Amnesty wages battle on the war on terror

by Larissa Vince, Campaign 11-Oct-07, 08:30

LONDON - Amnesty International is to launch a hard-hitting new campaign against human rights abuses by governments performed in the name of the 'war on terror'.

A series of three poster executions, created by Drugstore, uses images so graphic that the UK's two biggest poster operators, JCDecaux and Clear Channel, have refused to carry them.

The 48 sheets, which feature scenes of torture, illegal detention and bombsites, will run on sites owned by Titan Outdoor from the beginning of next week.

Using the strapline "unsubscribe", the posters urge people to visit a social networking site, www.unsubscribe-me.org, where they can remove their name from the electoral register as a sign of their protest against the war on terror - which, according to the site "has been used to justify acts of torture, 'rendition', discrimination and unlawful detention."

Drugstore has also created three short films, the first of which will be released in arthouse cinemas from early 2008. The film, "Waiting for the guards", shows a blindfolded, handcuffed man stripped to his underwear and crouching on a cardboard box - the so-called "stress position" used as part of the CIA's "enhanced interrogation techniques".

The campaign has also enlisted the support of Moazzam Begg, the British man held without charge for over two years at Guantanamo Bay. Begg said: "Removing freedoms gives rise to hostility and leads to terrorism; terrorism allows governments to justify the restriction of liberty. We must unsubscribe to both."

Comments

Bill Britt - 11/10/2007

I find it worrying that a pressure group would encourage people to remove their names from the electoral register. If people aren’t registered they can’t vote. If they can’t vote they lose the major tool for leveraging political change. A politician is ultimately more concerned about the piece of paper that goes into the ballot box than the letter they receive from a pressure group like Amnesty International.

Alex Donohue - 11/10/2007

I'm an active Amnesty member and I'm really disappointed this campaign is encouraging people to opt out of the democratic process. Especially with it coming less than a week after the organisation held a march for Burma in central London.

Hollie Newton - 11/10/2007

I'm an avid Amnesty supporter - and an avid supporter of brave campaigns - but taking my name off the electoral register?! It's madness. They're effectively asking us to give up one of OUR basic human rights, that of the right to vote.

Sarah Grant - 12/10/2007

The use of shock-tactic images is a good idea to promote the human rights abuse taking place, however by encouraging the public to remove their name from the electoral register entirely contradicts the campaign which in theories encourages us as the public to voice our opionions by our 'silence', however removing our name from the electoral register does exactly the opposite where our silence will go 'un-heard'. We must retain our right to 'vote' to make our voice heard.

Alex Donohue - 12/10/2007

I heard today that the campaign is more a symbolic rather than literal removal of people's details from the electorial role to effectively give a vote of no confidence to goverment policy. That by symbolically removing yourself from the list you are joining the unsubscribe campaign. Perhaps something is lost in the creative message here, if this is how it's being interpreted - not just on these boards but elsewhere too...