The Walpole Peace and Justice Group invites townspeople to join us for a vigil commemorating the 7th annual United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. The vigil will be held on Monday, June 26, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on the Walpole Common, at the corner of West and Main streets.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has appealed to "all governments and members of civil society to take action to defeat torture and torturers everywhere," calling June 26 a "day on which we pay our respects to those who have endured the unimaginable… an occasion for the world to speak up against the unspeakable."
The importance of this action is clear. Despite long-standing international conventions against torture, and national laws against this crime against humanity within the U.S. and elsewhere, the United States and over 150 other governments continue to perpetrate acts of torture.
Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International (TASSC) and torture survivors from every continent around the world will be gathering in Washington DC on June 26 for a 24-hour vigil.
We will join this vigil for one hour, here in Walpole, voicing grave concern about the ongoing U.S. abuse of prisoners detained in the "War on Terror" and affirming a position on the abuse of any detainee: "Zero tolerance for torture!"
If you cannot join us for the 5:30-6:30 vigil on Walpole Common, we hope you will light a candle in memory of those who have been tortured.
Lois Czachorowski
Walpole
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