It's DSM Day!! BE THE MEDIA!

I'll be there.

I'll be blogging from Seattle Labor Temple.

Matthew, Marjorie G, and I will be at the NY Ethical Society at 2:00. We will be talking with all of you we hope!

Rep. Maurice Hinchey, Liz Holtzman, and Randi Rhodes will be there. Bob Fertik will moderate. We have digital cameras and laptops. You will be there with us!

2:00 EDT.

Bush Administration Files 11th Hour Papers Blocking the Release of Darby CD Photos and Video Of Abu Ghraib Torture

Synopsis

On July 22, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) denounced the latest efforts of the Bush Administration to block the release of the Darby photos and videos depicting torture at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison facility. On June 2, 2004, CCR, along with the ACLU, Physicians for Human Rights, Veterans for Common Sense, and Veterans for Peace filed papers with the U.S. District Court, charging the Department of Defense and other government agencies with illegally withholding records concerning the abuse of detainees in American military custody. Since then, the organizations have been repeatedly rebuffed in their efforts to investigate what happened at the prison.

DISCRIPTION AND STATUS

In June, the government requested and received an extension from the judge stating that they needed time in order to redact the faces of the men, women and children believed to be shown in the photographs and videos. They were given until today to produce the images, but at the eleventh hour filed a motion to oppose the release of the photos and videos, based on an entirely new argument: they are now requesting a 7(F) exemption from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act to withhold law enforcement-related information in order to protect the physical safety of individuals. Today’s move is the latest in a series of attempts by the government to keep the images from being made public and to cover up the torture of detainees in U.S. custody around the world.

Joseph Darby was the U.S reservist who turned over the photos and videos to U.S. Army officials and touched off the Abu Ghraib scandal in April 2004.

“This is absolutely unacceptable,” stated Michael Ratner, President of the Center for Constitutional Rights. “We can not move forward from this scandal until we have a full public accounting and independent investigation into what happened at Abu Ghraib. The government cannot continue to hide evidence of torture. The time to release these photos and videos was a long time ago.”

Expectations are that the FOIA request will release more than 100 photos and 4 videos, all believed to document deplorable human rights violations by U.S. military personnel against Iraqi civilians.

Barbara Olshansky, Deputy Legal Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, stated, “The public must be informed of what is being done in our name. It is this Administration that has put our troops at risk and caused world-wide anger by fostering policies that promote torture and refusing to hold those responsible publicly accountable.”

The Center for Constitutional Rights once more calls for a complete, transparent independent investigation into the torture and abuse of detainees that goes all the way up the chain of command and demands that the Administration apply the Geneva Conventions to every detainee being held in U.S. custody around the world.

This is part of the request under the Freedom of Information Act filed by the the Center for Constitutional Rights, the ACLU, Physicians for Human Rights, Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans for Peace. The FOIA lawsuit is being handled by Lawrence Lustberg and Megan Lewis of the New Jersey-based law firm Gibbons, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger & Vecchione, P.C.

http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/reports/report.asp?ObjID=imOUU2rj8m&Content=608

Thanks Rossian. I posted that at http://www.silencedmajority.blogs.com which I've been running while Bert of Vets for Peace is travelling.

from LA IndyMedia:

Over 150 Events Planned on 3rd Anniversary of Downing Street Memo

Congressional Town Hall Meetings, Public Forums, Dramatic Recreations, House Parties, Rallies, and Study Circles on July 23, 2005

LOS ANGELES, CA - On July 23, 2005, Congresswoman Maxine Waters will host one of many events around the United States that will mark the three-year anniversary of the meeting at #10 Downing Street in London, England, that was recorded in the now infamous minutes known as the "Downing Street Memo."

At least eight events will be hosted by or participated in by Members of Congress, including John Conyers in Detroit, Jim McDermott in Seattle, Barbara Lee in Oakland, Maxine Waters in Los Angeles, and Maurice Hinchey in New York. Congressman Charles Rangel will host an electronic town-hall meeting, answering questions from his New York constituents on the internet, from noon to 1 p.m., July 22. Congressman Xavier Becerra will host an event in Los Angeles on July 30, and Congressman Barney Frank in Boston on July 31.

Co-Founder of the After Downing Street Coalition, constitutional attorney John Bonifaz will speak at a town hall meeting on July 23rd in Northampton, Mass.

On July 23rd, in over 150 towns and cities, prominent speakers and ordinary citizens will hold public forums, perform dramatic recreations of the Downing Street meeting, and host house parties and study circles. Sixty-six events and counting are listed online at AfterDowningStreet.org. For details on events in any part of the country, see this map: http://heh.pl/&tm . Another 16 events on surrounding days are also listed on the site.

In addition, Congressman Conyers' office has organized 105 house parties through their website. See http://johnconyers.com/ .

Conference Call for House Parties:

Congressman Conyers and former Ambassador Joseph Wilson will participate in a national conference call with house party attendees from 4 to 4:30 p.m. ET. For details, contact Jonathan Godfrey at 202-744-7441 or jonathangodfrey@gmail.com .

Blogging All Day:

Bloggers will report on events from around the country during the day at www.afterdowningstreet.org

Action Across the Atlantic:

On July 23rd, at 2 p.m. GMT just outside the gates to Downing Street in London, England, a group of actors and activists will perform a dramatic recreation of the Downing Street Memo as a Mad Hatter's Tea Party. The event is being organized by members of Bedford Stop the War, a member of the Stop the War Coaltion, and of After Downing Street. For more information, contact Linda Jack at (44) 7793556099, or linda_a_jack@yahoo.co.uk .

Agenda for National Day of Events:

The agenda at various of these events will include speeches, panel discussions, viewing of DVDs, dramatic recreations of the Downing Street Minutes, debates, writing postcards and letters to congress members and senators not present, writing letters to the editor, training participants in effective lobbying, honoring local fallen soldiers, and planning local marches and flyering campaigns -- with such actions in some cases immediately following the event. Resources for these events have been made available by the After Downing Street Coalition at www.afterdowningstreet.org.

Participants around the country will be encouraged to

* promote coverage of the Downing Street Minutes by their local media,
* gather signatures on Congressman Conyers' letter to the President asking for explanations of the Downing Street Minutes (there are now 131 signatures by congress members and over 576,984 by U.S. citizens),
* promote support for a Resolution of Inquiry expected to be introduced in the House of Representatives,
* promote support for a Resolution expected to be introduced in the House of Representatives, which would create a select committee to investigate reports of a pre-war deal between the United Kingdom and the United States and evidence that pre-war intelligence was intentionally manipulated.
* lobby the Senate Intelligence Committee to conduct the investigation of pre-war intelligence that it has failed to follow through on.

Details for Each Event:

For details on events in any part of the country, see this map: http://heh.pl/&tm . Here are a few:

Congressman John Conyers, Jr.
Wayne State University Law School Auditorium
Meeting Local Start Time: 2:00pm
471 W. Palmer Street
Detroit, Michigan 48202

Congresswoman Barbara Lee
Grand Lake Theatre
Meeting Local Start Time: 11:00am
3200 Grand Avenue
Oakland, California 94610

Congressmen Jim McDermott
Seattle Labor Temple
Meeting Local Start Time: 1:00pm
2800 First Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98121

Congresswoman Maxine Waters
Covenant Worship Center at Legacy Hall
Meeting Local Start Time: 12:00pm
425 South La Brea Avenue
Inglewood, California 90301

New York City Town Hall Meeting
Sponsored by The Nation and Democrats.com and Progressive Democrats of America
Speakers: Congressman Maurice Hinchey, former Congresswoman Liz Holtzman, Air America Radio host Randi Rhodes, and as moderator President of Democrats.com Bob Fertik.
New York Society for Ethical Culture
2 W. 64th St.
New York, NY

AfterDowningStreet.org is a rapidly growing coalition of veterans' groups, peace groups, and political activist groups, which launched on May 26, 2005, a campaign to urge the U.S. Congress to begin a formal investigation into whether President Bush has committed impeachable offenses in connection with the Iraq war.

ImpeachCentral.com is a nationwide organization of thousands of activists dedicated to the impeachment of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney for violating the laws of the United States. While the Bush administration has violated the Constitution on numerous occasions, the group is focusing on the lies they told the American people and Congress which led the country into the disastrous Iraq War. These lies were confirmed when the Times of London published the secret Downing Street Memo.

I will be at the Los Angeles event with Maxine Waters today. I will share details (and possibly photos) on my personal blog (just click my name below), and will do brief reports here on DCP as well.

If anyone else is attending the Los Angeles event, just look for a chubby Asian transgender woman at 5' 8" wearing a pink miniskirt suit. That's me.

Does anybody know if there is a bumper sticker out there that says something to the effect, "It's a lie."? I am always tempted to write "Liar" in black marker on the Bush '04 bumper stickers that people still have on their cars, SUV's, and Hummers.

Also, good luck to all participating in events. Unfortunately I have to work today. When I have an opportunity I will be checking in.

Posted by: oncall at July 23, 2005 10:28 AM

I have seen sites on the internet(s) that sell political bumper stickers. I am pretty sure I have seen one advertised at a site that says "Bush Lied, People Died".

Google 'em. Some are quite funny. :)

Previous topic-
Thanks for the transcript of Larry Johnson's speech. Does anybody have a link for the audio or for a podcast?

Oops-there's another thread-will repost