What You Can Do

Friends World Committee for Consultation, 1976

Both tortured and torturer are victims of the evil from which no human being is immune. Friends, however, believe that the life and power of God are greater than evil, and in that life and power declare their opposition to all torture. The Society calls on all its members, as well as those of all religious and other organizations, to create a force of public opinion which will oblige those responsible to dismantle everywhere the administrative apparatus which permits or encourages torture, and to observe effectively those international agreements under which its use is strictly forbidden.

From Quaker Faith & Practice Christian discipline

Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) Britain, 1995

The United Nations has designated June 26 as the International Day in Support of Survivors and Victims of Torture. This year a coalition of human rights, civil liberties and faith organizations have declared June "Torture Awareness Month" in an effort to respond to the growing evidence that the United States government is engaging systematically in the use of torture and inhuman treatment as part of the "war on terror." We suggest that you use these occasions as opportunities to engage in the actions listed below.

EDUCATE YOURSELF

1. READ ALTERNATIVE PRESS
   Check out http://www.afsc.org and the articles on http://www.actagainsttorture.org/.
2. JOIN QUIT LIST SERVE
   Subscribe. We will send an email asking you to confirm by typing 'ok'  and hitting your reply button.
3. TALK TO PEOPLE
   When you hear or read some thing about torture or detentions, talk to people about it. Discuss it with friends and co-workers. Martin Luther King Jr. said: "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
4. FORM A STUDY GROUP OR BOOK CLUB
   with one of these thought provoking books.

ORGANIZE AND ACT

1. SPEAK OUT
   Participate in rallies and demonstrations in your area. Keep informed about events through your local Indymedia site. Get an "Act Against Torture" bumper sticker and put it on your bike, car or backpack. Email: actagainsttorture@riseup.net
2. HOLD MEDIA ACCOUNTABLE
   Keep an eye on the alternative and foreign press, watching for stories the U.S. mainstream media doesn't cover accurately. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper and mention ActAgainstTorture.org. Organize friends and neighbors to write and call editors and station managers to demand coverage of what's really going on.
3. POST
   Print internet posters (http://www.actagainsttorture.org) or make your own and post them at work, in your window, or on the street.
4. SPREAD THE WORD
   When you read an article that's not in the mainstream media, make copies and pass them on to friends, co-workers, or neighbors. Write ActAgainstTorture.org on the front page so people know where to get more information.
5. DISSEMINATE
   Print out information cards (http://www.actagainsttorture.org) and leave them in cafes, schools, your work place, or in the pockets of clothes in the store.
6. ENCOURAGE TEACHERS
   in your school to use these curricula below
   http://www.teachablemoment.org/high/torturedbq.html
   www.forusa.org
7. DONATE
   Donate $10 or more to an organization working to end torture and indefinite detentions. Support groups that work with victims of torture.
8. ORGANIZE
   Support friends in taking these actions. Become an organizer.
9. GET TOGETHER
   Hold a house meeting with your friends and neighbors to plan an action against torture.
10. HANG A BANNER
    Hang a banner over freeways, alter billboards: don't let anyone in your town forget what is happening.
11. HOLD AN EVENT
    Convince your faith group, union, or school to host a speaker or lead a discussion about torture and detention.
12. ORGANIZE A VIGIL
    A group of people standing on a busy street corner at rush hour, with signs, banners, candles, chants, or whatever your friends and neighbors come up with, lets folks know that there's a growing local movement against torture and indefinite detention.
13. HOLD A TEACH-IN
    or series of teach-ins.
14. PERFORM STREET THEATER or ORGANIZE A PUBLIC READING
    Get together with creative friends and do something dramatic in a public place to encourage people to actively confront and oppose torture and indefinite detention. .
15. ORGANIZE A DELEGATION
    See Witness Against Torture for information about organizing a delegation to Guantanamo. Demand to speak directly to the prisoners and their guards.
16. TAKE TIME TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF
    Take time to act, but also take time out as needed as this is a concern that is most troubling.

TAKE POLITICAL ACTION

1. ADOPT MINUTES
   Get groups and organizations to which you belong to adopt minutes calling for the abolition of torture and specifically for U.S.-sanctioned torture. Post them to the FCNL website, and publish them as opinion pieces in your local paper.
2. HOLD YOUR REPRESENTATIVES ACCOUNTABLE
   Write letters to the President and to your congressional representatives. Good letter writing information can be found on t his website or at the websites of Witness Against Torture, Amnesty International, The Center for Constitutional Rights, or at the FCNL website.
3. SUPPORT CONGRESSIONAL LEGISLATION
   Call on your Senators and Representatives to take action.
4. SUPPORT THE UNITED NATIONS
   "Draft International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances" and get Quaker organizations to support it as well. (http://www.fidh.org/article.php3?id_article=3183).
5. SUPPORT THE LEGAL STRATEGY
   of claims against torturers led by San Francisco-based The Center for Justice and Accountability.
6. BIRD-DOG
   candidates in elections in orange jumpsuits to get them to comment on their stand on torture. Suits available from http://www.nationaltextile.us/correctional_clothing.

SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS

Many people are doing good work. See our Groups and Websites page to place your support.