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<DIV align=center><FONT face=Arial size=2><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">PRESS RELEASE ***** PRESS RELEASE
***** PRESS RELEASE<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></B></DIV>
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face="Times New Roman"> <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">For Immediate Release<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">Date: June 20, 2007<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">For more information, contact: Marty Nathan MD
413-584-1849<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></B></P>
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face="Times New Roman"> <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">Local Group to Picket against Torture and Detention
without Trial<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></I></B></P>
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face="Times New Roman"> <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">The Pioneer Valley Coalition Against Secrecy and Torture
(PVCAST) will sponsor a “Burma Shave” – style educational and motivational
picket at the <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Calvin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Coolidge</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Bridge</st1:PlaceType> between <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Northampton</st1:City></st1:place> and Hadley on Tuesday, June 26,
2007 from 7:30 to 9 am and 4:30 to 6 pm. The picketers will be requesting that
passing motorists call their Congressional representatives and ask that they
sponsor and actively support bills now in both houses of Congress that will
restore habeas corpus, stop torture, shut down the Guantanamo Prison and protect
other fundamental freedoms.<BR><BR>PVCAST is part of a nationwide effort
sponsored by a coalition of civil liberties and civil rights organizations to
reverse the violation of international and constitutional rights authorized by
the <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Military Commissions Act of
2006 and the Bush Administration’s operation of the <st1:City
w:st="on">Guantanamo</st1:City> prison in <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Cuba</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Amnesty
International, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Bill of Rights Defense
Committee, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Leadership Committee for
Civil Rights, and many others will be working together to lobby Congress to pass
bills that will effectively repeal the most egregious excesses of the Military
Commissions Act.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
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face="Times New Roman"> <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">That law denies detainees in the “War on Terror” in
Guantanamo and elsewhere the fundamental right to challenge their detention in
court (habeas corpus), narrows the definition of torture to exclude cruel
actions like water-boarding known to be used by the CIA and the military in
interrogation, protects U.S. officials from prosecution as war criminals, and
re-institutes the infamous military commissions, which the Supreme Court
declared unconstitutional in June 2006. . <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"> <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">Three sets of bills addressing the issue currently await
passage in the Congress, and PVCAST and the civil liberties coalition hope to
garner public support for them: Restoring the Constitution Act (H.R.1415 and S.
576); the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act (H.R. 1416 and S. 185); and Guantanamo
Bay Closure Act (H.R. 2212 and S. 1249).<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
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face="Times New Roman"> <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">Congressman John Olver is a signatory to H.R. 1415 and
1416, while Congressman Neal has signed on to H.R. 1415. Senators Kennedy and
Kerry have both signed onto S. 185, and Senator Kennedy is a signatory to S.
576. PVCAST applauds their actions and will be encouraging them to actively
support and move to a vote all of this important
legislation.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
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face="Times New Roman"> <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">Recent events have highlighted the Bush Administration's
role in indefinite detention and torture.. On June 11 a military commission
judge dismissed the cases of two detainees as improper. This week Pulitzer
Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersch revealed that top Defense Department
leaders knew about and covered up the torture at the Abu-Ghraib prison in
<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region> in 2003 and
2004.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
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size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman"> <SPAN
style="mso-tab-count: 1">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">The Coalition will be visiting regional Congressional and
Senatorial offices to present petitions to repeal the Military Commissions Act
in the two weeks following the
pickets.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P></FONT></BODY></HTML>