AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL- STATE OF THE UNION RESPONSE
Print format

From: Indigo S.
Date: Tuesday, January 23, 2007, 3:47 PM
Subject: Amnesty International- State Of The Union Response
ID: 255591

"Tonight, we will hear the President make his State of the Union 
address, but what we won’t hear is the devastating state of human 
rights in our nation. The US has abandoned human rights in the name 
of a "war on terror" and our nation and the world is now paying a 
steep and painful price. We cannot let this stand and ask you to 
please urge Congress to adopt our agenda for reversing America's 
course on human rights.

CLOSE GUANTANAMO: an icon for human rights violations, the U.S. has 
detained people as young as 13 years old at Guantanamo Bay, 
subjecting them to torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading 
treatment, all without charge, trial or end. Guantanamo must be 
closed and anyone remaining there must either be tried or freed.

BAN TORTURE OR OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT: torture 
or other “alternative interrogation techniques” won't make us safer, 
won't get us good intelligence and only exacerbates the deteriorating 
respect for human rights around the world. We cannot tolerate 
ambiguity in our law when it comes to torture and any action that 
amounts to torture or ill-treatment must be clearly outlawed.

CLOSE SECRET PRISONS: the U.S. has shamefully defended its practice 
of "disappearing" suspects into secret CIA prisons. These prisons 
must be closed, or, at a minimum, anyone in U.S. custody must be 
registered and visited by the International Committee of the Red 
Cross.

RESTORE THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS: a clear founding cornerstone of 
our nation is the right for anyone to challenge their detention 
before an independent court. The recently passed Military 
Commissions Act strips this right from many people currently detained 
in the name of the “war on terror”. This centuries old right must be 
restored to anyone in U.S. custody.

END EXTRAORDINARY RENDITIONS: the Bush Administration has used 
extraordinary renditions to outsource torture, shipping people to 
countries notorious for their use of torture in detention and 
interrogation. The Administration must stop using extraordinary 
renditions now and uphold our obligations under U.S. and 
international law.

We must build a drumbeat for action so loud and so strong that not 
only does Congress take the unequivocal actions we seek, but the rest 
of the world hears our determination to restore our country as a 
champion of human rights. Please take action today , and ask 
everyone you know to do the same."

*PETITION AT THIS LINK:

http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?
c=goJTI0OvElH&b=953489&action=7933&template=x.ascx&tr=y&auid=2303033