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Taxi To The Dark Side Film - Guide - FINAL
Taxi To The Dark Side Film - Guide - FINAL
PARTY
GUIDE
01 Introduction
02 About the Film
03 Plan a House Party
08 For Discussion
09 Fact Sheet
10 Background Q&A
13 Take Action
14 Petition
15 Casesheet
17 Contact Amnesty
ABOUT US
Amnesty International USA’s Counter Terror With Justice Campaign works to end human rights abuses
committed by the U.S. government and contractors in the “war on terror.” Guantánamo, a symbol of
injustice, must be closed. Detainees held there and at other facilities, like Bagram in Afghanistan, must
be charged and given fair trials, or be released. Torture and attacks on civilians must stop. We call for
an independent commission of inquiry to conduct a thorough investigation into torture and other abuses
conducted in the “war on terror” and for those responsible to be held accountable. The U.S. government
must respect and protect human rights, and counter terror with justice.
Amnesty International is a global movement of 2.2 million people in more than 150 countries and
territories who campaign to end grave abuses of human rights. Our vision is for every person to enjoy
all of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human
rights standards. We are independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest, or reli-
gion. We are funded mainly by our members and public donations. Amnesty International USA (AIUSA)
is the U.S. Section of Amnesty International.
Join Us! www.amnestyusa.org/ctwj
BE SURE TO:
» Register to host your own DVD House Party/Special Screening of the movie Taxi to the Dark Side.
By registering your house party you can help us keep track of who’s doing what, and when and
where it is happening. To register, send an email to ctwj@aiusa.org
» Utilize the sample agenda and discussion questions in this kit to help plan and organize
your House Party.
» Utilize the information and action items to engage and mobilize the people who attend the
House Party.
» Inform: One purpose of the House Party is to inform your guests about the work of Amnesty
International, and more specifically the work to end human rights abuses in the “war on terror.”
Make sure that you are fully versed in the issues of the campaign, so that your attendees are
informed and prepared to act. This is why it is important to register your party with us, so that
we can supply you with all of the necessary information.
» Act: After watching the film and discussing its content, your guests will want to get involved. Have
actions available and letters to write for your guests. Let them know how they can get further in-
volved.
» Generate Membership: Explain Amnesty’s work and how their membership is critical in sus-
taining our human rights work over longer periods of time.
STEP 2: INVITATIONS
Get your invitations out early! Today there are more ways of getting the word out than ever. Don’t depend
on one exclusively. And remember, people threw successful parties before e-mail existed!
» Set Goals. If your goal is to bring 20 people to your house party, then brainstorm a list of 60
people to invite. The rule of thumb is that 1 of 3 people will actually attend.
» Send an e-mail to all invitees. Make sure you mention why you are hosting a party, for ex-
ample, “we want to send a message to Congress to uphold the right of return.” Don’t forget to
include pertinent information: your address, phone number and e-mail address. Consider using
free programs, such as Evite (www.evite.com), which sends out invitations, then tracks responses
and sends out reminders automatically.
» Snail mail. Same rules apply. A personal invitation is still a very impressive way to get the word
out. They remain popular because they work.
» Phone calls. Call all the people you invite, get them to come, and remind them to be on time.
You should start calling 10 days before the house meeting even if invitations are still in the
mail.
» Reminder calls (a call back to all your “yesses”) make a big difference for turn-out. Make sure
to do them in the three evenings immediately preceding your house party.
» Keep good records. Who’s been called already, and who hasn’t been reached? Who’s a “yes”,
a “no”, a “maybe”? (Use your House Party Follow-up tracking sheet.)
» Post a flier. Low tech but effective. Tack them on your school bulletin board, your grocery stores
or local coffee shop’s community pin-up board, or tack it up to a telephone pole.
2. Organizers’ rule of thumb: if you really want folks to turn out, invitees should be contacted 3
times! Invitation. Follow-up Phone Call. Reminder Phone Call
3. Show your enthusiasm! The best way to motivate your guests to attend your house party is to
demonstrate your own enthusiasm. Let your guests know every time you talk to them why you
care about ending torture and other human rights violations by the U.S. government in the “war
on terror.”
» Pens and paper: Be sure you have enough, including paper for note taking.
» Stamps: Letters don’t go anywhere without postage!
» Nametags: Do you want them to help you identify guests? It’s up to you.
» Amnesty International literature: Have enough on hand, including membership brochures,
newsletters, handouts etc., maybe even an AI goody bag with buttons and stickers. Make
sure all your actions and handouts are displayed prominently. Contact your regional office at
1.866.A.REGION for materials.
» Equipment: Nothing is more embarrassing than having a house full of people and not being able
to get your DVD player to work. Make sure it is ready to roll, before guests arrive!
» Munchies: Can’t have a party without them. It doesn’t have to be a lot. This isn’t a State Din-
ner you’re hosting. But remember the rule of halves applies. If you invite 50, expect about 25 to
show up. Otherwise you’ll be eating Russian dressing chip dip for a month!
And Don’t Forget. If you are holding the party somewhere other than your home, in a church auditorium
for example, make sure to scout out the site in advance.
» Get Back to Us. Contact your Regional Office and let them know how things went.
» Thank yous. Don’t forget your just departed guests. A quick follow-up thank you note is always
appreciated. Then send them a follow-up action within a week or two. And don’t forget to include
information on how they can get more involved with AI by joining a group, and or a network and
by becoming individual dues paying members.
» Start planning your next event! So there you have it. It wasn’t that daunting after all was it? It
was even fun and it was all for a “good cause”—your cause, human rights.
» The United States Bill of Rights (1789) Amendment 8: “… nor (shall) cruel or unusual punish-
ment be inflicted.”
» U.N. Convention Against Torture (1984): “No state may permit or tolerate torture … Exceptional
circumstances such as a state of war … or any other public emergency may not be invoked as a
justification of torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.”
» Geneva Conventions (1949) Article 99, Third Convention: “no moral or physical coercion may be
exerted on a prisoner of war in order to admit himself guilty of the act of which he is accused.”
Furthermore, the prohibition of torture has a special status in international law, in that it is a key compo-
nent of customary international law. Elements of customary international law are binding on all states that
have not explicitly rejected them, whether or not they have ratified any of the relevant international trea-
ties. More importantly, the prohibition on torture is also a “peremptory norm,” which means that it cannot be
overruled by any other law or local custom. This means that even if countries do not ascribe to the prohibition
against torture under customary international law, they are still prohibited from exercising torture.
WHAT IS GUANTÁNAMO?
“Guantánamo” refers to the detention facilities located within the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay,
Cuba. By opening detention facilities at Guantánamo, the Bush administration sought to send detainees
to a place where they believed neither U.S. nor international law applied. This concept is an affront to
human rights and the rule of law—no one can be held outside of the law.
Despite international outrage and the U.S. authorities’ own stated wish to close the camp, Guantánamo
is still holding detainees illegally, without charge and with little hope of a fair trial. Hundreds languish in
cruel, inhuman, and degrading conditions—including detainees who have been cleared for release.
Guantánamo is only one part of a wider detention regime removed from the protection of U.S. and
international law. Hundreds of detainees, for example, remain in indefinite detention without charge or
trial at the U.S. airbase at Bagram in Afghanistan, without access to lawyers or the courts.
Over the years, at Guantánamo, Bagram, other U.S. facilities, and at secret CIA sites detainees have
been subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. Even after the administra-
tion said it wanted to close Guantánamo, detainees continued to be transferred there from secret CIA
custody and elsewhere, confirming the camp’s role at the heart of the U.S. network of illegal detention.
Guantánamo is a global symbol of injustice and abuse. It must be closed.
» Sign the petition for Mohammed Hassan Odaini and other Yemeni nationals who have been cleared
for release from Guantánamo but are still illegally detained there. Use the attached petition.
In February 2007, Maher Rafat al-Quwari’s lawyers learned that he has been declared eligible for
release from Guantánamo, but he remains detained as he has no residency papers and no country to
return to. His lawyers are seeking residency for him in a safe third country.
Maher al-Quwari was born in Gaza, in the Palestinian territories in 1965. He moved to Jordan where
he met and married his wife with whom he has two sons, but he does not have official status in any
country. He does not have a passport, any form of travel document or any identification papers.
In 2001 he says that he decided to travel to Pakistan to obtain identification papers from the U.N.
office in Quetta. He was in Afghanistan when U.S. forces attacked. He fled fearing for his safety, but
was captured by villagers and sold to the Northern Alliance, who handed him over to U.S. forces 40
days later.
BACKGROUND (CONTINUED)
Maher al-Quwari was held in Bagram and Kandahar in Afghanistan before being transferred to Guantánamo in
July 2002. He has alleged he was tortured and ill-treated during his time in U.S. detention, including:
• Beatings
• Strangulation, almost to the point of death
• Sleep deprivation and sensory deprivation
• Being shackled in a squatting position for hours, with cold water thrown over him
Maher al-Quwari has been held in Camp 6 at Guantánamo, one of the harshest of the detention facilities where
detainees are held in conditions of extreme isolation and sensory deprivation
Maher al-Quwari has been declared eligible for release, but he remains detained.