PRESS RELEASE
(Washington, D.C.) A coalition of national religious leaders sent a letter to the House Armed Services Committee today expressing their opposition to legislation to give the Executive Branch additional powers to indefinitely detain individuals without trial. The leaders, who come from a variety of faith traditions including Protestant, Jewish, Catholic, and Sikh, write:
“Our faiths tell us to respect the inherent worth and dignity of all human beings, yet our country has not always done so. We must not continue to repeat the immoral mistakes of the past, but instead begin anew by rejecting any effort to authorize an increase in the use of indefinite detention without trial. The moral teachings of our faith traditions exist for precisely this purpose – to guide us through difficult questions when times are hard, helping us to remember to always pursue justice.”
The letter was sent today because the House Armed Services Committee is expected to consider a provision that would expand the Executive Branch’s authority to indefinitely detain people without trial as part of the markup of the National Defense Authorization Act. The full text of the letter is below.
The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) is a growing membership organization committed to ending U.S.-sponsored torture, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Since its formation in January 2006, more than 300 religious organizations have joined NRCAT, including representatives from the Catholic, evangelical Christian, mainline Protestant, Unitarian Universalist, Quaker, Orthodox Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Baha’i, Buddhist, and Sikh communities. Members include national denominations and faith groups, regional organizations and local congregations.
You can read the letter NRCAT sent to the House Armed Services Committee as well as the list of religious leaders who signed the letter here: