Pol, Her: Vigil, Sindhi Music, outside White House, Saturday 6pm

[Sammondi@AOL.COM]

VIGIL, SINDHI MUSIC PROGRAM, IN FRONT OF WHITE HOUSE
Saturday 6pm - 7pm

The World Sindhi Institute (WSI) and Amnesty International will be
hosting the 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM program segment of the 24-hour Vigil
commemorating the 2nd annual UN International Day in support of torture
victims. The vigil will begin on Saturday, June 26th at 7:00 AM and
end on Sunday, June 27th at 7:00 AM at the Lafayette Park, across from
the White House.  The WSI-AI program beginning at 6pm on Saturday will
include singing of Sindhi folk songs and an update on human
rights conditions in Sindh.

Today in more than 117 countries, governments torture their own
citizens. NO ONE is immune to torture. Nearly half a million torture
survivors live in the United States alone. Physical and psychological
effects of torture affect all parts of the survivor's life. The
Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Committee (TASSC), of which
WSI is a member, is sponsoring this vigil. TASSC is a coalition of
survivors of political violence, non-governmental human rights
organizations and treatment centers dedicated to the eradication of
torture in the world by means of non-violence. Among more than 173
vigil endorsing organizations, included are Amnesty International/USA,
Asia Pacific Center for Justice and Peace, Canadian Medical
Association, Center for International Policy, Democracy Council of
California, Lahore Rehabilitation Center for Torture Survivors (LRCT),
Lawyers Committee for Human Rights - DC, Rainbow Sisters Project - CA,
School of the Americas Watch, World Sindhi Congress (WSC), and World
Sindhi Institute (WSI).

In addition to the vigil, a delegation of the torture survivors will
make presentations at the Congress Human Rights caucus and meet
several congress members and officials of the US State department and
National Security Council. The Sindhi representatives on this
delegation include Dodo Khan Mahari (subject to receiving Visa) and
Munawar Laghari (president of WSI).

If you cannot join the vigil, call or write the White House. Urge the
President to issue a public proclamation renewing the nation's
commitment to eradicating the practice of torture in the world. WHITE
HOUSE COMMENT LINE: (202) 456-1111; ADDRESS: The White House, 1600
Pennsylvania Ave., N. W.  Washington, D. C., 20500. Send us a
reflection on torture and what should be done about it. If you prefer,
send a poem or a drawing to WSI. It will become part of a
Commemoration Book, which will be presented to President Clinton
either by survivors or by members of Congress.


Munawar Laghari
President
The World Sindhi Institute
605 G Street SW
Washington DC 20024
202-484-0134(day)
202-554- 2984(eve)