Monday, February 27, 2012

Toronto Torture Tour: March 8

Join the Torture Tour of Toronto, Thursday, March 8, 8:30 am-1:30 pm
Sponsored by Stop Canadian Involvement in Torture and Toronto Action for Social Change

WHAT IS A TORTURE TOUR?
The tour is an opportunity for people to publicly name andprotest at sites of Canadian complicity in torture and other forms of cruel, degrading treatment. These sites include government agencies found by judicial inquiries to be complicit in the torture of Canadian citizens, agencies that regularly deport refugees to torture and other grave fates, Canadian military facilities, and symbols of the ongoing war against women, who experience torture and other forms of alarming violence on a daily basis at the hands of men in Canada. The Torture Tour is yet another step in the years-long campaign of Stop Canadian Involvement in Torture seeking accountability, apologies, compensation, and systemic changes to put an end to this country's growing complicity in human rights abuses both here and abroad.

GETTING INVOLVED:
1. To join the torture tour, email tasc@web.ca
2. Bring a bag lunch or snacks for the road. There will NOT be a lot of walking; rather, it will consist of mainly driving between spots and standing vigil for a few minutes at each location.
3. If you drive and can offer spaces to others who need a seat on the torture tour, please let us know.
4. Contributions to help with our expenses are greatly appreciated, and can be made out to Homes not Bombs and mailed to PO Box 2020, 57 Foster Street, Perth, ON K7H 1R0.

BACKGROUND
March will mark 3.5 years since a secretive federal inquiry found the government of Canada complicit in the torture of Canadians Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati and Muayyed Nureddin. Yet the government refuses to accept the findings of its own inquiry, an inquiry in which only its side of the complicity in torture was heard, an inquiry in which none of those who were tortured, nor their lawyers, nor the public, nor the media were allowed to attend. And even with the cards stacked so much in favour of the government, the government was found to be complicit. Now that these three men seek an apology, compensation, and accountability, the government questions the fact that they have been tortured.