Tonight: "The United States and Yemen: Destroying Lives in the Name of National Security," a public discussion

"The United States and Yemen: Destroying Lives in the Name of National Security,"

Sept. 2, 2010, 7:30 pm,

the Brecht Forum
451 West St bt Bank and Bethune Sts.

a public discussion featuring renowned Yemeni activists and a CCR human rights attorney addressing state violence, targeted killings, and human rights abuses enabled by the so-called "War on Terror."
(The Brecht Forum

PLEASE NOTE the TIME CHANGE from 7pm to 7:30pm. (A prayer room and appetizers will be available as it is Ramadan.)

The U.S. government describes Yemen as 'an important partner in the global war on terrorism' while at the same time characterizing it as an Al-Qaida stronghold. The Yemeni government has taken advantage of the U.S. partnership and increasing military aid to justify its domestic "anti-terror campaigns" which have resulted in egregious human rights violations, including mass arrests, illegal abductions, enforced disappearances, torture, and killings. The victims of this violence are not only alleged militants and their families, but Yemeni dissidents and journalists critical of their government. The "war on terror" has served as a cover for the Yemeni state to increase repression and militarization in response to its own internal political crises -- all with the tacit approval of the international community.

Don't miss out on this exceptional opportunity to hear visiting Yemeni human rights activists at the forefront of human rights struggles in their country discuss what they are doing to resist this mounting repression and to create a meaningfully democratic and peaceful future. Learn about the political climate in Yemen, and together think through what ethical solidarity with Yemeni people might look like. Also hear from a CCR lawyer who is trying to stop a "targeted killing" by the United States in Yemen and who represents men detained at Guantánamo -- where Yemeni men constitute the largest group of remaining prisoners, all declared by the Obama administration to be indefinitely detainable without charge based solely on their nationality.

Developing an understanding of this political reality is crucial to ending the U.S. government's complicity in more human rights abuses, and to stopping the creation of a war without boundaries or end that threatens our collective safety.

Sincerely,

Annette Warren Dickerson
Director of the Education and Outreach Department

Panelists:

Tawakkol Karman, chairwoman of the Yemeni non-government organization Women Journalists Without Chains, which campaigns for freedom of the press in Yemen and against human rights violations.

Ezz-Adeen Saeed Ahmed Al-Asbahi, the president of Human Rights Information & Training Center (HRITC), a non-governmental organization which seeks to enhance human rights in Yemen and the Arab World, focusing on the Gulf States in particular.

Pardiss Kebriaei is a staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in New York City.

Leili Kashani (moderator and discussant): is the Education and Outreach Associate for the Guantánamo Global Justice Initiative at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR). i

*This event is co-sponsored by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Brecht Forum.