September 21, the Berkeley City Council adopted this Resolution, endorsing a whole week of events. Approval by the official leadership of this "small city with a big reputation" will tell the country that ANY community can take a meaningful stand against the torture and demand its end.
The growing Organizing Committee for “Berkeley Says NO to Torture” Week welcomes your endorsement and support! The current list of initiators and participants:
Initiating organizations: World Can’t Wait, National Lawyers Guild (San Francisco), Progressive Democrats of America, Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute, National Accountability Action Network, Code Pink, FireJohnYoo.org, Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Social Justice Committee, and Rev. Kurt Kuhwald
Endorsers now include: Bill of Rights Defense Committee, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, Flashpoints Radio (KPFA), Haiti Action Committee, La Raza Centro Legal, Moe’s Bookstore, Revolution Books, School of the Americas Watch (SOAW) East Bay and SF chapters, Fr. Louis Vitale, OFM, WarCriminalsWatch.org, and Al Young (California Poet Laureate Emeritus)
We have also received a personal statement of support for “Berkeley Says NO To Torture” Week from internationally acclaimed artist Fernando Botero, to be soon published on our website.
Events Calendar
(the Calendar is at WeSayNoToTorture.net) includes the following events, with many more in planning stages. All locations are in Berkeley unless otherwise noted. All locations are wheelchair accessible unless otherwise noted:
Sun 10/10 at 7 pm
Author reading: Andy Worthington (The Guantanamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prisons) and Justine Sharrock (Tortured: When Good Soldiers Do Bad Things) read and discuss their work. Sponsored by Revolution Books, 2425 Channing Way (just below Telegraph Ave.)
Mon 10/11 at 7 pm
Film screening – Outside the Law: Stories from Guantanamo followed by Q /A with author and producer Andy Worthington. Sponsored by Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Social Justice Committee, Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar Street (at Bonita Ave.)
Tues 10/12 Daytime
Protest action at UC Berkeley Law (Boalt Hall) where Torture Professor John Yoo teaches constitutional law and a second class every Tuesday. Sponsored by World Can’t Wait and others. Boalt Hall is on Bancroft at College Ave.
Tues 10/12 Evening
The Giant John Yoo Debate. Join World Can’t Wait, lawyers, law students, and surprise guests for a real debate over Yoo’s theories and legal work defending torture. On the UC Berkeley Campus/Time TBA
Wed 10/13 4:30 pm
Defying Torture: The Art of Dissent. A conversation with historian/critic/activist Peter Selz and artist Clinton Fein. UC Berkeley Art Museum Theater, 2621 Durant Avenue
Wed 10/13 7 pm
Roundtable: Writers on Torture. Andy Worthington (see 10/10, 10/11), Justine Sharrock (see 10/10), and Barry Eisler (whose best-selling thriller “Inside Out” covers the real-life mystery of the destroyed CIA waterboarding videotapes). The authors will discuss their experience of writing about torture. Moderated by Shahid Buttar (Bill of Rights Defense Committee). University Lutheran Church, 2425 College Ave. (at Haste)
Thurs 10/14 at 7 pm
Forum on Torture and the Law, Torture and Human Rights. Marjorie Cohn (past president National Lawyers Guild, author Rules of Disengagement and Cowboy Republic), Andy Worthington (see 10/10, 10/11, 10/13), Shahid Buttar (see 10/13), and Debra Sweet (National Director, World Can’t Wait). Location TBA
Fri 10/15 Daytime
CLE credit class for attorneys. Taught by Marjorie Cohn (see Thurs 10/14) and other special guest lecturers. Registration information, class location and time TBA
Fri 10/15 Daytime
Panel on Psychologists and Torture. Featuring Adrianne Aron, Ruth Fallenbaum, Jeffrey Kaye. UC Berkeley Law, Booth Auditorium. Time TBA.
Fri 10/15 Evening
“Reckoning with Torture – An Evening of Conscience” Andy Worthington, Marjorie Cohn, Ray McGovern, Mimi Kennedy, devorah major, Jeffrey Kaye, Renee Saucedo, Col. Ann Wright, Fr. Louis Vitale OFM, Jason Leopold, Kathy Roberts, Abdi Soltani and more. UC Berkeley Law, Booth Auditorium. Time TBA. Hosted by the Boalt Alliance to Abolish Torture and the National Lawyers Guild, Boalt Chapter. [This powerful script originated by the ACLU and American PEN Center has been produced in New York and Washington, D.C., but never before on the West Coast.] This “Reckoning” performance will be followed by a reception with the readers and audience, tickets available by email reservation and at the performance.