It has now been eleven years since the September 11 attacks. I still think about that morning every day. I could see the Towers from my living room, and from my walk to the subway. In my mind, I see the first Tower on fire. I see the second fall.
I think about all the people who lost their lives, all the survivors and all those who lost loved ones. Will their rights to justice, truth and redress ever be fulfilled?
I also think about all those who have suffered from the U.S. government’s response to the attacks. Will indefinite detention, unlawful drone killings and impunity for torture ever end?
And I wonder if Amnesty International’s vision of a world with human rights for all people will ever become reality.
On this sad day, I draw hope from the members of September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows.
They are people who lost family members in the attacks and came together to turn their grief into action for a better world, including human rights and civil liberties for everyone.
You can read the powerful stories of members of the group here, including that of Terry Rockefeller, who lost her sister Laura.
In a moving tribute, Terry writes:
“On September 11, 2001, Laura left her upper-West Side Manhattan apartment at about 6 a.m. to report for a two-day job on the 106th floor of the World Trade Center, helping to run a conference on risk assessment and information technology. When the job was over, Laura was planning to come to Massachusetts and visit us. But, of course, we never saw her again.
I joined September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows in May of 2002, because it offered me the most meaningful way to honor Laura’s life and try to insure that other families throughout the world do not experience the tragic and violent deaths of their innocent relatives.”
Family members and the public are welcome to join or support September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows: www.peacefultomorrows.org.