United We Stand...Against Torture

This morning, I headed for the plaza in my hometown, Healdsburg, population 11,000, in northern California’s fabled wine country.

I was met by my friend, Caroline. We held up our “Torture R US” signs and our breath, not knowing how we would be received. Soon we were joined by my blogging buddy, Chris (The Democratic Activist); and my friend, Ann, who showed up with her camera and legal pad with the goal of submitting an article about our efforts to our newpaper of record, the Healdsburg Tribune. I handed out my flier.* By the time we split up, there were about 10 of us.

What an experience! People stopped, asked what we were doing, and ended up staying and talking with us. Ann interviewed numerous people, including a Canadian who had been a translator for the US Army in World War II; an English businessman who was willing to talk with us (but didn’t us to use his name out of fear that his traveling from country to country could be curtailed); a 23 year old man from Lake County who wondered what we were doing; and a woman, new to Healdsburg, who had just joined the Healdsburg Peace Project. All were opposed to our country’s use of torture. In an hour and half, we only talked to one person who regretted that the US doesn’t torture more.

What I learned today:

1. Our “Torture R US” signs provoked questions, but there are better slogans. For right now, I like “United We Stand…Against Torture.”

2. None of the three presidential candidates oppose the use of torture by our country on their websites, Obama, Clinton, and McCain. I urge you to contact your candidate and ask him/her to take a position on our country’s use of torture.

3. Even though torture is a serious subject, it’s possible to enjoy taking a public stand against it, especially when others join in.

I hope you will pick a slogan opposing torture, make a sign and handout*, encourage a few friends to join you, and find a street corner in your town to spread the word. I plan to show up a couple of times a week until our country stops torturing.

* Here's my handout:

Why I’m protesting our country’s use of torture

1. This is a democracy. We citizens are responsible for what our government does. I believe that torture is wrong in all circumstances and refuse to remain silent in light of our government’s ongoing insistence that it has the right to use torture.

2. Memos produced by Department of Justice to justify torture have recently been released. These memos confirm that elected officials and their lawyers approved, even encouraged, the use of torture.

3. On March 8th, President Bush vetoed a bill which would have specifically banned the following: Forcing a prisoner to be naked, perform sexual acts or pose in a sexual manner. Placing hoods or sacks over the head of a prisoner, and using duct tape over the eyes. Applying beatings, electric shocks, burns or other forms of physical pain. Waterboarding. Using military working dogs. Inducing hypothermia or heat injury. Conducting mock executions. Depriving a prisoner of necessary food, water or medical care.

Gail Jonas, Attorney at Law, resident of Healdsburg for 42 years, http://gailjonas.blogspot.com/, Gail@GailJonas.com, 707.431.8451.

(photo thanks to Ann Carranza - double click to enlarge)

Taking a public stand against our country's use of torture

Tomorrow morning I’m heading with my “Torture R US” sign to the plaza in my hometown, Healdsburg. It's a small town described as ”Nestled in the heart of Sonoma's County's wine country, Healdsburg offers relaxation, fun, and adventure for people of all ages. The natural beauty, friendly attitudes, and a cosmopolitan flair suggest the perfect backdrop for a splendid vacation.” I will stick out like a sore thumb.

On March 18th, I posted "Torture R Us" - What do you think? and received comments both discouraging and encouraging me about going public with this message. Given the news this past week about the recently released torture memos and the “torture team,” (the lawyers who advised Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, etc.,) it feels like the right thing to do.

I’m also mindful that it isn’t just “unlawful enemy combatants” that are being tortured. Read Scott Horton’s post yesterday morning, "...Pentagon Moves Ahead on Contractor Accountability," which opens with “Today, The Nation’s Karen Houppert reports on a gruesome rape case out of Iraq. The victim is a young American woman given the pseudonym ‘Lisa Smith’.

“It was an early January morning in 2008 when 42-year-old Lisa Smith, a paramedic for a defense contractor in southern Iraq, woke up to find her entire room shaking. The shipping container that served as her living quarters was reverberating from nearby rocket attacks, and she was jolted awake to discover an awful reality. 'Right then my whole life was turned upside down,' she says….”

My previous posts about torture:
April 3rd: David S. Addington - The man in the torture shadows
March 30th : Whom do you believe? Murat Kurnaz or Bryan Whitman?
March 22nd: Exposure - Bush's refusal to give up torture*
March 21st: From the kingdom of fear....
March 18th: "Torture R US" - What do you think?
March 16th: How could you have done what you did?
March 13th: No Torture. No Exceptions*
Feb. 7th: Letter from Jack Balkin to Senator McCain
November 20th: Our humanity has been compromised

*Posts most worth reading

(stick figure: my friend Pat Denino, who blogs at Wandering Wonderings)

Saturday morning hike

This morning took a strenuous hike at Lake Sonoma with my friend, David Gonzalez. The hills are steep and David carried at least 35 pounds of rocks in his back pack as a “handicap” since I’m thirty years older then he is.

I really enjoy hiking with David. We are so different, not just separated by the gap in our ages but also because I’m unabashedly liberal and David is what I describe as a traditional conservative. I wrote about David for our county bar journal, available here. Our bond, in addition to being family law lawyers and enjoying hiking, is the importance we place on raising children so they know they are valued.

Since I’ve been very preoccupied by our country’s use of torture (see my recent post), I brought it up. I learned that David isn’t where I am on this issue, but we listened to each other. When I mentioned I plan to stand on a street corner waving a sign that says “Torture R Us,” he didn’t ridicule me. It’s helpful to have a conservative with whom I can talk about difficult issues. I’m grateful to have David for a friend.

(photo of David and his dog, Otis, whose political position is unknown)