4th QUIT Conference - last call

Dear Friend,

I know how you feel: who wants to think about the Quaker Conference on Torture & Accountability (9/24-26/2010) over Labor Day weekend?
Even if the conference has a superb set of speakers and brainstorming sessions.
Even if it will kickstart the work of ending this awful blot on our national conscience.
Even if it could change our future.
Yours. Mine. Our children’s.
I mean, it’s holiday time. The “last hurrah” of summer.
And don’t we all know it’s been a long, hot, climate change, hard times kind of summer?
Yes, we know.
So go ahead and kick back. Take a break. Get some sun, surf, or just chill from the heavy stuff.
We're with you.
It's all good. Don’t think about it.
Just do it: go to www.quit-torture-now.org and register online.
It only takes a few minutes.
Then forget about it, and have an outrageous holiday.
Don’t reflect on all the great programming until after you’re back.
Never mind about the chances to do planning and networking.
They’ll keep til you’re rested up.
We won’t even mention the great food and serene atmosphere of the Quaker Center at Ben Lomond.
(No, we won’t mention it; some might think it’s really a vacation.)
But it’s not. The conference will be serious work, on an issue that’s shaping our future.
All the more reason to register now: so you can quit being serious about it til you’re back in the regular routine. When you’re looking ahead to autumn, the full-steam-ahead school year and all that goes with them.
The conference will be there, on the list. A memorable part of it, in fact.
But we’re not going to dwell on that.
Because now it’s time to party.
Register. Then party.
See you there.

John Calvi

PS. It only takes a few minutes to register: www.quit-torture-now.org . Then go get those bags of ice.

Hector Aristizabal at QUIT 4 Sept 24-26 Quaker Center Ben Lomond CA

Dear All,

When The Quaker Initiative to End Torture – QUIT began its work in May of 2005, we began to look for teachers who could show us the various aspects of the torture industrial complex. One of the very first talented people we found was Hector Aristizabal. He taught at QUIT conferences in Ottawa and twice at Guilford. And now we are very happy have the blessing of his good work at QUIT 4 September 24-26 at Quaker Center in Ben Lomond, CA. Check out registration – www.quit-torture-now.org

Hector is a native from Medellin Colombia and currently lives in Pasadena CA. Hector’s commitment to the human rights work forced him to leave his country in 1989 due to death threats. Hector holds an MA degree in Psychology from the Antioquia University in Medellin, Colombia and a degree as a Marriage Family Therapist from Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena.

During the last 15 years Hector’s main work and interest has been on the use of Theater of The Oppressed techniques, traditional myths and story telling as a way to combine theater, drumming, and dance with psychotherapy in the creation of “modern rituals” as a way to address the healing needs of many of our communities. In his recent book Blessing next to the Wound Hector talks of his transformation from torture victim to healer.

Hope to see you there,

John Calvi
Founding convener QUIT

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

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

One More Thing Needed - 4th QUIT Conference Sept 24-26 Quaker Center, Ben Lomond, CA

The 4th Quaker Initiative to End Torture Conference is all ready to go! The site is in the beautiful Redwood Forests of Ben Lomond, CA. We’ve leased the entire of Quaker Center, an intimate conference center known for good food and comfort in a quiet, natural setting.

We’ve 3 renowned experts on American torture as our speakers. Scott Horton is a human rights attorney and author of Harper’s Magzine No Comment column- http://harpers.org/subjects/NoComment - his overview of torture’s legal scene is a must read and makes him one of the most in-demand speakers. Fr. Roy Bourgeois is the founder of School of the America’s Watch. For 2 decades he’s collected information about America’s instruction of torture and formed the largest annual protest in American history. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize last year by the American Friends Service Committee. Dr. Terry Kupers is the author of Prison Madness: The Mental Health Crisis Behind Bars and What We Must Do About It. He’s expertise on torture and abuse in American prisons is known to Congress and courtrooms across the country.

This will be the best QUIT conference yet. Everything is set to go September 24-26. Except one thing- registration is lagging. If you’ve been intending to register- now is the time. If you go on-line right now – www.quit-torture-now.org - and register, QUIT can be sure to go ahead. We would love to share all we’ve organized for the past year. It’s going to be a great gathering of dedicated people doing good and important work.

Thanks, John Calvi – founding convener QUIT

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

It Takes Just a Little More Than A Minute

Dear Friend,

Our efforts in QUIT (The Quaker Initiative to end Torture) have been blessed with many minutes of support. One of the most recent came from Dallas Meeting, which said, in part:
“Dallas Friends Meeting reaffirms its support of the Quaker Initiative to End Torture, its educational programs, and its commitment to bringing an end to torture.
“We realize that the end of torture will not come about soon and may be the work of many lifetimes, but we have no doubt that acts of torture are counter to the spirit of love and light that Friends have given witness to for almost 400 years.
“We are holding the Fourth QUIT Conference, its attendees and program leaders, in the light as they continue this vital work.”

At QUIT we're grateful for that expression of support. We hope other Friends will follow its counsel and join together at the QUIT Conference at Quaker Center in California, Sept. 24-26 2010.

The conference is important to further what Baltimore Yearly Meeting added to this chorus, when it urged Friends “to find ways take up such a witness, by public education and organized effort.” The QUIT conference will provide both.

Besides compelling speakers such as Scott Horton andRoy Bourgeois, the conference will include opportunities to plan and strengthen the long work for accountability among Friends and others, especially on the West Coast.

More details of the conference schedule are available here: http://www.quit-torture-now.org/horton.htm

Online registration takes only a few minutes at:
http://www.quit-torture-now.org/quit4_registration.htm

“Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured.” Hebrews 13:3 NRSV
“Recognizing that of God in every person, we condemn the use of torture for any purpose by any person, group, or government. Torture by any means is immoral. It debases the humanity of the tortured, the torturer, and those who have knowledge of it. . . .
“The acceptance of torture is making our society an international pariah. We appeal to Friends and others everywhere to take up this concern and follow it through. Let us bear down into the work of bringing this immoral practice into the Light. Let us do all we can to bring about the day when torture is banished from our country and from our planet.”

Help put these wonderful minutes into action. Please Join us at the Fourth Quaker Conference on Torture, Sept. 24-26.

Peace,
John Calvi
Founding convener of QUIT

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

4th QUIT Conference Sept. 24-26 2010 Quaker Center Ben Lomond CA

Dear Friend,

Did you read about Jay Bybee's recent "admissions" regarding US torture at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and other prisons?

At the Quaker Conference on Torture, Sept. 24-26 at Quaker Center in Ben Lomond CA, seeking accountability for the actions of officials like Bybee will be part of the agenda. We hope you'll join us there, and support this work.

Bybee is currently a judge on the US Court of Appeals in San Francisco. He holds this powerful post depite being one of the main authors of the notorious "torture memo," which formed the supposed legal basis for the US torture program. Bybee drafted his memo in 2002 for the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. It was later withdrawn and repudiated by the same agency.

At first glance, Bybee's recent admissions to a Congressional committee might seem startling and even incriminating: he acknowledged that detainees--most of whom were later released without charge--were tortured. And torture is (or at least once was) a crime under US law.

Read more closely, all Bybee really said was that some torturers went too far in carrying out their orders.

Went too far? How? Torture victims died, for one thing; and for another, word of the abuse leaked out, producing a rising chorus of calls for holding accountable those who built and ran this system --including Jay Bybee.

Bybee regretted the negative publicity his own role has received -- but he said "I am going to stand by the memo." "We took a muscular view of presidential authority," Bybee said. "I wasn't running a debating society, and I wasn't running a law school." Instead, he was establishing torture as a policy of the US government. Unfortunately, that basic policy still stands, and Jay Bybee still sits on one of the highest courts in the land.

A government that can torture with impunity has laid the foundation of tyranny. The Quaker Torture Conference is part of the work of overturning this torture policy, dismantling the torture network, and bringing redress to torture victims and justice to perpetrators.

This effort ranks with the epic struggle against slavery in its importance. Please join us, Sept. 24-26. You can register online now at: http://www.quit-torture-now.org

And please pass this message on to others.
John Calvi QUIT Convener

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

4th QUIT Conference - Torture & Accountability Sept 24-26 QUAKER CENTER Ben Lomond, CA

Dear Friend,

We wish we didn’t need a Quaker Conference on Torture in 2010. But we do. And we hope you, or someone from your meeting community, will join us there.

It’s still hard for many to admit, but the United states government built an extensive “Torture Industrial Complex” as part of the “War On Terror.”
Torture is illegal, a crime under existing U.S. And international laws. There was hope it would end when a new administration came into office in early 2009.

Unfortunately, the actual progress has been very limited: Guantanamo remains open. Secret prisons are still operating in Afghanistan and, likely, elsewhere. The official ban on torture techniques is limited in its applicability.

And perhaps worst of all, none of those who designed or carried out the U.S. torture program has been held accountable. Nor have any of the thousands of victims later released as innocent received compensation, or even an apology.

We think accountability today is the best way to prevent torture in the future. Other countries, including Canada and England, have begun accountability investigations. But the U.S. government is still refusing to follow suit.

It will take persistent and determined effort to root out the “Torture Industrial Complex.” The 2010 Quaker Conference on Torture is one more step toward the goal.

Won’t you take the step, and join us?

Peace,

John Calvi, Convener
QUIT: The Quaker Initiative to End Torture
Quaker Conference on Torture & Accountability
September 24-26, 2010 - Quaker Center-California
Register online NOW at: www.quit-torture-now.org