Media Advisory: April 14, 2015
Contact: Benny Witkovsky, West End Strategy Team - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; (o) 202-776-7700, (c) 202-765-4920

WASHINGTON – This weekend, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) will install a full-size replica of a solitary confinement cell at the Ecumenical Advocacy Days, an education and advocacy conference of nearly 1,000 ecumenical Christians from across the country. This year's Ecumenical Advocacy Days is focused on mobilizing the Christian community to support an end to mass incarceration. NRCAT's solitary cell installation is designed as a tool for education and reflection to help guide these advocates in their work. Throughout the weekend, formerly-incarcerated individuals and survivors of solitary will join NRCAT in order to help further educate advocates on the issues of mass incarceration and solitary confinement.

Members of the media are invited to attend Ecumenical Advocacy Days to see the installation while conference participants interact with it. Media interested in attending should RSVP to Benny Witkovsky at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Who: National Religious Campaign Against Torture, 1,000 ecumenical Christian activists at Ecumenical Advocacy Days

What: Installation of a full-size, interactive replica of a solitary confinement cell

When: Media are invited to come Friday, April 17 at 3:30pm, or at other times over the weekend by special request.

Where: Double Tree Hotel Crystal City, 300 Army Navy Dr., Arlington, VA 22202

Rev. Ron Stief, executive director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, said, "Our faith communities are uniformly against torture. It won't take long for someone to sit in, or even look at, this cell and conclude that solitary confinement is torture. I hope that by bringing this installation to Ecumenical Advocacy Days we can give these advocates the inspiration and motivation to raise their voices – and the voices of all people of faith – in the halls of Congress."

Media interested in attending should RSVP to Benny Witkovsky at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) is a 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.
NRCAT.org     @NRCATtweets     facebook.com/nrcat

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