4/28: Torture Teach-in at UC Berkeley

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – April 19, 2005

Contact: Professor L. Ling-chi Wang
Tel: 510-642-7439/415-922-4380


UC PROFESSORS PROTEST U.S. TORTURE POLICIES

Over 100 University of California at Berkeley faculty members, including two Nobel Laureates, and other academics have signed a statement opposing U.S. Government policy allowing expanded use of torture and the Government’s rejection of the long held proscriptions of the Geneva Conventions. The faculty members have challenged White House, State Department and Justice Department proponents of this new policy to defend their views in a public “teach-in” to be held April 28th, according to Prof. L. Ling-chi Wang of Ethnic Studies and a co-convener of the teach-in organizing committee.

So far invitations to such persons as U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have gone unanswered.

"Whether they come or not,” Wang commented, "there will be a lively discussion by persons expert in the field." Co-convener Dr. Marc Sapir added, “The apparent unwillingness of those who promulgate torture to defend their views in a public forum suggests they fear being caught in the contradiction of claiming torture is anathema, while advocating its use”.

The day of discussion will start with a noon rally at the University’s traditional free speech platform: Sproul Plaza. Following the rally, three discussion sessions will be held at the Berkeley Repertory Theater (2025 Addison in downtown Berkeley), ending with a discussion on establishing a national movement against U.S. torture policy.

Discussion panelists include Barbara Olshansky of the Center for Constitutional Rights and Lucas Guttentag of the ACLU, the lead lawyers in two lawsuits filed against Donald Rumsfeld alleging the indefinite detention and torture of prisoners are illegal under U.S. and international laws. Other participants include Stanford professor Terry Karl, an expert on torture in Latin America, and Marjorie Cohn of the National Lawyers Guild and a law professor specializing in International Human Rights. Torture survivor and human rights activist Carlos Mauricio and Uwe Jacobs, Director of Survivors International and torture survivor counselor will also participate.

Information on the UC Berkeley Teach-In on Torture, including the anti-torture statement signed by faculty endorsers, is available on the Department of Ethnic Studies web page at http://www.tortureteachin.org.