is shared by the president of the United States. The fact that we are finding this latest, chilling stuff out now - while this horrifying bill is being rushed into law to help rescue some midterms - is beyond belief. It must be stopped, filibustered, prevented. And anyone who cares about basic constitutional freedom - conservatives above all - should be in the forefront of stopping it.Also, here is a good article on the redefinition of "torture" not to include things we certainly called torture when the Soviets and the North Koreans were doing it.
Don't think this just applies for foreigners, either. If that's your excuse for not bothering, throw out that excuse. It doesn't; the Bush administration has already detained Americans and I have no reason to believe they wouldn't do it again, or successor administrations wouldn't do it even more freely. If you ever have done or are ever going to do anything political, do this. Stop. This. Bill. Email or phone your Senator and Representative saying they must vote against that any bill which includes:
* Any deviation from Geneva Convention Common Article 3 that will lead to the cruel and degrading treatment of detainees in prisons
* Any trials that utilize coerced or secret evidence
* Interrogation techniques that allow torture or inhumane punishment
* The President to interpret “the meaning and application” of the Geneva Convention
Or you can just refer to the "Torture bill" or the "McCain compromise" or the modifications to the War Crimes Act and I imagine they'll know what you're talking about.
The Congressional switchboard number: 202-224-3121. You can call and ask to be transferred to your Representative and Senator(s).
Washington State contact information:
Maria Cantwell: http://cantwell.senate.gov/contact/----- from andrewsullivan.com -----
Patty Murray: http://murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm
Jay Inslee (if you're in the first district): http://www.house.gov/inslee/contact/email.html
Stop This Bill
26 September 2006, 4:12pm Eastern Daylight Time
andrewsullivan.com
http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/2006/09/stop_this_bill.html
A series of impassioned pleas on Capitol Hill - from the military, Catholic bishops, intelligence experts and others - not to pass a bill allowing the president the right to seize anyone in this country, detain him or her without charges indefinitely and torture them in secret. Please do not look away. Fight back - for your freedom.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXI-MiQdL0U&eurl=
