Anti-Torture, Anti-War 'Visual Takeover' of Downtown SF

San Francisco (March 20, 2006) – On the third anniversary of the U.S. attack on Iraq, about two hundred people staged a “visual takeover” this morning of the hub of downtown at Montgomery and Market Streets. Organized under “Act Against Torture,” protesters carried enlarged photos of Abu Ghraib prison torture victims, hoisted banners such as “Shut Down Guantanamo”, and chanted “Stop the War. Stop the Torture.” About a dozen people, many in orange jumpsuits, were arrested after blocking Market Street when street theater turned into civil disobedience. "We cannot do what we are doing, and call ourselves a democracy," said Kate Raphael of Act Against Torture. "Democracies do not kidnap people and take them thousands of miles from home, to be beaten, tortured, and held incommunicado for the rest of their lives without even a trial. As citizens of a country that is guilty of these actions, it is our duty to stand up and stop this injustice."