• Petition for International Investigation Committee on Ariel Sharon's crimes against humanity
  Petition to Mrs. Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

• Comprehensive Contacts
  Your Elected Representatives in Washington, D.C.

• Email

  Electronic Frontier Foundation

• Fax
  • United States

    Secretary of State Colin Powell (fax) 202-261-8577
    Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (fax) 703-697-9080

  • Israel

    US Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer-(fax) 011-972-3-517-3227
    (phone) 011-972-3-519-7575

• Federal Buildings

  • Oakland - Ronald Dellums Federal Building
    1301 Clay St
    Oakland, CA
    Directions

    BART Take BART to the Oakland City Center-12th Street station. Take the Plaza Exit and walk west through the Plaza, then cross Clay Street to the Federal Building.

    Transit - Use the Take Transit Trip Planner.

    Car
    From San Francisco, take I-80 east to I-980. Take 12th St. exit and proceed to 11th St., turning left over overpass. Drive three blocks to Clay Street and turn left. Drive one block. The Federal Building is the twin towers on the left.

    From San Jose, take I-880 north, take Broadway exit, turn right on Broadway and drive six blocks. Turn left on 12th St., drive one block and turn right on Clay St. The Federal Building is on the left.

    From Concord, take I-680 south to Highway 24, and then south on I-980. Take 12th St. exit and proceed to 11th St, turning left over overpass. Drive three blocks to Clay St., turn left and drive one block. The Federal Building is on the left.

    Parking: Oakland City Center West, 14th and Clay, covered garage, $0.55 per half hour, $1.10 per hour
    Oakland Convention Center, covered garage
    Clay Street Gardage, between 14th and 15th Streets, $6.50 per day Downtown Merchants, 13th and Franklin, $0.75 per hour

    To find meeting room:
    Enter the building through the central atrium area between the North and South Towers. Walking to the right, sign in with the guard at the entrance to the North Tower. You will need a photo ID. Specify "Auditorium" as your destination, and "NARA" as your contact. Ask guard for directions to the Auditorium.

  • San Francisco Federal Building
    Golden Gate Ave At Larkin St

     

  • San José Federal Building
    2nd and San Carlos
    San José

    

• City Halls
  
  • Oakland City Hall
    One Frank H. Ogawa Plaza
    Oakland, CA 94612 510 444 CITY (2489)

    Directions

    BART Take BART to the Oakland City Center-12th Street station. Take the Plaza Exit and walk west. Look for building pictured right.

    Transit - Use Take Transit Trip Planner.

    Biking

    Driving

• Mass Registration for Green Party of the United States
  Online California Voter Registration

  Send Washington and the world a message. Since there is only one party in Washington, the people are creating another one. Join it.

  Contacts for National and local Greens on our Organizations page.

  Articles on Democrats v. Greens, statistics and resources, please see the Undernews page Should the Greens run a Presidential Candidate in 2004?

Legal Support

Get legal support, learn your rights, become a legal observer at a demonstration.

• Partnership for Civil Justice Legal Defense and Education Fund

• A San Francisco Bay Area Progressive Directory Legal Services

Bay Area Peace Centers

• Berkeley
  Women For Peace
  

• Fremont
  Tri-City Peace Action

• Palo Alto
  Peninsula Peace and Justice Center
  

• San Jose
  San Jose Peace Center
  

• Santa Cruz
  Resource Center for Nonviolence
  

• Santa Rosa
  Sonoma County Center for Peace and Justice
  

• Walnut Creek
  Mount Diablo Peace Center
  

• Starhawk

• Civil Disobedience Index: An extensive list of support organizations. From Act Up.

• Fellowship of Reconciliation

• War Resisters League

• Know your rights
  

• War Resisters League Bay Area Contact
  West Jim Haber
  P.O.Box 410744
  San Francisco, CA 94141
  415-282-6580
  415-552-0240

Conscientious Objection

See Fact & Act #30 - Conscientious Objection and Tax Resistance

Also:

• Draft Resistance.org
• Making Choices About the Military

• Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, East Bay
  630 20th Street
  Oakland CA 94612

  Tel: 510 465 1617
  Fax: 510-465-2459
  Volunteers needed

Four Crucial Steps for Establishing Conscientious Objector Status

When you take calls from active duty personnel or others who are interested in establishing themselves as conscientious objectors you can be confident in advising them as follows.

The most important issue is establishing themselves by properly notifying the legislative, executive and judicial branches of the federal government. Once this is done it is quite easy to get additional letters of support for the application for status as a conscientious objector even for active duty personnel who have previously been combatants.

The following steps are crucial, and must be done by the objector for him/herself.

1. A certified letter needs to be sent the objector to their congressional delegation (based on their U.S. address) declaring themselves to be a "conscientious objector to war based on deeply held moral ethical and religious beliefs". The objector needs to make a copy of this letter and any response he/she receives. An email can also be sent and usually prompts a quicker reply but this is not a substitute for a certified letter.

2. If the objector is on active duty they must write to their commanding officer and declare themselves to be a "conscientious objector to war based on deeply held moral, ethical and religious beliefs." This will prompt a change in subsequent orders, security clearance and initiate an investigation of the objector. At any time the active duty objector has the right to request reassignment to noncombatant duties or alternative service.

If the objector has not yet registered with the Selective Service System they need to write to the SSS and declare themselves to be a "conscientious objector to war....".

At the time they actually register, and it is important that everybody registers who is over the age of 18, the objector needs to write on the registration form, " I am a conscientious objector to war..." The objector needs to make copies of the letter to the SSS and the registration form they have written on because the SSS will destroy these documents. If the objector is 18 to 26 the SSS will confirm receipt of the registration and this needs to be kept by the objector. If the objector is one of the estimated 350,000 males over the age of 26 who have never registered he still needs to go through the motions and keep copies of the registration form because the SSS will not even confirm its receipt.

If the objector is registered with the SSS but has not sought CO status is important to write the letter of CO declaration to their congressional delegation and to notify the SSS of a change in status. Every time the registered objector changes address they need to notify the SSS within 10 days and at the same time repeat the declaration that they are a "conscientious objector to war..."

The persistent repetition is very important and will help to solidify the objector's claim.

3. Next the objector needs to prepare an Affidavit, which is sworn before a Notary Public and witnessed by two registered voters who are not related to the objector. The letter of declaration to the objector's congressional delegation and the notification to the SSS (or commanding officer) must be attached as supporting documents to the Affidavit because it affirms:

"I am a conscientious objector to war based on deeply held moral, ethical and religious beliefs and have informed my congressional delegation and the Selective Service System (or commanding officer) accordingly as proven by the attached documents."

This Affidavit can be filed in federal district court or in any civilian or military proceeding related to the objector's claim. Copies of the Affidavit should also be provided to the parents of the objector, teachers, religious leaders and legal counsel because these individuals may be contacted by Selective Service or military investigators and asked to confirm the objector's claim.

4. A VERY IMPORTANT ACTION THE OBJECTOR NEEDS TO TAKE IS TO TELL FAMILY, FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES ABOUT BEING A CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR TO WAR. During the First Gulf War there were over 2500 active duty personnel who applied for CO status but only 10% of these applications were approved because the objectors could not prove they had told anybody about their beliefs. Tell the people who are most likely to write letters in support of the CO application and keep these letters as part of a permanent file in addition to the documents described above.

All active duty personnel have access to email and that is by far the best way for them to communicate their particular needs and pass the information along to their friends. Telephone messages get easily misinterpreted and you will find the language skills of many of the active duty personnel to be deficient. Again, it is essential that more counselors be trained without delay.

Cities Against Bush & Ashcroft's "U.S.A. Patriot Act"

Nearly two dozen cities around the country have passed resolutions urging federal authorities to respect the civil rights of local citizens when fighting terrorism. Efforts to pass similar measures are under way in more than 60 other places.

While the resolutions are largely symbolic, many of them provide some legal justification for local authorities to resist cooperating in the federal war on terrorism when they deem civil liberties and Constitutional rights are being compromised.

Most of the resolutions have passed in liberal bastions like Boulder, Colo.; Santa Fe, N.M.; Cambridge, Mass.; and Berkeley, Calif., where opposition to government policy is a tradition. But less ideological places have also acted, with more localities considering it, from big cities like Chicago and Tampa, Fla., to smaller ones like Fairbanks, Alaska, and Grants Pass, Ore.

21 U. S. Cities Resolved Flagstaff, Arizona Berkeley, California Oakland, California Santa Cruz, California Sebastopol, California Boulder, Colorado Denver, Colorado New Haven, Connecticut Alachua County Florida Takoma Park, Maryland Amherst, Massachusetts Cambridge, Massachusetts Leverett, Massachusetts Northampton, Massachusetts Ann Arbor, Michigan Detroit, Michigan Santa Fe, New Mexico Carrboro, North Carolina Eugene, Oregon Burlington, Vermont Madison, Wisconsin

CA Cities Pending Davis: Draft resolution (Scheduled for vote 2/5/03) Fairfax Fremont LaCrescenta Larkspur Mendocino County Nevada County Pasadena Petaluma San Francisco Santa Barbara

Bay Area Cities Needing Action San Jose Santa Clara Palo Alto Concord Walnut Creek Sunnyvale San Mateo Cupertino Campbell Los Gatos Mt. View Watsonville Gilroy Hollister San Leandro Emeryville Hercules San Carlos Redwood City

Get your city started by visiting Bill of Rights Defense Committee.