The Reckoning with Torture project is based on a simple but powerful notion: that coming to terms with human rights abuses starts with reading the documentary record. Over 130,000 formerly secret documents detailing the torture and abuse of detainees in US custody since 9/11 are now publicly available. A collaborative project with Doug Liman, the ACLU, and PEN, the Reckoning with Torture Project asks the public to read the record and spread the word.

In the coming days, we will be posting readings from the April 6, 2012 event staged by UPenn, where students and community members read from official documents detailing torture under US custody. In today’s video, we have Samantha Osaki, a student living in Pennsylvania, reading the sworn statement of an interpreter at the Kandahar detention facility in Afghanistan who witnessed the severe mistreatment of a detainee in U.S. custody:

And in this video, actress Lili Taylor reads the same statement at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011:

Over the last three years, PEN and the ACLU have staged readings showcasing declassified documents that detail America’s post-9/11 torture program. Leading writers and actors including Annie Proulx, Russell Banks, and Robert Redford have read documents. PEN now calls on the public to join our effort as well.

Here are the steps to participate.

1) Download the statement
2) Film yourself reading it
3) Send us the file

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