Our last "event" for the year is a compilation of video interviews we did with students and others in the Stanford community during the month of May. The beginning includes some footage from our symbolic protest at the Alan Dershowitz talk, and then the short film transitions into the thoughts and opinions of our student body told through on-the-spot interviews.

Have a look:

Also, see the New York Times editorial and newspiece on Guantanamo. The editorial is entitled, "Gitmo: A National Disgrace," while the newspiece details the Democrats' latest talk (we hope more than that) on restoring habeas corpus and otherwise reforming the judicial process created under the Military Commissions Act to try detainees held at Guantanamo.

Screening is Wednesday April 18th at 8pm in Cubberley Auditorium

This Wednesday will be the premiere of Stanford's biggest and most provocative student film of the year! The Strange Case of Salman abd al Haqq is a fictional short film based on the testimony of victims of Extraordinary Rendition, the U.S. government policy that has been dubbed 'the outsourcing of torture.' It tells the story of its fictional protagonist Salman, who finds himself jailed and interrogated by the brutal Egyptian secret service in Cairo because of his alleged involvement with three suspected terrorists. In a nuanced and intriguing way, the film touches on issues such as the morality of torture, the effectiveness of the War on Terror, the role of Arabs in American society and the struggle between traditionalism and progressiveness in the Muslim world.

The presentation is hosted by four student groups, including Stanford Amnesty. The Strange Case of Salman abd al Haqq is directed by Tim Gregory and Jeff Orlowski and stars Stanford junior Amin El Gamal and David Fine, who recently appeared in Will Smith's The Pursuit of Happyness. Though based on true stories, The Strange Case is a fictional film.

Following the 45-minute screening, a panel discussion will be held with the producer and director and experts on America's use of torture.

Watch the trailer:

9:50PM: Thanks to everyone who came tonight! We estimated that about 80 people were there. Please take a moment to sign our petition, if you have not already. Have a look around the blog to learn more about the issue and stay tuned for future events!

Also, check out our Daily coverage.

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With two hours to go before the film screening, we are releasing an article from the UK Guardian that contains excerpts from the report on the "Tipton Three," the three British citizens who were detained and held without charges at the American prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for two years before being released in 2004. Of the hundreds of detainees held in Guantanamo, only 10 have actually been charged with a crime, and allegations of torture and other abuse of detainees have not been adequately investigated. To this day, detainees in Guantanamo Bay are barred by law from challenging their detentions.

Harsh conditions detailed in the article and in the film, along with the sheer length of detention, have led the International Committee of the Red Cross (which is usually silent about its work) to condemn the conditions as amounting to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. These conditions have caused many detainees to suffer severe mental illness, and many have attempted suicide. Three are known to have succeeded.

The President has said he would like to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, but he has not yet done so.

See the movie the New York Times calls "A film of staggering force."

Our first major event for the Stanford Amnesty campaign to raise awareness of America's use of torture is a screening of the critically acclaimed film, The Road to Guantanamo.

When: Tuesday, March 6th at 7:30 PM
Where: Language Corner (Building 260), Room 113

Watch the trailer:

You can also read the NYTimes review. Contact us with any questions at stanfordagainsttorture at gmail dot com.

Professor Phil Zimbardo will bid farewell to Stanford on Wednesday, after 50 years of teaching, with a lecture to Psychology 1 students on the psychology of evil. The lecture is entitled "The Lucifer Effect" after his latest book, and draws from social psychology, including his own Stanford Prison Experiment, to show how horrible abuses such as those witnessed at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay are humanly possible. It is a riveting lecture that you don't want to miss.

Seems like a moment ago when I was nervously preparing my first lecture at Yale College back in 1957, as the first graduate student in psychology to be allowed to teach his own introductory psychology course to the "Yale Men."

Somehow, fifty years has gone by teaching that course from small seminars to large lectures with 1,000 students, and it has always been a joy and a challenge to make it work better for each new generation of students. I have been able to keep up my scholarship in this ever-changing discipline by writing the textbook for the course, Psychology and Life, now in its 18th edition.

I shall miss my daily contacts with my students and the many dedicated teaching assistants, but will work at staying young at heart by challenging injustice and inequity wherever it exists, notably now through my new book, which will be the topic of this farewell lecture, The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil.

PHIL ZIMBARDO

The Psychology 1 lecture is open to visitors and takes place on Wednesday, March 7th from 11:00AM to 12:15PM in the basement of the Psychology building, room 40 (basement entrance is behind the building).