Bill of Rights Day

The Durham City Council will issue its annual Human Rights and Bill of Rights Proclamation at its regular Monday meeting, which happens to fall on Bill of Rights Day (December 15th) this year.  This proclamation was a campaign by the Durham Bill of Rights Defense Committee and other groups several years ago, when the Bill of Rights was being undermined on a national level by Bush-Cheney and immigrant rights were more a major issue in North Carolina.  Obama was supposedly going to bring in hope and change, but the attacks on the Bill of Rights and human rights continue, most recently demonstrated by the CIA torture revelations ( http://www.bordc.org/blog/december-week-action-challenges-cia-and-nsa-crimes ).

Human Rights Day was December 10th and marks the UN Declaration of Universal Human Rights in 1948 ( http://www.un.org/en/events/humanrightsday/ ).    

This item from an activist calendar lists some other Bill of Rights Day commemorations in the Triangle:

Annual Commemorations on Bill of Rights Day, December 15: Reading of Universal Declaration of Human Rights by Montessori School of Raleigh Students, followed by remarks of Dan Figgins on provisions of UDHR and Bill of Rights, 10 AM, State Capitol Building, 1 E Edenton St, Raleigh. Sponsored by Human Rights Coalition of NC (919-834-4478).  Proclamations from Chair of Orange County Commissioners, Chapel Hill Mayor, and Carrboro Mayor, followed by reading of first 10 Amendments of US Constitution, 12 Noon, Peace and Justice Plaza (corner of East Franklin and Henderson Sts), Chapel Hill. Sponsored by Orange County Bill of Rights Defense Committee and Orange County Peace Coalition (919-942-2535; 919-918-3432).

The Durham City Council will also issue a Safe Drinking Water Act Proclamation Monday.  

STN statement - NC's connections to CIA torture

North Carolina Stop Torture Now

Media Advisory

Senate Intelligence Releases Portions of Landmark Torture Report; Will North Carolina’s Role in Torture Be Addressed?

December 9, 2014

North Carolina Stop Torture Now welcomes today’s release of the historic report on CIA torture by the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee. The report validates what human rights investigators and journalists have demonstrated for a decade: the CIA conducted a years-long, illegal, and immoral program of torture that has cost our nation terribly in lost credibility, the enmity of millions around the world, and the undermining of our democracy.

The report has special significance in the Tar Heel state for two reasons. First, Senator Richard Burr is poised to become Chair of the committee in January. Sen. Burr voted to release the report, but at the same time signaled his intention to attack its conclusions. Second, North Carolina is deeply involved in the human rights abuses described in the report (details below).

“It is not only the obligation of the federal government to commit to transparency and accountability for torture, but our state and its political subdivisions are also required to provide facts and details about torture and to accept responsibility for human rights violations,” said Prof. Deborah Weissman, UNC School of Law. “The Convention Against Torture and other treaties oblige us to uncover and take responsibility for our state’s role in the systematic torture of human beings, now confirmed by the Senate report.”

In addition to grassroots activists, prominent North Carolinians have been calling for torture transparency. More than 190 faith leaders wrote to Sen. Richard Burr in 2013, calling on him to support release of the Senate torture report. In addition, over 1,200 North Carolinians have called for an inquiry on North Carolina’s role in torture.

North Carolina and CIA-Directed Torture

Although the report’s executive summary is coming out, North Carolina’s connections to torture may be buried in the body of the report itself. A large volume of evidence has been compiled by journalists and human rights investigators:

North Carolina has been extensively involved in torture in contravention to state, federal, and international law, particularly by sustaining key aviation infrastructure for extraordinary rendition at our public airports. The Johnston County Airport has hosted Aero Contractors since 1979, and Aero remains the airport’s largest tenant. In 2005, the New York Times exposed Aero as “a major domestic hub of the Central Intelligence Agency’s secret air service.” Aero-operated craft secretly flew detainees to torture chambers in Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Afghanistan, Morocco, and Libya. They also repeatedly visited the CIA black sites in Poland and Romania where torture was performed directly by U.S. officials. Documentation was supplied to public officials and the media in this 2012 report.

NC-based planes and crews played key roles in the CIA rendition program. One of the planes operated by Aero (N379P) was a Gulfstream V jet nicknamed the “Guantanamo Express.” For a critical period during the height of the rendition program, Aero also operated a Boeing business jet (N313P) from a hangar it built at the Global TransPark in Kinston. Together, these two aircraft conducted dozens of missions in which incapacitated detainees were taken secretly to prisons where they were held indefinitely and without access to lawyers, family, or the Red Cross. There, they were interrogated using torture. Highly skilled pilots and crews operated and maintained these aircraft, likely with full knowledge they were working for the CIA. The names of several of the pilots have been in the public record for many years.

Many of the detainees transported to torture by Aero were clearly innocent, were never given due process, and were profoundly damaged. Those who survived still suffer deeply. This includes Khaled el-Masri, a German citizen of Lebanese descent; Abou ElKassim Britel, an Italian citizen of Moroccan descent; Binyam Mohamed, a UK legal resident of Ethiopian descent; Khaled al-Maqtari, a Saudi national detained in Iraq; and many more. These men were subjected to brutal treatment. They were strung up in painful stress positions for long periods and endured vicious beatings including to their genitals and torso. They suffered prolonged detention in complete darkness, or were bombarded with blasting sounds. So far, human rights investigators have documented that over 135 persons were subjected to extraordinary rendition. Over 30 of these people – and probably many more – were rendered on flights originating at Smithfield or Kinston, NC, as documented by flight logs and other data here.

Since 2005, concerned citizens have repeatedly contacted North Carolina’s elected officials with information about the state’s role in torture. With the release of the Senate Intelligence report on torture, there can be no excuse for public officials to refuse to address responsibility and accountability for North Carolina’s role in such serious human rights violations.

Stop Torture Now vigil Saturday

NC Stop Torture Now ( www.ncstoptorturenow.org ) will hold a short vigil at the Johnston County Airport, home base for torture taxi and CIA front company Aero Contractors, Ltd, this Saturday (the 27th) at 9:30am.  They are pushing for the release of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence's report on the treatment of CIA detainees before Congress recesses.  Aero Contractors is allegedly mentioned by name in the report.  Participants should wear orange and bring signs to the new terminal, at 3149 Swift Creek Road in Smithfield.

STN adopted Swift Creek Road through the NC Adopt-a-Highway program and will pick up trash after the event.  Anyone age 12 or over is welcome to participate (but kids age 12-17 have to be supervised by an adult).        

Report back from the people's climate vigil in Chapel Hill

I saw about 80-100 people at the vigil at Peace and Freedom Plaza in Chapel Hill. It was just across Franklin Street from UNC, but it looked like the crowd was mostly from the community (though it was almost all white), with a range of ages.  Solarize Chapel Hill (solarizechapelhill.org) had a table offering a free residential or business solar assessment (but only for Orange County locations) and information about financing and how fast solar would pay for itself.  There will be a NC Conference on Religion and Climate Change Monday, October 13, 10am-3pm at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Raleigh, on "the moral duty to take care of creation" (RSVP www.eventjoy.com/e/creationcare , contact info is northcarolinacreationcare at gmail). I might have missed some other flyers.  The founder of UNC Freedom Club (uncfc.web.unc.edu , also on Facebook and Twitter) spoke and gave out some literature.  When things are looking bleak, I often wonder if human civilization and nature in general are fundamentally incompatible (also emerging technologies versus human life), and major changes are definitely needed, but this seems to be anti-industrial anarchism I can't agree with, being more optimistic about technology and a Marxist.  

Trekking around the UNC campus afterward I found flyers for a Spartacist League "Meet the Marxists" event September 18th.  They probably do this every fall, but I doubt there is a club at UNC.  FRSO (the one that publishes Fight Back!) seems to be gone, leaving anarchists as the only trend left of liberals organized at UNC.  I don't think there is even a Green group.  An SDS zine came out in the spring, promising activity this semester, and advocacy groups like Student Action with Workers and SEAC are still around, but not many political groups.              

More local people's climate actions

You can find other People's Climate Mobilisation demonstrations at:  http://events.peoplesclimate.org/event/peoples_climate/search/

Around here, it does not list the event in Raleigh, but I didn't know about the march at 2pm tomorrow on Duke's West Campus.   

Besides tomorrow's day of action around climate change, there has also been a lot of talk about resisting the new war in Iraq and Syria, but so far it is mainly about lobbying Congress. If the Administration knows what it is doing, I see this war against the Islamic State as a pretext to control Iraq and topple the secular government of Syria, and there will be "boots on the ground."  And all of this relates to oil and the climate change resulting from powering civilization with oil.        

Vigils for climate justice this Sunday in NC

For people not taking the Greenway Transit bus from Durham to NYC for the People's Climate March this Sunday, there will be vigils for climate justice Sunday (the 21st) in Chapel Hill, Raleigh, and Asheville:

Vigil 2-3pm at Peace and Justice Plaza in Chapel Hill (in front of the Post Office on Franklin Street, opposite UNC).  It is being organized by the United Church of Chapel Hill's United Earth Ministries.

There will be a prayer vigil at 4pm at the Community United Church of Christ in Raleigh (814 Dixie Trail), organized by the Triangle Interfaith Alliance, but with other sponsors, such as the Wake County Audubon Society.

There will be a vigil and voter registration 1-3pm at the Vance Monument in downtown Asheville.

This seems to be a religious initiative (see NC Interfaith Power & Light for more information: http://www.ncipl.org/event/local-vigils-and-rallies/ ), but people of all faiths and none should demand that action be taken to deal with climate change.  This year should be a wake up call for our area.  It is probably impossible to say if our greenhouse gas emissions caused the unusual weather patterns this year, but the impacts have been obvious and may be long-lasting.  After the repeated and late cold snaps and ice last winter, there have been very few butterflies around this summer, in numbers of individuals and diversity of species.  That was followed by an unusually cool and wet summer, which helped my corn, but I wonder if this strange weather heralds another bitterly cold winter.  Note that our winters could get worse for a while even though the Earth as a whole is warming up; snow isn't evidence that human-caused climate change isn't happening.      

Forum on human rights abuses on NC tobacco farms this Sunday

The Farm Labor Organizing Committee, the National Farm Worker Ministry, the NC AFL-CIO, and Triangle Friends of Farmworkers are hosting a panel discussion on abuses of farmworkers in the local tobacco industry, Sunday, July 27th, 4-6pm at the Pullen Memorial Baptist Church's Fellowship Hall (1801 Hillsborough Street in Raleigh).  Two British members of Parliament have been on a fact finding mission here for two days in relation to the company British American Tobacco and will speak about what they have seen and heard, as will farmworkers and advocates, including a representative from OXFAM.  FLOC President Baldemar Velasquez will lead a discussion of what can be done to improve conditions in the fields. Representatives Price and Butterfield were invited, but it isn't certain if they will show solidarity.      

Some upcoming protests

Against the Israeli attack on Gaza:

"Join concerned citizens and the Coalition for Peace with Justice in advocating for peace with justice in Palestine/Israel and an end to the shelling of Gaza

EMERGENCY RALLY #GAZAUNDERATTACK

Saturday, July 19 • 12:00-4:00 p.m. • Capitol Building Grounds • 1 East Edenton St.• Raleigh, NC

Speakers

Dr. Ralph McCoy, CPWJ member, Ralph was part of a delegation that visited Gaza in November 2012 as Operation Pillar of Defense, the Israeli shelling of Gaza, began.

Dr. Rania Masri, Arab-American writer, professor, and human rights activist, Dr. Masri is assistant professor at the University of Balamand in Lebanon. Her research and activism have centered on environmental justice, civil rights, and anti-war (Iraq) and anti-occupation (Palestine) and anti-apartheid (Israel).

Since the Israeli shelling of Gaza began on July 8*:

• 197 persons killed: 149 civilians including 38 children and 28 women

• 1,390 injured: 393 children and 252 women

• 20,000 displaced people in need of emergency food assistance

• 18,000 civilians have taken shelter in UNRWA schools

• Water supply to 170,000 people cut due to Israeli rockets hitting water and sanitation facilities in 18 different locations

• 1,370 homes destroyed or severely damaged

• 79 schools damaged

• 23 health facilities damaged

* Source: United Nations 7/15/14"

Carrboro:  July 19th at 6pm at the corner of Weaver and North Greensboro streets [I'm not sure about this, because the announcement says it is on a Thursday).

Durham:  July 23rd at 5:30pm at the corner of Chapel Hill and Main streets (Little Five Points)

              July 25 at 6pm at the corner of Main and Gregson streets.

The ANSWER Coalition is organizing Stop the Massacre in Gaza! rallies in cities across the country in the coming week and a National March on Washington outside the White House August 1, starting at 1pm (www.answercoalition.org). 

There are also the regular vigils - Fridays 5-6pm at the corner of East Franklin Street and Elliot Road in Chapel Hill and the Stop the Arms Race and Build a Culture of Peace Vigil on the first Wednesday each month, 12-1pm at the First Century Post Office on Fayettville Street in Raleigh.  There is also an anti-death penalty vigil every Monday, 5-6pm, at Central Prison in Raleigh (corner of Hunt Drive and Western Boulevard).  

NC public worker union UE150's convention is this Saturday, the 19th, at NCCU and there will be a protest against State Budget Director Art Pope at 12pm at 1000 North Miami Boulevard in Durham (related to www.raiseupfor15.org).    

There will be a Vigil for Children at the Border Monday, July 21st at 7pm at Chapel Hill's Peace and Justice Plaza (corner of East Franklin Street and Henderson Street, at the Post Office across Franklin from UNC).  Organizers are also seeking donations of money or new pencils, crayons, paper, coloring books, small toys, etc. for detained minor asylum seekers.    

Durham County Library seed banks and the Spring Book Sale

The Durham County Library is starting the Digging Durham Seed Library, where people can donate and check out seeds that grow well in the area ( http://durhamcountylibrary.org/2014/02/announcing-the-digging-durham-seed-library/ ).  The seed library is open for donations now, and seeds can be checked out starting on the 23rd.  The Library is also holding workshops on seed saving - there was one at the South Regional Library last Sunday, but there will be two more at the Southwest Regional Library April 12th, 3-5pm, and at the Main Library April 15th, 6:30-8:30pm ( http://durhamcountylibrary.org/2014/03/seed-saving-workshops/ ).  Hopefully this will encourage more people to garden or grow their own food, and it could help preserve food biodiversity.        

The Friends of the Durham Library's Spring Book Sale (one of two each year) is also coming up this weekend in the garage at the Main Library.  This Friday's sale, 4-7pm, is for FODL members only (new members can join starting at 2pm) and the regular sale is Saturday, 10-4.  On Sunday (2-5pm) you can buy a paper grocery bag of books for just $7.  The regular price is a dollar for hardcovers and trade paperbacks and 50 cents for smaller paperbacks, with higher (but still pretty low) prices for special items.  They have over 50,000 books, tapes, CDs, DVDs, flash cards, etc. This is one of my favorite annual events in Durham and it's a good place to find old or rare political works, though you have to search to find them.    

A moment of silence for Becky Heron

This evening NPR announced that former Durham County Commissioner Becky Heron passed away. It seemed like she was a permanent part of the Commission until she retired a few years ago. She was a commissioner from December 6, 1982 to August 1, 2011, and the first woman chairperson from December 1994 to 1996. In 1995 the NC Association of County Commissioners selected her as that year's Oustanding County Commissioner. She was known for her green and progressive stands. I knew she was doing good work on the Commission, though I was young, but it wasn't until recent years that I followed local government closely, and witnessed her courageous stands on land use issues. I offer my condolences to her family.

Hopefully one or both of the county commissioners elected in 2012 will continue Heron's pro-environmental stand.

For more information, see:

http://www.heraldsun.com/news/showcase/x849279415/Former-Commissioner-Becky-Heron-dies

http://dconc.gov/index.aspx?page=31&recordid=803&returnURL=%2findex.aspx

http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/01/23/3557442/longtime-durham-county-commissioner.html