Justice Action Brainstorm: May 29th Memorial Day

( – promoted by buhdydharma )

Just had the idea… May 28th is the deadline of when we expect the release of 2,000 new photos from the Pentagon (ACLU)… that is Memorial Day weekend!?! Anyone have any ideas of some kind of online ACTION we can organize around this ironic convergence?  

I feel strongly that it is important to honor the service of our servicemen and women, and especially honor the memory of those who have fallen. Yet, these photos, on that weekend, will likely be plastered everywhere.

Brainstorm ideas here.

I have a few, but Im new to this. I do NOT want there to be any appearance of dis-respect or an attempt to “capitalize” on this in a whacky way.

Inviting your ideas and thoughts. Ill be back here on this, this evening.

sig lines, with reference to the Day and its significance.

Diaries/Essays specific to the significance of the Day and the release of the new Pentagon photos (obviously, this will be happening anyway, if theyre not released until May 28).

What else? … that would have some impact, and be visible and positive in message…?

*****



Defense Department To Release Prisoner Abuse Photos By May 28 In Response To ACLU Lawsuit (4/23/2009)

Photos Depict Abuse Of Prisoners By U.S. Personnel In Iraq And Afghanistan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; [email protected]

NEW YORK – In a letter addressed to a federal court today, the Department of Defense announced that it will make public by May 28 a “substantial number” of photos depicting the abuse of prisoners by U.S. personnel. The photos, which are being released in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in 2004, include images from prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan at locations other than Abu Ghraib.

“These photographs provide visual proof that prisoner abuse by U.S. personnel was not aberrational but widespread, reaching far beyond the walls of Abu Ghraib,” said Amrit Singh, staff attorney with the ACLU. “Their disclosure is critical for helping the public understand the scope and scale of prisoner abuse as well as for holding senior officials accountable for authorizing or permitting such abuse.”

The letter follows a September 2008 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit requiring disclosure of the photos and the court’s subsequent refusal in March 2009 to rehear the case. The Defense Department has indicated that it will not ask the Supreme Court to review the Second Circuit’s ruling.

Since the ACLU’s FOIA request in 2003, the Bush administration had refused to disclose these images by attempting to radically expand the exemptions allowed under the FOIA for withholding records. The administration claimed that the public disclosure of such evidence would generate outrage and would violate U.S. obligations towards detainees under the Geneva Conventions.