June 26 is UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. Gather to observe the cruel links in the mistreatment of disproportionately Black and Brown prisoners in North Carolina and the all-Muslim Black and Brown prisoners in the Guantanamo Bay detention center.
Per capita, more people are incarcerated in the U.S. than in any other country on earth. North Carolina is one of 12 states in which more than half the prison population is Black. And our state hosts a CIA aviation firm used in the kidnapping and torture of at least 49 Black and Brown people, all Muslim, in the so-called “war on terror.”
We should be better than this! Let’s take action.
What: A gathering to hear speakers, bear witness, connect with others who care, and write letters to Gov. Cooper. Through virtual reality headsets, “experience” solitary confinement briefly. Watch a short documentary on solitary confinement, and hear at least one person who has experienced it. Free and open to the public.
When: Sunday, June 26, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm
Where: John Chavis Community Center, 505 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Raleigh
We call on Governor Cooper to:
* end solitary confinement, which is torture, in NC prisons and jails as recommended by the 2020 NC Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice
* issue a pardon of innocence to Michael Parker, a North Carolina man imprisoned 22 years for a crime he didn’t commit, and waiting for the Governor’s pardon since 2014
* acknowledge NC’s vital role in the CIA’s post-9/11 rendition and torture program, and end the CIA’s use of NC airports for human rights abuses
Sponsors: ACLU-NC, Disability Rights NC, Emancipate NC, Libertarian Party of NC, National Religious Campaign Against Torture, NC Conference of the United Methodist Church, NC Council of Churches, NC Justice Center, NC Peace Action, NC Stop Torture Now, Veterans for Peace –Eisenhower Chapter 157