Recently I had the great opportunity to attend a talk by Reverend Ben Boswell on torture in the U.S. and North Carolina’s involvement. I was shocked to learn that North Carolina was involved in the CIA’s torture program from 2001-2006. How was the great state involved? Well NCCIT, North Carolina’s Commission and Inquiry on Torture, is a commission involving many great citizens as they try to spread the news on torture in NC. NC’s airports and planes were used to move suspects around the world to CIA black sites, where they would subsequently be tortured. Below is a great video that briefly explains NC’s involvement.
Now what can you do? Well on November 30th and December 1st, NCCIT is holding a two-day public forum in order to spread the knowledge of the issue, and bring together experts and survivors to give testimony. NC is the first to do anything like this, and is leading the way in reconciling with our past and what we can do with torture.
Here are some links to their crowdfunding pitch, their website with more information, and their commissioners.
This is a great way to get involved if human rights is something you’re passionate about and want to get involved in a grassroots initiative within North Carolina. Attending the public hearings is just the beginning, they hope to continue their work after the hearings for North Carolina and the United States to reconcile with their actions.