A multi-media presentation with an ongoing slide show of art against torture.

Eleven years since the building of the US prison at Guantánamo, and nine years after disclosures of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, US policy has settled into de facto indefinite detention of thousands.  Included in the Democratic Party talking points of 2008 was a call to close Guantánamo; in 2012 they did not discuss it.  Meanwhile, the largest body of prisoners held without the right to habeas corpus is in the US prison at Bagram, Afghanistan.   The majority of prisoners at Guantánamo began a hunger strike in Feburary 2013 as a desperate call for public attention, as conditions for them have worsened under Obama.

The provisions of the National Defense Authoirzation Act of 2012 are still in force, despite court challenges, allowing the president to order US citizens and others who are "part of or substantially supported al Queda, the Taliban or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners" and anyone who commits a "belligerent act" against the US to be held indefinitely without charge.

Speakers:

Golnaz Fakhimi, International Justice Network

Jeremy Varon is a Professor of History at the New School for Social Research, who teaches and writes about social movements and political protest. He is a long time organizer with Witness Against Torture.

Debra Sweet is Director of World Can’t Wait, initiated in 2005 to drive out the Bush regime & reverse the direction it launched.  WCW continues efforts to stop the crimes of our government.  Debra worked with abortion providers for 25  years, organizing community support & helping withstand anti-abortion violence.  Since the age of 19, when she confronted Nixon in a face-to-face event & told him to stop the war in Vietnam, she has been a leader in the opposition to US wars and invasions.