Reckoning With Torture

Following the events of Sept. 9, 2001, the United States launched a "war on terror" -- a war against an enemy ill-defined and tied to no geographic place. The tactics employed by the U.S. government to wage the war ranged from conventional combat to espionage. They also included torture, a fact denied by the government at the time but since confirmed in thousands of pages of documents obtained by the ACLU through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. On Monday, April 12, librarians, lawyers, professors, students, writers, and others will read from recently released secret documents -- memos, declassified communications, and testimonies by detainees at Guantanamo and elsewhere.

March 19, 2010

The event is sponsored by the ACLU-VT and the University of Vermont Libraries. It will take place at 7 p.m. at Memorial Lounge of the Waterman Building on the UVM campus in Burlington. It is free and open to the public.

Featured readers include:

  • Philip Baruth, UVM English professor and writer
  • David Budbill, writer
  • Stephanie Farrior, Vt. Law School international law professor
  • Traci Griffith, Saint Michael's College communications professor
  • Ateqah Khaki, ACLU National Security Program staff
  • Trina Magi, UVM library professor
  • Travis Nelson, UVM political science professor
  • Hilary Neroni, UVM film studies professor
  • Adelit Rukomangana, M.A. in theology, native of Rwanda
  • Scott Schaffer, UVM government documents librarian
  • David Sleigh, Guantanamo detainee lawyer
  • Emma Vick, UVM student
  • Sydnee Viray, social worker, advocate, and UMV staff member

The event is being held during National Library Week in recognition of the important work that libraries do to make information available to the public.

See a list of the readings, and read samples of the documents .

View and download a poster for "Reckoning with Torture."


Reader profile:

Ateqah Khaki .


Reader profile:

David Sleigh .


The program will be videotaped and will air on RETN Channel 16 in the Burlington area. See

www.retn.org for air dates and to watch online.