On January 11, 2008, Amnesty International USA executive director Larry Cox made the following declaration to a group of 250 people assembled to protest torture and indefinite detention carried out by the U.S. government. He said:

This is the ugly blot on the America we believe in that we are going to finally remove. Because today’s protests and vigils are one more indication that the public outrage at the Bush administration’s continued harmful approach to national security is escalating. Mr. President, the demands for respect for human rights are only going to get louder and more widespread. And there’s only one way to reduce our chants: Shut down Guantanamo.

That sadly has proven to be untrue. In the intervening months, public outrage has not escalated. Demands for respect for human rights are not getting louder and more widespread. The chants have been reduced all on their own, without the shutdown of Guantanamo.

Some Americans do care a whole lot that their government tortures and detains people without charges in their names. Some do. But it seems that most Americans really couldn’t care less.

You can’t control what other people do. But you can control what you do.

At 7:00 am on June 28, 2008, the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition (TASSC) will initiate a 24-hour vigil in front of the White House in Lafayette Park.

Can you be there?

Can you spread the word?

Tags: amnesty international, dc, detention, indefinite, lafayette park, larry cox, protest, rendition, tassc, torture, vigil, washington