8/31/08 - 11 am - March to the RNC to Protest the Use of Torture
Submitted by admin on Tue, 08/19/2008 - 6:40pm.
Aug 31 2008 - 11:00am
Etc/GMT-5
MARCH TO THE RNC TO PROTEST THE USE OF TORTURE
SUNDAY, AUGUST 31, 2008
Sponsored by The Sister Rita Steinhagen Chapter of the War Resisters League and Tackling Torture at the Top (a committee of WAMM)
In conjunction with the anti-war march being organized by Chapter 115 of Veterans for Peace, Redwing
11 AM – Gather for a rally near the steps of the State Capitol in St. Paul. There will be speakers and music and a display of “boots on the ground”.
12 NOON - March to the Excel Energy Center to demand an end to torture and to hold the framers of torture policy accountable. This will be a nonviolent, silent and solemn march of people dressed in orange jump suits and black hoods. If you don’t have an orange jump suit and black hood or some reasonable facsimile, contact Roger or Bob to get one. We will supply nametags identifying some of the thousands of human beings who the United States government has wrongfully detained. We will be marching with Veterans for Peace – Redwing Chapter. They will be each carrying a cardboard “tombstone” with the photo and name of a dead soldier and/or an Iraqi civilian victim of the war. The purpose of this march will be to unite those who oppose the violence of war, injustice and oppression in a way that is powerful and practical enough to win over the uninformed, the indifferent and, possibly, even many of those who are currently allied with the perpetrators.
The City of St. Paul has issued a permit for this nonviolent march. Our purpose is to use nonviolent means toward nonviolent, but revolutionary ends: to overcome fear and hatred with love and courage; to replace despair with hope; to enact justice as fairness rather than as vengeance; to oppose lies with truth; and to reveal the power of silence. Please join us only if you are committed to nonviolence and are willing to march as one united body, silently and peacefully. Once the march reaches Excel Energy Center, Taps will be played. Those who wish to risk arrest may at that time choose peacefully to trespass into an area forbidden by law enforcement – to commit civil disobedience by continuing to walk in silence toward the RNC site. The others will wait respectfully and then return together to the State Capitol. People willing to risk arrest should carry with them photo identification and be prepared to be detained or jailed. We expect all marchers to respond quietly and with dignity to provocations from anyone, including the police.
Contacts for the anti-torture part of the march and to obtain an orange suit and hood:
Roger Cuthbertson rojo@visi.com952-474-2476 & Bob Kolstad Bob@robertkolstad.com 612-721-3425
Contact for the anti-war part of the march: David Harris 651-388-5863, tuvecino@redwing.net
