On July 4th, Act Against Torture descended on the route to San Francisco's Independence Day celebration to encourage locals and visitors alike to celebrate July 4th by taking a stand for human rights: to shut the prison at Guantanamo, to restore habeas corpus rights, and to repeal the Military Commissions Act of 2006.

On top of AAT's agenda was repeal of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 - a law that suspends the fundamental legal right of habeas corpus, allows the president to declare almost anyone an "unlawful enemy combatant," and grants immunity to U.S. officials for their role in abusing detainees at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, Bagram, and other torture-prisons

Hundreds of petition cards carrying these demands were signed by Americans who hailed from California, to Vermont, to France, with the signers' knowledge that they would be forwarded to Senators as a people's call for restoration of democracy on the 231st anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. A thousand leaflets ( pdf) and dozens of orange ribbons were also distributed to the crowd.

Photos | Act Against Torture

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