Tuesday, October 3, 2006
WITNESS: Extraordinary Rendition
Join us for a conversation, film screening and art exhibition with activist and filmmaker Gillian Caldwell, Executive Director of WITNESS, the human rights group founded by Peter Gabriel.
5pm - Art Reception 6pm - Film and Conversation
Outlawed: Extraordinary Rendition, Torture and Disappearances in the "War on Terror" tells the stories of Khaled El-Masri and Binyam Mohamed, two men who have survived extraordinary rendition, secret detention, and torture by the U.S. government working with various other governments worldwide. Outlawed features relevant commentary from Louise Arbour, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, U.S. President George W. Bush, Michael Scheuer, the chief architect of the rendition program and former head of the Osama Bin Laden unit at the CIA, and Condoleezza Rice, the United States Secretary of State. Outlawed places the post-9/11 phenomenon of renditions and the "war on terror" in a human rights context for use on a global level in advocacy, education and mobilization.
This event features an exhibition of a collection of art by Shirin Neshat, Kiki Smith, Alfredo Jaar, William Wegman, Sebastiao Salgado, Dayanita Singh, Cai Guo-Quiang, & Izar Patkin. These artists have collaborated on a series of prints that helps to raise awareness about the work and programs of WITNESS. The art will be available for sale at the Hull-House Museum .
WITNESS uses the power of video to open the eyes of the world to human rights abuses. By partnering with local organizations around the globe, WITNESS empowers human rights defenders to use video as a tool to shine a light on those most affected by human rights violations, and to transform personal stories of abuse into powerful tools of justice. Since WITNESS was founded in 1992 by musician and advocate Peter Gabriel, they have partnered with groups in more than 60 countries, bringing often unseen images, untold stories and seldom heard voices to the attention of key decision makers, the media, and the general public -- prompting grassroots activism, political engagement, and lasting change.
Before joining WITNESS as Executive Director in 1998, Gillian Caldwell was the Co-Director of the Global Survival Network, where she coordinated an undercover investigation into the trafficking of women for forced prostitution from Russia . She also lived in South Africa during 1991 investigating hit squads, and has worked around the US on issues related to poverty and violence. Gillian is a film maker and an attorney, and a recipient of numerous international awards including the Rockefeller Foundation Next Generation Leadership Award, Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneurship Award, the Tech Laureate award from the Tech Museum , and the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship.
Outlawed is a WITNESS production in association with the following 14 production and distribution partners worldwide: the ACLU, Amnesty International, Breakthrough (US/India), the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Center for Human Rights & Global Justice at New York University, Freedom House, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, the International Commission of Jurists (Switzerland), Liberty (UK), the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, Redress (UK), and Reprieve (UK).
Photo credit (above left): University of Illinois at Chicago Library Special Collections Neg. 64
This event is FREE
Reservations are not required but recommended, call
312-413-5353
Jane Addams
Hull-House Museum
Residents' Dining Hall
800 South Halsted
