Blogs

Despite ten years of occupation and untold millions of dollars spent on rebuilding Afghanistan’s broken judicial and criminal justice system, the Afghan courts are “still too weak,” the Washington Post reported on August 12, for the United States to relinquish its control over the Parwan Detention Center on Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. On September 21, the same paper reported that the U.S. military is seeking contractors to significantly increase the capacity of the prison there. more...

As the Witness Against Torture Fast for Justice drew to a close on January 22, the end of two weeks of action and our collective returns home were bittersweet. more...

It is hard for us to believe that we have reached the final day of our time together here in DC. And it is even harder to bear the thought that with the recent headline news, our work ahead seems to become both more difficult and more urgent. more...

Even though many of us found it difficult to put one foot solidly in front of the other today, weary from taking shifts on the all-night vigil in front of the Department of Justice, our day was full of discussions with guests around the subject: What’s the next step? more...

So as not to keep you in suspense, once again we were not arrested before the Department of Justice. There was, however, quite a spectacle to behold. 7 or 8 Homeland Security police vehicles, including a police transport wagon, came rolling up with sirens and lights, parked right in front, the police had plastic handcuffs in hand, a police tape was rolled all the way around the group... and then, a phone call? We were told we were free to go? Rest assured, we didn’t go, and haven’t yet. At this writing, we are currently in the middle of an all-night vigil, and the stories will be aplenty tomorrow! more...

Today was one of extremes. We experienced the extremes of ice skating down the streets of Washington DC and then swimming in the warm oceans of Bermuda. We also actively bridged extremes by interweaving visits to the Pentagon and to the Department of Justice. more...

Did we become too warm and comfortable at the Peace Oasis? Seems unlikely in just a single day, but to be outside again today was a bit of a frigid shock for many of us! And there is more snow in the forecast! more...

Looking around the beautiful living room here at this retreat house, folks are reading, napping in cushy chairs and making tea for each other. There are whispered conversations, and the inevitable eruptions of laughter are quickly muffled so as not to disturb anyone. Through the window, we see winter lawns, fields with black cows grazing on hay bales, expanses of leafless forests, and one or another of us wandering around throughout it all, looking up to the trees and to the sky. more...

In tonight’s reflection, Matt Daloisio gave us a sober reminder through numbers: “Though it is our fourth day of fasting,” he said, “it is day 724 for the men detained in Guantánamo – and that is only the number of days they have remained there since the Obama administration has taken office.” more...

It was a long, varied day with many lessons of nonviolence learned. Actually, our morning was quite baffling – from the arbitrary demands of the court officers to bar our entry into the courthouse (where we were to sit in on ACLU oral arguments in Ali v. Rumsfeld), to the legal jargon blocking the process of government accountability for torture within the court. more...