[pjw] REPORT BACK: human rights violations: Friday rally #200 since stay-at-home orders

[Peace and Justice Works]

Wow, I can't believe Peace and Justice Works has been hosting the Friday 
rally for 200 continuous weeks now.

Despite last night's event being a special event for closing Guantanamo, 
which has been our biggest night of the year recently, the 
quickly-dropping temperatures left us with a total of 7 people attending 
and just four going on the march. I meant to say when we were done, "at 
least it wasn't raining!"*

Things were pretty sparse downtown. We got a few people asking questions 
about Guantanamo, a few signs of support, one person yelling "free 
Palestine!" (to which, one person who had a double-sided sign showed they 
had such a sentiment on the other side of their Guantanamo sign), and at 
least one person yelling "let's blow up the whole Middle East." A true 
American that.

We only handed out a few fact sheets so there are plenty hard copies if 
you want one or more for your own educational efforts.

So the first part of the rally talk will seem familiar to those who read 
that fact sheet yesterday, but then I also brought in current news.

--Guantanamo was opened 22 years ago and housed as many as 770 people, 
of which only 30 remain. Some will never face charges including one 
person who was deemed psychologically unfit for trial because of the 
torture the US exposed him to.

---2023 saw the first visit by a UN Human Rights Investigator, who called 
conditions "cruel, inhuman and degrading."

---In December, President Biden signed the National Defense Authorization 
Act which restricts the ability to close Guantanamo or bring prisoners to 
the US for any reason. He did write a signing statement opposing those 
provisions.

  https://efe.com/en/latest-news/2023-12-23/biden-signs-defense-budget-but-slams-guantanamo-closure-prevention/

---Most of the people put into Guantanamo were there because the US 
offered bounties to turn in "terrorists," but many ended up being 
people from Pakistan or Afghanistan who were turned in due to personal 
disputes and greed.

---Why, you ask, does the US have a military base in Cuba anyway? It's a 
remnant of the imperialistic Spanish-American war. After the Cuban 
revolution the US has sent rent checks to Cuba every year and they refuse 
to cash them.

(I couldn't find an update to this 2014 article that says the checks were 
for $4085 a year, if you have updates let me know.)

  https://www.vice.com/en/article/zm5db5/will-cuba-now-cash-55-years-worth-of-guantanamo-rent-checks

---Speaking of how much money the US spends on Guantanamo, it's estimated 
that the cost of keeping the prison open is over $13 million per person 
per year.

  https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/16/us/politics/guantanamo-bay-prison-cost.html

Overall, I left this topic by asking, how can the US claim to have any 
kind of right to preach upholding the law and human rights when they have 
kept people in indefinite detention for 22 years?

For instance:

--South Africa made its arguments why US favorite client state Israel 
should be held accountable for genocide. Israel responded with indignity 
that this term should apply to them, comparing the holocaust to what 
they're doing in Gaza. OK, let's come up with a new term then for 
surrounding a territory, bombing its infrastructure to rubble, not 
allowing in humanitarian aid and killing over 23,000 people in three 
months. Whatever you want to call it, it's still wrong and you should be 
held accountable.

  https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-counter-genocide-accusations-world-court-2024-01-12/

--The US said that the Houthis in Yemen were "illegally" attacking ships in 
the Red Sea, leading them to bomb supposed radar sites on Thursday. (They 
bombed again yesterday, too, apparently). Why doesn't the US bomb Israel 
then for its illegal acts? Also, according to several lawmakers including 
Democrats like Rashida Tlaib and Cori Bush, Biden's bombing was illegal 
without Congressional authorization. So the US should bomb itself?

  https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/11/politics/biden-us-strikes-houthis-2024/index.html
  https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/biden-administration-and-allies-issue-warning-to-houthi-rebels-after-red-sea-attacks/ar-AA1mqvcP

--After the US' recent "retaliatory strikes" inside Iraq, the government 
is making more statements about wanting American troops out of the country 
to end the targeting of US bases (and the strikebacks), which is causing 
unrest.

  https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iraq-seeks-quick-exit-us-forces-no-deadline-set-pm-says-2024-01-10/

In local news, Erika (Angelica) Clark, the woman I mentioned last week who 
was brutalized at a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020 was given the 
$158,000 settlement by City Council. Before the vote, she described the 
mental health issues she's struggled with since being hit with batons and 
pepper sprayed right in the face. Her father spoke about how he felt like 
a failure as a dad, having been exposed to Portland Police racism as a 
Black man and then having to see his daughter treated this way. Her mother 
then said she feels like she lost her daughter, as if she were dead, and 
doesn't know if they can ever have a family reunion again. I think that 
every PPB officer should have to watch this testimony. (But you should 
be in good mental health yourself before you try.)

  https://www.youtube.com/live/6ZFu0jmrqHs?feature=shared&t=8658

Also, next week the City is set to pay $100,000 to the family of Koben 
Henriksen, who was known to Officer Justin Raphael as he'd come across him 
a few weeks earlier in mental health crisis. That didn't stop Raphael from 
jumping out of his cop car and shooting Henriksen within seconds. The 
Bureau's Behavioral Health Unit Advisory Committee had no comment about 
making recommendations to prevent such tragedies in the future. Their plan 
is to add someone with mental health expertise to the Police Review 
Board... which only meets after the shooting has already happened.

  https://www.portland.gov/council/documents/ordinance/pay-settlement-estate-koben-henriksens-wrongful-death-lawsuit


Along the march route (and yes, had it been icy we would have foregone the 
march), I noted that Israel is widening the war some more, this time 
killing an alleged Hamas leader in Syria. So that's Gaza, the West Bank, 
Lebanon and Syria, and with the US also Yemen and Iraq. But US officials 
say they don't want a regional war. (Or, do they?)

  https://www.thedefensepost.com/2024/01/09/israel-kills-hamas-figure-syria/?expand_article=1

Closing in on the end point (and as the temperature dropped another two 
degrees in the 1.5 hours for a total drop of four), I shared that Friday 
the 19th is the next deadline for Congress to avoid a shutdown. Of course, 
the $886 B military budget is secure. For what it's worth, the Republican 
House Speaker agreed not to cut Social Security and other safety net 
programs so a deal can be worked out to avoid financial disaster.

  https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/top-us-congress-democrat-republican-reach-spending-deal-starting-race-to-pass-it/ar-AA1mBT1k


I kept the Ann Huntwork Peace Memorial Sign on the outside edge of the 
sidewalk, which seemed to allow it to stay on longer on my way to the 
rally. It made it, again, around the corner past the Gucci store to 
partway up Yamhill between 4th and 5th and went out.

We're always happy to have more folks join us any Friday, back to the 
normal 5 PM next week, if you're feeling safe about it and the weather 
isn't a barrier for you. We'll be there!

peace
--dan handelman
peace and justice works iraq affinity group

*- I am glad I didn't because I also went to the Keaton Otis vigil from a 
little after 6 PM until 7 and it likely would've rained/snowed if I had 
said that. So, overall I was out in the cold for about three hours plus 
travel time...