AI Group Cosponsors Army Doctor Talk Against Torture in Princeton 6/23

I wanted to make sure you saw this upcoming event by AI LG 67 in Princeton. It is taking place right before activists across the country will meet with the congressmen and senators to urge them to support legislation to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay.



Monday, June 23 7:30 p.m. co-sponsored by Amnesty International Local Group 67Nassau Presbyterian Church61 Nassau Streetright across from Palmer Square)Princeton, NJ
To mark Torture Awareness Month, the Princeton Area Anti-Torture Advocacy Group is hosting a talk at 7:30 pm on Monday, June 23, at Nassau Presbyterian Church, 61 Nassau Street in Princeton (right across from Palmer Square). Torture Awareness Month commemorates the date, June 26, 1987, when the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment went into effect.
The speaker is Brigadier General (Ret) Stephen Xenakis, MD. His talk is entitled No More Torture: Defending Against Global Risk.
Dr. Xenakis served 28 years in the US Army as a medical corps officer. He is on the Board of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT), is an advisor to Physicians for Human Rights, and a contributor to Human Rights First. Dr. Xenakis is a member of Rock Spring United Church of Christ in Arlington, VA, and a Princeton University alumnus.
Dr. Xenakis has held a wide variety of military assignments -- as a clinical psychiatrist, staff officer, and senior commander including Commanding General of the Southeast Army Regional Medical Command. Dr. Xenakis has spoken and written widely on medical ethics, military medicine, and the treatment of detainees. He has an active clinical and consulting practice, and currently is working on the clinical applications of quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) to brain injury and other neurobehavioral conditions.
Dr. Xenakis has written: "Until now, perhaps the most well-known image of the American military doctor was Hawkeye Pierce of M.A.S.H., who protected his patients from dubious orders from his superiors, even when his patients were enemy soldiers. Now, the world's impression of the American military doctor is something quite different. The International Committee of the Red Cross has accused American military physicians of participating in actions that are 'tantamount to torture."
The Princeton Area Anti-Torture Advocacy Group is affiliated with NRCAT, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C. The NRCAT slogan "Torture is a Moral Issue" will be displayed on banners by a number of area churches in June. NRCAT's Founding Conference at Princeton Theological Seminary in January 2006 was organized by the Coalition for Peace Action and the Rev. Dr. George Hunsinger of the Seminary faculty. Nassau Church, in which Dr. Hunsinger is an active participant, became a participating member of NRCAT in March 2007.
Co-sponsors of the presentation include: Nassau Presbyterian Church-Princeton; Coalition for Peace Action; ACLU-NJ; Amnesty International-Mercer County Group; Mercer County Coalition for Civil Liberties; New Brunswick Presbytery, PC (USA)-Social Witness Committee; Princeton Clergy Association; Princeton Friends Meeting-Peace & Social Concerns Committee; Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton; Westminster Presbyterian Church-Trenton; Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church-Princeton.
The presentation is a free public event. It will be followed by a question and answer period, as well as light refreshments.