NRCAT Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 13, 2023
CONTACT: Rev. T.C. Morrow, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or (202) 547-1920

California Mandela Act Passes California Senate, Faith Leaders Urge Gov Newsom’s Support to End the Torture of Solitary Confinement

SACRAMENTO, CA - Today the California Senate passed AB280, the California Mandela Act. Following similar legislation in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey, the bill limits the use of solitary confinement in jails, prisons, and private, for-profit immigrant detention centers in California. The bill passed the Assembly by a super-majority earlier this year, and now returns to the Assembly following minor changes in the Senate.

As the legislature heads to adjournment later this week, the bill will carry over into the second year of the 2023-2024 Legislative Session. People of faith are joining solitary survivors and other advocates in calling on Governor Gavin Newsom to support this important bill.

Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, said, “Last year when the Governor vetoed this bill, he said that this issue was ‘ripe for reform.’ The California Assembly and Senate have done their part to end the torture of solitary confinement, now it's up to the Governor to exercise his moral leadership and prioritize compassion and safety over business as usual.”

In a letter to Governor Newsom on September 7th, 38 leading religious organizations and faith communities in California, including the California Catholic Conference, Glide Memorial Church, the Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County, Friends Committee on Legislation of California, and national faith organizations with a significant presence in California including T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, Justice Revival, and the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, called on the governor to support the California Mandela Act. In the letter to Gov. Newsom, the religious organizations state:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 7, 2023
CONTACT: Rev. T.C. Morrow, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or (202) 547-1920

Religious Organizations Urge Governor Newsom to Support the California Mandela Act to End the Torture of Solitary Confinement

SACRAMENTO, CA – Today 38 leading religious organizations and faith communities in California, including the California Catholic Conference, Glide Memorial Church, the Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County, Friends Committee on Legislation of California, and national faith organizations with a significant presence in California including T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, Justice Revival, and the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, called on Governor Gavin Newsom to support the California Mandela Act on Solitary Confinement (AB280) as it is written, legislation which places comprehensive limits on the use of solitary confinement in prisons, jails, and immigrant detention facilities. In the letter to Gov. Newsom, the religious organizations state:

“We commend your efforts to reform California’s prisons and end policies of mass incarceration. We applaud your support for the reduction of California’s prison population, and the closure of certain facilities that are no longer necessary. We also applaud your efforts to reimagine San Quentin as a facility that is focused more on rehabilitation rather than punishment. However, we believe that none of these policies can stand on their own unless they provide an alternative to the unchecked use of solitary confinement.

Solitary confinement is broadly recognized as torture by the United Nations, leading medical and mental health experts, and governors of other states like New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey who have signed Mandela-like bills legislating a ban on prolonged isolation in the past four years. These governors, and their state legislative bodies, have found that limiting the use of solitary confinement in state prisons, jails, and detention centers does not compromise safety inside these facilities, and in fact can make them safer for both staff and incarcerated individuals.”

Read the full text of the letter below and in PDF.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 27, 2023
CONTACT: Rev. T.C. Morrow, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and 202-547-1920

Faith Groups Welcome Introduction of End Solitary Confinement Act in U.S. House

Washington, DC - Today Representative Cori Bush of Missouri and five colleagues in the House of Representatives introduced the End Solitary Confinement Act, new and historic legislation that would end solitary confinement in all federal custody and incentivize states and localities to do the same. The bill text is available here and a summary is available here.

“As someone who has personally endured the torment of solitary confinement, I can attest to the devastating toll it takes on one's mental and emotional well-being. The End Solitary Confinement Act is a beacon of hope for those incarcerated in federal facilities nationwide, offering a chance for reform and redemption within our criminal justice system,” said Johnny Perez, Director of the U.S. Prisons Program at the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. He added, “I implore Congress to swiftly pass this critical legislation, for it is not only a matter of justice, but a matter of preserving human dignity and restoring hope for those who have been silenced and isolated for far too long across the United States.”

More than 150 organizations nationwide have already endorsed the End Solitary Confinement Act, including 30 faith organizations. The National Religious Campaign Against Torture and fellow members of the Federal Anti-Solitary Taskforce (FAST), lauded the Act’s introduction and are urging Congress and the President to act now to fulfill the President’s pledge to end solitary. National faith groups and organizations joined solitary survivors and family members, human rights and racial justice advocates, lawyers, and members of the medical field in calling for support for the bill.

Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, urged swift action by Congress: “The faith community has heard the cries for help from the nation's solitary confinement cells where over 10,000 of our brothers and sisters in federal custody endure these conditions of torture today and every day. Congress needs to take the moral and courageous step to end torture in federal prisons and detention centers by passing the End Solitary Confinement Act without delay.”

Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie, President and General Secretary, National Council of Churches (NCC), said: “Solitary confinement is torture and denies the humanity of people who are incarcerated. It does nothing to make our communities safe and is counter to who we are and what we believe as Christians.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 4, 2023
CONTACT: Rev. T.C. Morrow, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and 202-547-1920

United Church of Christ (UCC) Denomination Passes Resolution Condemning Prolonged Solitary Confinement as Torture, Urges Congregations to Join Efforts to End its Use

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – On Tuesday, July 4, 2023, the Thirty-Fourth General Synod of the United Church of Christ (UCC) denomination passed, “A Resolution Condemning Prolonged Solitary Confinement as a Form of Torture.” The resolution calls on UCC congregations to join the growing movement to end the torture of solitary confinement in all prisons, jails, and detention centers.

The resolution states that “the Thirty-Fourth General Synod of the United Church of Christ recognizes prolonged solitary confinement, as defined by ‘The Nelson Mandela Rules,’ as a form of torture" and “recognizes the potential for abuse in all forms of solitary confinement for any duration of time and condemns its use.”

According to NRCAT staffer Rev. T.C. Morrow, “Being present in Indianapolis as our UCC colleagues have considered this resolution has been a valuable opportunity to hear their concerns first-hand. ‘Yes, I agree with that,’ I heard time and again as people looked at the ‘solitary confinement = torture’ stickers on our exhibit table.”

“Over the last five days, I have been glad to talk with dozens of people about state-level campaigns working to end prolonged solitary confinement and support humane alternatives. There is broad recognition amongst people of faith that solitary confinement violates the inherent God-given human dignity bestowed on all,” Morrow added.

Rev. Alexis Fuller-Wright, a proponent of the resolution, adds, "Our faith proclaims that none of us are beyond redemption; that we are all worthy of healing and wholeness – but no one is healed by dehumanization and torture. No one."

Johnny Perez, Director of NRCAT’s U.S. Prisons Program and himself a survivor of prolonged solitary confinement added, “As someone who has endured the torture of solitary confinement, I celebrate the bold stance adopted today by the United Church of Christ. It is significant that this major mainline Protestant Christian denomination has voted to condemn solitary for the torture that it is, and I urge lawmakers to take note.”

The full text of the resolution is available here: https://generalsynod.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Solitary-Confinement-Plenary-Final.pdf

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 21, 2023
CONTACT: Rev. George Hunsinger, (609) 252-2114

Ad Hoc Faculty and Student Committee at Princeton Theological Seminary Asks School to Rescind Invitation to Condoleezza Rice to Speak on May 8, Citing Her Role in the Post-9/11 Torture Program of the Bush Administration

PRINCETON, NJ - Former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been invited to speak as part of a 5-part series on Faith and the Future of American Democracy on May 8 at the Wright Library of Princeton Theological Seminary, and an ad hoc faculty and student committee wants their school to have nothing to do with her. They have asked the Seminary to rescind the invitation.

A public statement issued by three Princeton Theological Seminary faculty members pointed out that Rice “was one of the chief architects of the Bush/Cheney torture program” and “signed off on the grotesque torture of Abu Zubaydah” who was “waterboarded more than 80 times and was buried alive for hundreds of hours” (Harvard Law Review, November 2022). Zubaydah lost one of his eyes as a result of his torture at the hands of the U.S. government.

“Why has she been issued an invitation that brings shame and disgrace to our community – to say nothing of Christ and the church. The question of allowing someone to speak who has authorized torture and other human rights abuses has nothing to do with academic freedom. What Rice did was illegal, it was morally wrong, and Princeton Theological Seminary is unfortunately providing a mantle of respectability for torture.” said George Hunsinger, McCord Professor of Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary and founder of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture.

“I can’t think of why anyone would give Condoleezza Rice a forum to speak about Faith and American Democracy when she was instrumental in planning and implementing one of the biggest failures of global democracy of the past 21 years -- the CIA torture program conducted by the U.S. government after 9/11. To this day, the CIA torture program and Guantanamo Bay prison, which still holds 30 detainees in indefinite detention, is being used by Putin, Xi and numerous global dictators to blunt U.S. calls for respecting human rights and democracy inside their own countries,” said Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director of the Washington D.C.-based National Religious Campaign Against Torture.

Of grave concern to those initiating this call to rescind the invitation is that Rice has never shown any repentance or remorse for her role in the Bush Administration’s illegal torture program. The Ad Hoc statement by three faculty members states that “torture is an international crime and a moral outrage” and calls on the Seminary to rescind the invitation: “By doing the right thing, Princeton Theological Seminary could easily avoid tarnishing itself further. We call for the invitation to Condoleezza Rice to be rescinded.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 14, 2023
CONTACT: Rev. T.C. Morrow, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 202-547-1920

SACRAMENTO, CA - Today national faith leaders and California clergy issued their support for AB280, the California Mandela Act, legislation which places comprehensive limits on the use of solitary confinement in jails and prisons. AB280 is the first bill in the nation to also cover private immigration detention facilities. The legislation bans the use of solitary confinement against pregnant people, individuals with certain disabilities, as well as individuals under 26 and over 59.

In advance of today’s hearing by the California State Assembly Committee on Public Safety, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture submitted to the Committee a letter of support for AB280.

The United Nations, leading medical and mental health experts, and other developed nations broadly recognize the use of prolonged solitary confinement as a form of torture. Yet incarcerated individuals can be held in isolated conditions of confinement for months, years, and in California, even decades.

Laura Markle Downton, M.Div., Director of Faith and Community Engagement for the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, said, “AB280, inspired by the United Nations Nelson Mandela Rules, which defines prolonged solitary confinement as torture, provides an opportunity for California to move to the right side of history in relationship to this critical human rights issue and to join the growing list of states banning this practice. In 2022, Connecticut became the third state in the U.S. to ban prolonged isolated confinement legislatively, following New Jersey in 2019 and New York in 2021. The tide is turning as our society rejects this form of torture: it is time for California lawmakers to follow suit.”

Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater, President, Board of Directors of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, said, "As a person of faith, solitary confinement goes against all of my moral and religious beliefs. By treating another human being in such an inhumane and damaging way, physically, mentally and emotionally, we sacrifice pieces of our own humanity. As a Californian, it is a stain on our state that we continue to permit, and often encourage, the use of solitary as a form of enhanced punishment. I urge the passing of the Mandela Act, an opportunity to join other states in the nation in banning this barbaric practice."

Rabbi Michael Lezak, GLIDE, said "At GLIDE, we believe in the sanctity of each and every human being. Each day, we work to address the physical, mental, and emotional effects of involvement in the criminal legal systems and the toll it takes on our clients. Solitary confinement is cruel, inhumane, and counterproductive. This weapon of oppression, which is disproportionately wielded against people of color and people with disabilities, should be discontinued immediately. We urge our elected officials to support AB 280, The California Mandela Act, and make the moral choice to end this torture."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 24, 2023
CONTACT: Rev. T.C. Morrow,  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  and 202-547-1920

Brothers Released from Guantánamo

WASHINGTON, DC - On Thursday, February 23, 2023, the Department of Defense announced the repatriation of Mohammed Ahmed Ghulam Rabbani and Abdul Rahim Ghulam Rabbani to Pakistan from the detention center at Guantánamo Bay.

The brothers were held in U.S. custody for more than 20 years without any charges being filed against them.

Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, issued the following statement following announcement of the transfer, "Following their clearance for transfer in 2021 through an extensive review process, NRCAT is glad for the release this week of Mohammed Ahmed Ghulam Rabbani and Abdul Rahim Ghulam Rabbani from Guantánamo Bay. The two brothers endured torture during approximately 550 days in a CIA-run detention site in Afghanistan and subsequently were held at Guantánamo for nearly 19 years in indefinite detention without charge. We are grateful to the government of Pakistan for receiving these two Pakistanis back to their home country, and assisting the U.S. in reducing the population of Guantánamo to 32, making it more likely that it can be closed sometime in the near future. As the brothers are reunited with their family, we pray for healing as they move on with their lives."

Today 32 men remaining in detention at Guantánamo. 18 men have been cleared for transfer through review processes, 3 men are eligible for a Periodic Review Board, 9 men are in the military commissions process, and 2 men have been convicted in military commissions.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 3, 2023
CONTACT: Rev. T.C. Morrow, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and 202-547-1920

Majid Khan Released from Guantánamo

WASHINGTON, DC - On February 2, 2023, Majid Khan was transferred from Guantánamo Bay to Belize. This followed Mr. Khan finishing a military commission sentence, pursuant to a plea and cooperation agreement with U.S. authorities. Mr. Khan was sent from secret CIA detention, during which time he was tortured, to Guantánamo in September 2006.

Susan Gunn, Director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, said, “We celebrate the release of Majid Shoukat Khan and pray that he and his family can live, grow, and flourish in Belize. We commend the government of Belize for welcoming Mr. Khan and his family, demonstrating to the world that we each can contribute to building peace. We especially wish to thank President Biden for his faithfulness to his pledge to end indefinite detention at Guantanamo Bay prison. To work for the resettlement of even one prisoner requires imagination and commitment – to justice, peace, and reconciliation. President Biden has demonstrated that it can be done. We look forward to celebrating the resettlement of more prisoners from Guantanamo soon.”

In a statement released via his legal team, Mr. Khan said, “I have been given a second chance in life and I intend to make the most of it. I deeply regret the things that I did many years ago, and I have taken responsibility and tried to make up for them. I continue to ask for forgiveness from God and those I have hurt. I am truly sorry. The world has changed a lot in twenty years, and I have changed a lot as well. I promise all of you, especially the people of Belize that I will be a productive, law-abiding member of society. Thank you for believing in me, and I will not let you down. My actions will speak louder than my words.”

Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, said, “Mr. Khan’s transfer to Belize is an important step towards closing the Guantánamo prison. Of the thirty-four Muslim men who are still held at Guantánamo, twenty have been cleared for transfer through review processes. We applaud the work of the U.S. government and other countries in repatriating or resettling the men cleared for transfer from the prison.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 11, 2023
CONTACT: Rev. T.C. Morrow, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and 202-547-1920

Washington, DC - On the 21st anniversary of the opening of the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture and a diverse group of more than 100 organizations, sent a letter to the White House calling on President Biden to close the detention facility and end indefinite detention.

The full letter is available in PDF and reads as follows:

January 11, 2023

President Joseph Biden The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear President Biden:

We are a diverse group of non-governmental organizations working, in both the United States and other countries, on issues including international human rights, immigrants’ rights, racial justice, and combatting anti-Muslim discrimination. We write to urge you to prioritize closing the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and ending indefinite military detention.

Among a broad range of human rights violations perpetrated against predominantly Muslim communities over the last two decades, the Guantánamo detention facility – built on the same military base where the United States unconstitutionally detained Haitian refugees in deplorable conditions in the early 1990s – is the iconic example of the abandonment of the rule of law.
The Guantánamo detention facility was designed specifically to evade legal constraints, and Bush administration officials incubated torture there.

Nearly eight hundred Muslim men and boys were held at Guantánamo after 2002, all but a handful without charge or trial. Thirty-five remain there today, at the astronomical cost of $540 million per year, making Guantánamo the most expensive detention facility in the world.
Guantánamo embodies the fact that the United States government has long viewed communities of color – citizens and non-citizens alike – as a security threat, to devastating consequences.

This is not a problem of the past. Guantánamo continues to cause escalating and profound damage to the aging and increasingly ill men still detained indefinitely there, most without charge and none having received a fair trial. It has also devastated their families and communities. The approach Guantánamo exemplifies continues to fuel and justify bigotry, stereotyping, and stigma. Guantánamo entrenches racial divisions and racism more broadly, and risks facilitating additional rights violations.

It is long past time for both a sea change in the United States’ approach to national and human security, and a meaningful reckoning with the full scope of damage that the post-9/11 approach has caused. Closing the Guantánamo detention facility, ending indefinite military detention of those held there, and never again using the military base for unlawful mass detention of any group of people are necessary steps towards those ends. We urge you to act without delay, and in a just manner that considers the harm done to the men who have been detained indefinitely without charge or fair trials for two decades.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 3, 2022
CONTACT: Rev. T.C. Morrow, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and 202-547-1920

Release of Guantanamo’s Oldest Detainee

Washington, DC - On Saturday, October 29, the Pentagon announced that after 19 years in U.S. custody without ever being charged with a crime, Saifullah Paracha was repatriated to Pakistan from the prison at Guantanamo Bay.
Mr. Paracha was held by the U.S. government since July 2003 and at Guantanamo since 2004. After never being charged with a crime, in May 2021 he was cleared for release from Guantanamo.

We are glad the governments of the United States and Pakistan negotiated his repatriation and return to his family. At the age of 75 and the oldest detainee at Guantanamo at the time of his departure, Mr. Paracha has numerous medical conditions and we pray that he will receive the medical care he needs.

Of the thirty-five Muslim men who are still held at Guantanamo, twenty have been cleared for transfer through review processes.

Responding to this latest step by the Biden Administration to honor its commitment to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture said, “We are grateful for the Biden Administration’s commitment to take this step toward closing Guantanamo prison and celebrate the return of Saifullah Paracha to his family in Pakistan. We applaud the work of the U.S. government and other countries in repatriating or resettling the men cleared for transfer out of the prison.”