[lang_en]Fresh off of its New York premier and East Coast tour the fiercely innovative play Crime Against Humanity returns to Chicago![/lang_en]

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[lang_en]After performing to over 5000 people throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico, Crime Against Humanity returns to its home venue in Chicago. The play has been featured in venues throughout the Midwest, the East Coast, and Puerto Rico. Crime Against Humanity, a National Boricua Human Rights Network and Teatro Batey Urbano production, begins a second Chicago run Friday February 6 at Batey Urbano (2620 W. Division) and will run every Friday and Saturday at 7pm throughout the month of February.ย  The play will also kick of its Midwest tour in March and is scheduled to return to New York, Puerto Rico, Philadelphia, Boston and Hartford for monthly runs in 2009.

The cast and crew of Crime against Humanity would like to truly thank every person that helped make 2008 east coast tour a success. We were happy to see so many people come out to the production at Hostos Center for Arts and Culture in the Bronx New York, Taller Puertorriqueรฑo in Philadelphia, La Paloma Sabanera in Hartford, Lawrence Community Works in Lawrence MA, St. Andrewโ€™s Coffee Shop in Boston, and The Freedom School in Albany.

We are confident that with our radio interviews, news coverage, printed articles and internet promotion we reached millions of people. Through this production we hoped to contribute like so many before us to the freedom of our political prisoners and in turn the freedom of our nation. The play is just one tool in that struggle.

We thank every the press, and all of the organizations that spread the word to their list serves and contact lists, as well as thank every individual that passed out flyers printed and placed posters. Also, we thank those that housed us, fed us and shared their homes, and their spaces with us and all those who attended our performances, some leaving a few dollars, others giving hundreds. We greatly appreciate every person that organized a performance in his or her city or town. Thank you to the venues and all of those that gave their time to make sure our tour was a success.

As we head toward 2009 we should remember that this year will mark the 10th anniversary of freedom for 11 of our former political prisoners. We hope the play is just one of many tools that will help us reflect on that victory and will help us focus on the great challenge ahead. We are asking that in the spirit of this historic year we find ways to remember and activate people in the spirit of justice, equality and freedom for our remaining political prisoners.

As part of our national campaign to free the remaining Puerto Rican political prisoners we are asking that April 4, which is the 29th anniversary of their capture, be a day of commemoration. We would like organizations, individuals, and communities to hold an event in the spirit of resistance against US colonialism in Puerto Rico and for the release of the remaining Puerto Rican political prisoners. On behalf of the Crime Against Humanityโ€™s cast and crew we hope to see yet another successful year toward the freedom of our prisoners.

For those interested, contact National Boricua Human Rights Network: info@boricuahumanrights.org.

About Crime Against Humanity
Crime Against Humanity is a play based on the real life experiences of fourteen Puerto Rican political prisoners who spent more than two decades in prisons for seditious conspiracyโ€”two of whom are still incarcerated. The play brings us into the U.S. prison system, focusing on the politically motivated use of isolation, selective punishment, sensory deprivation and disproportionate sentences. Written by poet and activist Michael A. Reyes Benavides and former Puerto Rican political prisoner Luis Rosa, the play confronts the physical and mental torture these prisoners endured for more than 27 years. It is a National Boricua Human Rights Network and Teatro Batey Urbano production.[/lang_en]

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