Strategy Session on Wednesday
You are invited to attend a strategy session on Wednesday evening at 7:00 at 4542 Gibson in Forest Park Southeast. We will NOT be bannering or doing an action at the stadium on Wednesday.
Requiem for Habeas Corpus
Today, October 17, George Bush signs into law the Military Commissions Act of 2006. Its promulgation will grant amnesty to torturers and eliminate habeas corpus for those detained as enemy combatants.
We invite you to listen to and share this haunting Requiem for Habeas Corpus, composed and sung by Suzanne Renard.
We will use it as part of our Teach-In/Speak-Out and Rally today at Bonhomme and S. Hanley.
Bring your voice and join us! 1PM for the Teach-In/Speak-Out and delegations to Senator Bond's office. 5PM for the Rally and March through Clayton.
Say NO to the Tools of Tyranny
On Tuesday, October 17, George Bush is expected to sign the Military Commissions Act of 2006. Among other things, the legislation will expand the definition of "enemy combatant" and deny them a right to habeas corpus. The administration will be allowed to designate anyone, anywhere as an enemy combatant and then hold them indefinitely without charge.
Join us TUESDAY at Bonhomme and S. Hanley from 1:00 until 5:00 for a Teach-In around the issues of habeas corpus rights and torture followed by a Rush Hour Rally.
Check back here for further details. We are looking for teach-in participants as well as those who would like to leaflet, banner, and visit the office of Senator Kit Bond.
A planning meeting will be held Saturday, October 14 from 3-5 at CTSA, 1077 S. Newstead. Please come and bring others.
You can download a flyer, modify it as you wish, and distribute.
North Carolinians Continue Pressure on Aero Contractors
STN on WUNC's The State of Things
A private charter aircraft company in North Carolina has been named, along with the CIA, in an ACLU lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges Aero Contractors and two other private companies were involved with the CIA-led extraordinary rendition and torture of a German citizen, Khaled El-Masri. Now, a group of North Carolina activists want local and state authorities to investigate Aero Contractors, and hold the company accountable for any illegal activity it may be involved with. Host Frank Stasio talks with Patrick O’Neill, member of the group Stop Torture Now, about his group’s effort to draw attention to the issue. He also talks with Scott Silliman, executive director at the Center on Law, Ethics, and National Security at the Duke University Law School, about the ACLU case and other legal efforts to bring civil and criminal charges against individuals and corporations working under contract with the CIA. Can and should private companies like Aero Contractors be held accountable?
Listen to the February 15th broadcast of The State of Things. This is a 40-minute broadcast that includes listener calls.
Aero Torture Taxi Flies from Kinston, NC
We arrived this morning at Global TransPark in Kinston, NC, where we wrapped yellow crime scene tape around the hangar owned by Aero Contractors. Aero houses its Boeing 737 Business Jet in Kinston and flies "extraordinary rendition" missions across the globe.
We were met by Lenoir County sheriff deputies, but they did not interfere with our attempts to deliver a copy of the indictment to Aero. There were no arrests. We spent the rest of the afternoon delivering copies of the indictment to other members of the Global TransPark board and making inquiries at the airport.
Our actions raised awareness in Lenoir County and generated a fair amount of interest among the local press. Read this story that appeared in the Kinston Free Press.
Return Visit to Aero at Johnston County Airport
Immediately after being found guilty by District Court in Johnston County, we returned to the gate of Aero Contractors where we sought access in order to inspect flight logs and to take depositions from employees. We received no response from inside but gathered at the gate to call for an end to Aero's illegal activities.
Read the Raleigh News & Observer story about our trial.
Read the Smithfield Herald
story about our trial and return to Aero.
Trial and Press Conference in Johnston County, NC
Governor of North Carolina To Be Called to Account for Torture Flights
The group of 14 arrested in November while delivering an indictment to Aero Contractors' offices and hangar at the Johnston County, NC, airport will stand trial Thursday, January 5, in Johnston County court on charges of second-degree trespass.
Patrick O'Neill of Garner, NC, discusses trial strategy with other defendants on Wednesday evening, including Stephanie Erickson of Raleigh and Gerald Surh of Carrboro, and Mark Chmiel of St. Louis and Kathy Kelly of Chicago.
Back in November we also delivered copies of the indictment to members of the Johnston County Board of Commissioners and the airport manager, calling on them to take action against Aero's for its involvement in the CIA program of "extraordinary rendition."
Immediately after the court appearance on Thursday, members of Stop Torture Now and others from North Carolina will return to Aero's hangar in order to seek access to Aero's premises to carry out our own investigation of their flight logs and to take depositions from their employees.
Throughout the day on Thursday, other members of our group will deliver copies of the indictment to Michael Easley, the governor of North Carolina, and to other state officials in Raleigh. Earley chairs the board of Global TransPark Authority, a state airport in Kinston, NC, that is the site of a second Aero Contractors hangar. Aero uses its hangar in Kinston to house its Boeing business jet, a plane that has been linked to extraordinary rendition flights.
Hedy Epstein and Jerry King of St. Louis meet on Wednesday evening with Christina Cowger and Jane Hunt of Raleigh to plan delivery of the indictment to Governor Easley and other officials on Thursday, January 5.
On Friday, January 6, members of Stop Torture Now will travel to Kinston for further action against Aero Contractors. We will visit the Aero hangar pictured below. For further information about Global Transpark, visit their website.
Further details will be posted here as they become available or call 314-249-7890. Here is a copy of the press release.
Archive of Recent Articles on Torture and Rendition
We maintain an archive of recent articles on a range of topics related to torture, especially Guantanamo and rendition. Bookmark this site and return to it often: Torture Article Archive.
Hub Europe? -- The Extent of US Gulag and Torture Taxi Routes
There is mounting pressure from the EU for the United States to acknowledge the extent of its network of secret prisons and to end the practice of "extraordinary rendition." Click on this map to see details of the locations and routes as published recently in Germany in Der Spiegel.
Der Spiegel also reports that the CIA has used German airspace for at least 437 CIA flights. Click on the photo to read the full story.
You Can Stop the CIA Torture Taxi
Read about our action on November 18 in Johnston County. Read the indictment we delivered. After you know the fact, we really encourage you to take your own action to shut down the CIA Torture Taxi.
We have delivered an indictment to Aero Contractors charging them with violations of US and international laws prohibiting torture and have visited members of the Johnston County Commissioners and the Airport Manager asking them to take action. Follow up with them.
Let's haunt the county officials by email, phone, or personal visit if you're in the area.
Here's how to email them.
Here's how to phone them.
We would also greatly appreciate any financial help you can offer to defray the costs of the action on the 18th and help us get ready for our upcoming trial and the Peoples Tribunal being planned to coincide with it. Here's info about who we are and how to donate.
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