QUIT 4th Conference 9/24-26/2010 Ben Lomond, CA

Dear Friend,

Several questions are bothering me today. Do they bother you too? Does it bother you that Jay Bybee sits as a federal judge after defying US and international law to make torture legal? If so, coming to the 2010 QUIT Conference on Torture & Accountability is a way of putting your feelings into action. (QUIT: The Quaker Initiative to end Torture.)

And what about John Yoo? Is it okay for him to green-light waterboarding and then go blithely back to teaching “law” at a distinguished California law school? If you think this is a disgrace, the Conference (September 24-26 at Quaker Center) is the place to put words into concrete effort.

Then there's Jeppesen Dataplan: when scores -- more likely hundreds – of “torture taxis” took off from an airfield in North Carolina, those flights were planned and coordinated in San Jose, from Jeppesen's faceless offices. The ACLU has sued Jeppesen. But more is needed.

The QUIT Torture Conference is the time to gather and find ways to broaden the challenge. Modern American torture: it's not just a few men in black masks beating blindfolded Muslims in Guantanamo or Abu Ghraib. It's a far-flung, complicated network, well represented on the West Coast. How well represented? It goes beyond Yoo, Bybee and Jeppesen. When investigators tracked down a CIA front company for torture planes, the trail led to a Reno office building, and a prominent Nevada Republican politician's lobby firm. And there's more we could include, but space is limited.

Unfortunately, the network is still largely in place, even after the change of administration in Washington. The new “ban” on torture came with significant loopholes. Guantanamo is not yet closed. Efforts to hold the torturers and their masters accountable have hit a stone wall. But many are chipping way at that wall.

At the QUIT conference, we'll hear from some of the most effective anti-torture and accountability activists:

* Scott Horton, who broke the story of the secret “prison-within-a-prison” at Guantanamo, and the prisoners who were murdered there.

* Father Roy Bourgeois, who has spearheaded the campaign to close the School of the Americas, and its torture academy.

* Dr. Terry Kupers, who has helped expose the extent of torture in prisons across the US.

And we'll have time for brainstorming to turn their information and inspiration into plans for action. The work to end torture is a long-term struggle. The 2010 QUIT Conference is one important step on that long journey.

Yet one more thing is bothering me: as I'm writing this, registrations for the QUIT conference are below our expectations. If torture is a concern for you, and you've been thinking about attending, we need to hear from you. Or if someone you know is considering it, please pass this note on to them. Torture won't end unless we make that happen.

Peace, John Calvi, Convener

PS. By the way, you don't have to be a Quaker to attend the QUIT Conference. All who want to end this practice are welcome and urged to attend. Online registration is easy, here: http://www.quit-torture-now.org/

John Calvi
calvij@sover.net
802/387-4789
PO Box 301 Putney VT 05346 USA
www.johncalvi.com
http://johncalvi.blogspot.com
www.quit-torture-now.org