Muusja Mailing List: TUESDAY - UU action!

[Lauren Culbert (lculbert]

TUESDAY! 
UUs called to urgent action -  re: the suspension of habeus corpus rights -
protest this provision of the Act. Please look below to see the Natl.
Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT)  Coordinating Committee's call
for demonstrations/vigils against the signing, scheduled to begin Tuesday,
10/17, 9am (EDT) 8am (CDT).
 
Let's join NRCAT - (UUSC is a member...) - and its Washington Region
affiliate in a nationwide effort to protest, at the announced time for
signing this Tuesday
 
THREE LOCAL ACTION OPTIONS - 
 
A demonstration/vigil will be held on the SE corner of 50th Street and
Halifax Ave W, Edina - near Lund's, starting at 8 am.  Everyone is invited
to come 
 
At 10am 10/17 joining our delegation calling on the Office of Congresswoman
Betty McCollum, 165 Western Ave, SW corner at Selby, down the outside
stairs, first office on left, to present Kendyl's sermon both printed and on
tape cassette.
 
At 11am 10/17 joining our delegation calling on our Attorney General Hatch,
NW corner of 1st floor, State Capitol, to present petitions that he
challenge the constitutionality of the Act on behalf of all Minnesotans
(perhaps in collaboration with other states' Attorneys General).
 
Contact for more info: Bill Weir

weirwilliam [at] msn.com 
 
 
 
 
 
 

U.S. Citizens' Signing Statement on the Military Commissions Act of 2006

We reject the Military Commissions Act 2006 passed by our US Congress.

WE REJECT the claim that the Act can subject legal residents of the United
States, as well as foreign citizens living in their own countries, to
summary arrest and indefinite detention with no hope of appeal. 

WE REJECT the claim that the Act gives the President any right to apply the
label of "enemy combatant" to anyone he wants.  

WE REJECT the claims that the Act can repudiate a half-century of
international precedent by allowing the President to decide on his own what
abusive interrogation methods he considers permissible and that his decision
can stay secret.

WE REJECT the claims that detainees in U.S. military prisons can lose the
basic right to challenge their imprisonment (writ of habeus corpus) and that
they can be held forever, with no access to a lawyer or to the courts.

WE REJECT the claims that the courts have no power to review any aspect of
this new system, except verdicts by military tribunals and that the act
limits appeals and bars legal actions based on the Geneva Conventions.

WE REJECT that the claim that coerced evidence - evidence obtained through
torture - is now permissible.

WE REJECT the claims that the US can narrow the definition of torture and
eliminate the recognition that rape is a form of torture.

Torture violates the basic dignity of the human person that all religions
hold dear. Torture degrades everyone involved: policymakers, perpetrators
and victims. It contradicts our nation's most cherished ideals.  Any policy
that permits torture and inhumane treatment is shocking and morally
intolerable. 

For these and other reasons, we reject the Military Commissions Act, even
though the President of our nation approves it with his signature 10/17/06.
We call upon the Attorney General of our state to seek action by the US
Supreme Court to strike down its unconstitutional provisions.

 ----page break---

We the undersigned Citizens of the United States add our names to the U.S.
Citizens' Signing Statement for the Military Commissions Act of 2006, and
express our support of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture,
whose coordinating committee members developed this statement.

On 2 or 3 lines: Signature/Print Name   Home Address
Phones/Email

Please make copies of this blank petition to give it to others who may wish
to sign also. 

Mail completed petitions to National Religious Campaign Against Torture
(NRCAT)

Attn: T.C. Morrow, CCTPP, 4500 Mass. Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20016. Thank
you.
 
(NOTE: The last three lines are intended for the bottom of the petition page
single-spaced.)
 
----- Original Message ----- 
Dear Members and Friends of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture:

The Washington Region Religious Campaign Against Torture will be holding a
demonstration/vigil at the White House to protest the signing of the
Military Commissions Act on Tuesday, October 17th at 9:00 A.M.  The
President is expected to sign the bill at 9:35 A.M.  We will gather in front
of the White House on the Lafayette Park side of the White House.  The
National Religious Campaign Against Torture, PeaceAction Montgomery, the
Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International, the Center
for Constitutional Rights, and Rabbis for Human Rights have asked to join us
in this demonstration.  

We will have several speakers, and we will have a mock coffin depicting the
demise of our most cherished values.  We will have a choir.  And, we will
have a People's Signing Statement, rejecting the Military Commissions Act
which everyone can sign. 

It is important, now, for us to get out the word about the date and time and
try to get as many people as possible to be there.  A flyer is attached that
you can forward to your contacts and post in your congregations.  (If the
attachment does not come through, you can download a flyer from the WRRCAT
website  <http://www.wrrcat.org/oct%2017%20flier.html> here.  It is also
copied and reproduced below Jeanne's name block at the end of the
letter.)http://www.peaceactionmc.org/NYT-ed.html

If you can have your faith leader mention the vigil in your religious
service next weekend, that would be immensely helpful.  We sense that a lot
of people are interested in showing their disgust at the passage of this
legislation.  To read an editorial published in the New York Times on
September 28, outlining some of the features of this bill, click
<http://www.peaceactionmc.org/NYT-ed.html> here.  You can also read comments
on this legislation by religious leaders on the WRRCAT website --
www.wrrcat.org -- scroll down to the green box on the left.

Please be advised that we may learn at a late date that the time for the
signing has changed, so we will need to be prepared to shift gears if that
happens.  Please check the WRRCAT website on Monday for any updates.  

Thank you for your commitment to this cause and your support. 

Linda Gustitus, Chair, WRRCAT 

P.S. from Jeanne:  Melissa Weintraub announced a Rabbis for Human Rights
project for those who are unable to come to the White House next Tuesday for
the signing.  Here it is, copied straight from the RHR mailing:

For those of us outside of Washington:

*       We are calling upon you to take an hour as near to 9 a.m. (EDT) as
you can and head to your local Post Office, coffee shops, or bookstores with
copies of the counter-statement for distribution to the public and copies of
the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) statement for the
public to sign . Click http://ga4.org/rhrna/signingstatement.html to print
out copies of the counter-statement for distribution.  For the NRCAT
statement click http://ga4.org/rhrna/signingstatement.html to print out a
petition form to gather signatures in support of the NRCAT statement. 

*       Invite those at the post office, coffee shop or bookstore to declare
their commitment to end torture by signing the NRCAT statement at the same
time that the President is signing this bill.  This would be a great time to
call on your congregants/students and upon like-minded fellow clergy to join
you in your vigil. The WRRCAT asks that leaders of each local vigil take a
moment after the fact to enter the names and addresses which they have
collected into the NRCAT website database. Click   to do this.

Whether you go to Lafayette Park or to your local community centers, do
notify your local press of your plan by submitting a press release to them.
Write your own or click here <http://ga4.org/ct/K7L4XNE1zmuQ/>  for a sample
press release.


 
Jeanne E. Herrick-Stare
Senior Fellow for Civil Liberties and Human Rights
Friends Committee on National Legislation
245 Second St., NE
Washington, DC 20002
202-547-6000 x 2513
jeanne [at] fcnl.org
www.fcnl.org
 
 
 
Join the Washington Region Religious Campaign Against Torture
In a Mourning Vigil to Protest the Military Commissions Act


This is the bill that legalizes torture and severe abuse, allows for
unlimited detentions, denies habeas corpus, and deeply shames America. 


President Bush has scheduled a signing ceremony to celebrate the speedy
enactment of this legislation.  We will have a vigil to mourn the violence
done to essential American values and to commit ourselves to their speedy
restoration.  


WHEN:  Tuesday, October 17th, 9 a.m. 


WHERE:  In front of the White House, facing Lafayette Park


WHAT:  A mourning vigil with speakers; an opportunity to participate in the
people's signing statement ceremony, rejecting the Military Commissions Act;
a choir.  


Check www.wrrcat.org for additional details and to confirm the date, which
may change.