Friday, February 23, 2007

UPDATE -- TOWARD ACTIONS IN MARCH 2007

UPDATE -- TOWARD ACTIONS IN MARCH 2007

Feb. 23, 2007

From:
Joe Mulligan, S.J.
Managua, Nicaragua
mull@ibw.com.ni
www.globalcalliraq.blogspot.com

Dear Friends,

On this blog you will find the GLOBAL CALL FOR NONVIOLENT CIVIL RESISTANCE TO END THE U.S.-LED MILITARY OCCUPATION OF IRAQ.

FIRST DATE OF INTERNATIONAL ACTIONS IN 2007: the days leading up to March 20, 2007, the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. During this time there will be massive demonstrations and actions in the U.S. and throughout the world. See, for example, Declaration of Peace at www.declarationofpeace.org
and Voices for Creative Nonviolence at http://www.vcnv.org/the-occupation-project-a-campaign-of-sustained-nonviolent-civil-disobedience-to-end-the-iraq-war

We suggest that our friends in the U.S. contact these two organizations and consider joining in their actions.

For those of you in other parts of the world, we suggest that you organize protest actions or demonstrations, whether involving civil disobedience or not,
on Thursday, March 15.

Please let me know of your organizing plans.
Please send me a report on your action on the afternoon or evening of March 15, with a picture if possible, so that I can compile the reports and send the news to the international media. In the U.S. a massive action will take place at the Pentagon on March 17, and our friends there will be very encouraged by our actions around the world and will report on them publicly.
Thus your action, even if it is a small one (e.g., a vigil or press conference), will have a significant impact as part of the Global Call actions around the world. Our goal is to have Global Call actions in at least ten countries outside the U.S.

If you are already planning an activity for some other day of the week in relation to the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, or if other groups are organizing an action for some other day besides March 15, more power to you! You may wish to consult the other organizers to see if they would welcome a non-violent civil disobedience component of the activity.

There is an urgent need for actions around the world. In the face of an international movement against the occupation, the Bush administration continues to stonewall and indeed to escalate U.S. forces in Iraq and to raise the level of military threat against Iran. Encouragingly, Great Britain and Denmark have announced cuts in the number of their forces in Iraq; the European Parliament has condemned the U.S. for abducting people in European countries and sending them to third countries for torture and interrogation; the Democrat-controlled U.S. Congress is expressing itself against the occupation; and resistance is growing within the U.S. military and among the people of the U.S. and other countries.

We must help these waves to become a huge world-wide tide of resistance against the militarism of the Bush administration.

For the text of the Call in Spanish, please see: www.ConvocatoriaMundialIrak.blogspot.com

Sincerely,

Joe Mulligan, S.J.
Managua, Nicaragua
mull@ibw.com.ni

Friday, January 12, 2007

NEWS RELEASE – JANUARY 12, 2007 – 9 p.m.

FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARRIVAL OF THE FIRST PRISONERS AT GUANTANAMO

Demonstration Held in Managua, Nicaragua to Protest Abuse of Prisoners

For pictures, please see below.

CHRISTIAN BASE COMMUNITIES
MANAGUA, NICARAGUA

Contact: Father Joseph Mulligan, S.J.
(country code 505) 635-6381
Email: mull@ibw.com.ni

This week we here in Managua have joined with others in many parts of the world in commemorating the fifth anniversary of the arrival of the first prisoners at Guantanamo.
Today, in our demonstration involving 50 persons in front of the U.S. Embassy, we offered a “street theater” presentation of the abuse of prisoners in Guantanamo – two persons dressed in orange jumpsuits (Guantanamo prison uniform), bound by chains in a fetal position, being abused by persons representing U.S. soldiers.
We also showed 12 paintings depicting various forms of abuse and torture at Guantanamo, according to the testimony of former prisoners.
(It was inadvisable to have our activity on Jan. 11, the actual anniversary as observed by other groups throughout the world, due to the severe security measures which were in effect for the inauguration of President Daniel Ortega on Jan. 10 and which continued during Jan. 11.)

The following is our statement of solidarity:

Statement of Solidarity with the Prisoners at Guantánamo

1. In union with protests in Amsterdam, England, USA, and other parts of the world, we express our solidarity with the prisoners held by the U.S. military at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, some of whom this week are completing 5 years of cruel and illegal imprisonment. We join them in demanding that they be treated with due process according to law and with respect for their rights as human beings and as prisoners. Each prisoner deserves to have the charges against him stated clearly, to have adequate legal counsel, and to have due process in court, recognizing that in U.S. jurisprudence a person is innocent until proven guilty.

2. We protest the widely known abuses and torture to which some of them have been subjected. These abuses, plus the fact that they are held in solitary confinement for inordinate lengths of time and that they do not know when, if ever, they will be brought to trial and possibly released or sentenced – constitute “cruel and unusual punishment.”

3. We support the worldwide demand for an immediate end to the military occupation of Iraq.

A previous version of this Statement was signed in 2005 by the following persons, among many others, in Nicaragua:
FATHER ERNESTO CARDENAL
FATHER FERNANDO CARDENAL, S.J.
FATHER MIGUEL D´ESCOTO, M.M.
FATHER URIEL MOLINA OLIÚ
DORA MARÍA TÉLLEZ

and by
BISHOP PEDRO CASALDÁLIGA, Brazil
ADOLFO PEREZ ESQUIVEL, Argentina (Nobel Peace Prize, 1980)
ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU (Nobel Peace, Prize, 1984)

Our activity was conducted in coordination with:

WITNESS AGAINST TORTURE
International Day of Action to Shut Down Guantanamo
For more information go to www.WitnessTorture.org

For information about the GLOBAL CALL FOR NONVIOLENT CIVIL RESISTANCE TO END THE U.S.-LED MILITARY OCCUPATION OF IRAQ, please see:
www.globalcalliraq.blogspot.com

two on ground representing Guantanamo prisoners

images of abuse according to ex-prisoners

images of abuse according to ex-prisoners

rough handling of Guantanamo prisoners

two on ground representing Guantanamo prisoners

two on ground representing Guantanamo prisoners

demo in Managua Jan. 12 solidarity with Guantanamo prisoners