Create Your Own Petition to Make Change

A group of around 50 people from more than 12 countries drafted the Manifesto in recent weeks. Many prominent people are supporting it. People in general are more awake to the absurdity of a planet in which the richest 8 people have more wealth than the poorest 3.8 billion than ever before as this pandemic spreads. We are circulating this widely in multiple languages to help frame the debate and actions moving forward, raising global demands that address the inequity resulting from decades of neoliberal economic policies and rampant and unbridled militarism.

SIGNED BY Ann Wright - Col. U.S. Army (Retired), resigned U.S. State Department official in Afghanistan and member of the CODEPINK anti-drone war delegation to Pakistan in 2012. Matthew Hoh - Former U.S. Marine officer and resigned U.S. State Department official in Afghanistan. Kathy Kelly – Peace activist who has made 30 trips to Afghanistan and Co-coordinator BanKillerDrones.org. Brian Terrell – Peace activist who has made multiple trips to Afghanistan and board member of BanKillerDrones.org Medea Benjamin – Co-founder of CODEPINK, organizer of the anti-drone war protest delegation to Pakistan in 2012. Leah Bolger - Commander, U.S. Navy (Retired) , President, World Beyond War and a member of the CODEPINK anti-drone war protest delegation to Pakistan in 2012. Chelsea Faria – Board member, BanKillerDrones.org and a member of the CODEPINK anti-drone war delegation to Pakistan in 2012. Judy Bello – Upstate (NY) Drone Action and a member of the CODEPINK anti-drone war delegation to Pakistan in 2012. Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Prize Winner, 1976 and visitor to Afghanistan in 2012. David Swanson – Executive Director, World BEYOND War. The Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson – Executive Director, Fellowship of Reconciliation (USA). Garett Reppenhagen, Executive Director, Veterans For Peace. Richard A. Falk, Professor Emeritus of International Law, Princeton University. Joe Lombardo, Coordinator, United National Antiwar Coalition. Phyllis Bennis – Institute for Policy Studies. Dr. Christine Schweitzer, Federation for Social Defence (Germany). Chris Cole, Director, Drone Wars UK. Debra Sweet – Director, World Can’t Wait. Susan Schnall – President, Veterans for Peace, New York City chapter, Veterans for Peace national board member. Maurice Carney - Friends of the Congo. Nada Khader - Executive Director, WESPAC Foundation, Westchester County, NY. Frank Brodhead – Coordinator, Concerned Families of Westchester (NY). Jack Gilroy – Veterans for Peace, Upstate (NY) Drone Action. Robert M. Smith – Brandywine Peace Community, Philadelphia, PA. Peace Action of Broome County, NY. Veterans for Peace of Broome County, NY. Friends of Franz & Ben. Ed Kinane and Ann Tiffany – Upstate (NY) Drone Action. Malachy Kilbride – Peace organizer. Janice Sevre-Duszynska – Baltimore Nonviolence Center. Susan H. Smith – Fellowship of Reconciliation (USA). Joy First – Peace organizer. Max Obuszewski – Baltimore Nonviolence Center and Baltimore Peace Action. Nick Mottern – Co-coordinator, BanKillerDrones.org SOURCES 1. >> https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2021/06/now-over-horizon-protection-afghanistan-will-fly-existing-hubs-acting-air-force-secretary-says/174595/ >> https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/2665540/pentagon-press-secretary-john-f-kirby-holds-a-press-briefing/ 2. >> https://www.c-span.org/video/?512340-1/defense-department-fiscal-year-2022-budget-request&live= >> https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-172830 4. >> https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/09/us/politics/afghanistan-airstrikes-us-troop-withdrawal.html 5. >> https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/06/us/politics/cia-afghanistan-pakistan.html >> https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/03/us/politics/biden-drones.html >> https://bankillerdrones.org/dangers/https:/bankillerdrones.org/dangers/ 6. >> https://www.iadllaw.org/files/BOMBING OF AFGHANISTAN IS ILLEGAL AND MUST BE STOPPED by Marjorie Cohn.pdf 7. >> https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N21/037/72/PDF/N2103772.pdf?OpenElement 8. >> https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/21/afghanistan-pakistan-imran-khan-peace-security-cooperation-us/ >> https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/557714-biden-and-nato-must-face-the-consequences-of-americas-withdrawal 9. >> https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/11/turkeys-troops-should-leave-afghanistan-under-2020-deal-taliban >> https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Hamid_Karzai_International_Airport

Hassan Mushaima, a political activist, founder of the Movement for Freedom and Democracy and a well-known voice critical of King Hamad, has been arrested for his involvement in peaceful protests of the Bahreini Arab Spring. Hassan, an elderly man with cancer, is serving a life sentence in Jau Prison. He was officially arrested on charges of attempting to subvert the government. Dozens of human rights defenders and protesters have been arrested along with him, and are now serving an unjust sentence, deprived of contact with their families and forced to wear chains on their feet if they claim their right to access appropriate medical care. Hassan's arrest, a clear attempt to silence him, makes it all the more necessary and urgent to investigate his case and secure his release.