For Immediate Release – January 14, 2009
Religious Delegation Meets with Obama Transition Team to Push for Executive Order Ending Torture On the Day Obama Takes Office
Delegation delivers letter (included below) signed by 34 prominent religious leaders representing America’s diverse faith traditions
Contact: Steve Fox, Fenton Communications, 202-822-5200 or
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Rev. Richard Killmer, NRCAT, at 202-547-1920 (cell 207-450-7242) or
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WASHINGTON, DC – On Wednesday, January 14, a delegation representing the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) met with members of the Obama transition team to convey their strong desire to see President Barack Obama issue an executive order ending torture as one of his first official acts in office. During that meeting, transition officials, led by Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison Michael Strautmanis, gave every indication that an executive order on torture would be issued at some point, but did not commit to a specific timeline.
“We were pleased to hear it reiterated that President Obama rejects torture and believes it has no place in U.S. policy and practice,” said NRCAT president Linda Gustitus. “But we also remain passionate about the need to issue the executive order on Day One. It is a message that must be delivered to the world as soon as President Obama takes office and we will be disappointed if it is not. That said, we conveyed our willingness to stand with the President whenever he takes this critically important action.”
NRCAT Executive Director Rev. Richard Killmer summed up the feelings of participants. “We are encouraged by today’s meeting,” he said, “but we will be waiting to see what happens on Day One.”
The transition team meeting coincided with NRCAT’s “Countdown to End Torture: 10 Days of Prayer” campaign. This campaign is designed to unite the religious community in a final push to ensure that President-elect Obama understands how important the community considers the need for an immediate end to torture. As part of this campaign, close to three dozen prominent religious leaders, representing America’s diverse faith traditions, have signed a letter (pasted below) to President-elect Obama.
Another feature of the “Countdown” campaign is a countdown clock now featured on the NRCAT Web site. This clock began running on January 11 at 9:00 am (EST) and will run until the same time on January 21. NRCAT hopes that President Obama will sign an executive order by the time the clock hits 00:00:00:00. If he does not, the clock will begin counting up, conveying the hours Americans and the world will be waiting for the Obama administration to end the torture policies of the past.
Prior to the transition team meeting, NRCAT, joined by representatives from the Center for Victims of Torture, held a press conference to discuss the Countdown campaign and the importance of immediate action by President Obama. The following are some of the more powerful statements from that press conference:
Linda Gustitus, President, National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT): "Issuing an Executive Order to end torture is the single most significant act President-elect Obama can do upon taking office to change the world. With the stroke of a pen he can tell the people of our nation and the world that the United States has returned to its moral core and is once again a leading light for decency and human rights."
Rev. Dr. John Thomas, President and General Minister, United Church of Christ: “Today, the refusal to renounce torture reflects little more than the stubborn arrogance of a departing and disgraced administration. All over the world people are looking this week for a clear and strong word that change has come, that religious values are not simply to be pandered to for votes, but are principles that underlie policy. I am proud to have been able to join a broad coalition of United States’ faith leaders calling on President-elect Obama to make a Presidential Executive Order banning torture one of the first acts of his new administration. The time is long past due for America to reclaim its moral foundation. This is not just the change we can believe in. This is the change our beliefs demand.”
Dr. Ingrid Mattson, President, Islamic Society of North America: “The Qur’an says, ‘Do not let hatred of others towards you make you swerve from justice.’ The wisdom in this is that very often we commit injustice not out of hatred for others, but out of fear of their hatred for us. It is understandable that we are afraid of harm being directed to our citizens and our nation by those who hate us. But if we let their hatred make us violate our highest values and principles, then we truly have lost. We ask President-Elect Obama to sign an executive order banning torture as one of his first acts as president.”
John Carr, Executive Director, Justice, Peace and Human Development, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: " We cannot have justice, peace and human development when our nation advocates and practices torture. There has been a lot of debate and doubts expressed in the media as to what constitutes torture but the Catholic Church has no such doubts. Torture is abhorrent and can neither be condoned or tolerated."
Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster, Director of Education and Outreach, Rabbis for Human Rights – North America: “The Jewish tradition speaks loudly against torture. We believe that every human being is created in the image of God. Our rabbis teach us that dishonoring, shaming, or humiliating another -- as torture is designed to do -- is akin to killing them. Since the photos of Abu Ghraib were released, thousands of Jews and hundreds of American rabbis have spoken out against torture. We are now asking our President, as Jews and as citizens, to make ending torture his highest priority.”
Rev. Tyler Wigg-Stevenson, member of the Steering Committee, Evangelicals for Human Rights: “Our greatest leaders have always recognized that a nation under God cannot wage and win its battles by immoral means. And moral leadership is never needed more than it is during dangerous times. During the Revolution, a ruthless enemy known for its abuse occupied our land. But George Washington ordered his troops to treat their prisoners well, so that we would not triumph militarily at the cost of our young national soul. His order defined our military doctrine for more than 200 years. As Evangelical Christians, we pray that Washington’s standard will once again be the American banner, unequivocally and without delay, through an Executive Order banning torture.”
Matthew Alexander (pseudonym), author of How to Break a Terrorist: The U.S. Interrogators Who Used Brains, Not Brutality, to Take Down the Deadliest Man in Iraq: "I told the members of my team in Iraq, the things that make you a great American are the same things that will make you a great interrogator -- tolerance, cultural understanding, compassion, intellect, and ingenuity."
Col. Steven M. Kleinman, a military intelligence officer with over twenty-five years of operational and leadership experience in human intelligence and special operations: “While the legal elements of this issue remain muddled by confusing manipulations of the law, the moral imperative remains clear. And given that coercion and torture are not only ineffective, but counterproductive in eliciting reliable, accurate, and comprehensive intelligence information, what can be the justification for conducting our affairs in a fashion that would cast shame upon this nation for generations to come?”
For more information about the campaign
Click “Countdown to End Torture” at www.tortureisamoralissue.org
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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 240 religious groups have joined NRCAT, including representatives from the Roman Catholic, evangelical Christian, mainline Protestant, Unitarian, Quaker, Orthodox Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and Sikh communities. Members include national denominations and faith groups, regional organizations and local congregations
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The following is the text of the sign-on letter delivered to President-elect Obama’s transition team:
January 9, 2009
Dear President-elect Obama:
We appreciate and value your focus on uniting people to face the many challenges that lie ahead as your inauguration approaches. One of those challenges is to restore our nation’s moral standing in the world by rejecting the practice of torture.
On Human Rights Day, December 10, 2008, you affirmed “agreements Americans helped forge – the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva Conventions, and treaties against torture and genocide” and declared that this commitment to inalienable human rights “unites us with people from every country and culture.”
While we represent a wide diversity of America’s faith traditions, we all believe in the inherent worth and dignity of all human life. Respect for the dignity of every person must serve as the foundation for security, justice and peace. Torture is incompatible with the tenets of our faiths and is contrary to international and U.S. law.
We have enclosed a Declaration of Principles for a Presidential Executive Order banning torture which has been endorsed by religious leaders, and foreign affairs specialists and former military officers. We respectfully ask you to review this Declaration of Principles and issue an executive order on Inauguration Day or as early as possible. We believe such a step will help the United States to regain the moral high ground and restore our credibility within the international community at this critical time.
We ask the Divine for blessings on you and your Administration as you address the difficult issues that confront our nation and world. May you be granted strength and wisdom for the challenges ahead.
Sincerely,
Bishop Howard J. Hubbard
Chairman
Committee on International Justice and Peace
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Bishop Gregory V. Palmer
President, Council of Bishops
United Methodist Church
Bishop Mark S. Hanson
Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Rev. Dr. David Gushee
President
Evangelicals for Human Rights
Dr. Ingrid Mattson
President
Islamic Society of North America
Archbishop Vicken
Diocesan Legate
Armenian Church of America
Rabbi Steve Gutow
President
Jewish Council for Public Affairs.
Rabbi David Saperstein
Director, Religious Action Center
Union of Reform Judaism
Rev. Dr. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson
General Secretary
Reformed Church in America
Rev. Dr. Stan Hastey
Minister for Mission & Ecumenism
Alliance of Baptists
Most Rev. Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop
Episcopal Church
Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon
General Secretary
National Council of Churches
Rabbi Peter S. Knobel
President
Central Conference of American Rabbis
Mary Ellen McNish
Secretary-General
American Friends Service Committee
Rev. Dr. A. Roy Medley
General Secretary
American Baptist Churches in the USA
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States
Stanley J. Noffsinger
General Secretary
Church of the Brethren
Rev. Gradye Parsons
Stated Clerk of the General Assembly
Presbyterian Church, USA
Nancy Ratzan
President
National Council of Jewish Women
Sheetal D. Shah
Hindu American Foundation
Rabbi Eric Yoffie
President
Union for Reform Judaism
James Schrag
Executive Director
Mennonite Church USA
Rev. William G. Sinkford
President
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
Rabbi Toba Spitzer
President
Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association
Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed
National Director, Interfaith and
Community Alliances
Islamic Society of North America
Rev. Dr. John H. Thomas
General Minister and President
United Church of Christ
Rabbi Brian Walt
Executive Director
Rabbis for Human Rights – North America
Rev. Sharon E. Watkins
General Minister and President
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Rabbi Leonard Gordon
Chair
Rabbinical Assembly Social Action Committee
Jim Winkler
General Secretary
General Board of Church and Society
United Methodist Church
Rabbi Shawn Zevit
Director of Outreach and Tikkun Olam
Jewish Reconstructionist Federation
Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos
Chancellor
Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago
Archbishop Nicolae Condrea
Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in the Americas
Rabbi Gerry Serotta
Chair
Rabbis for Human Rights – North America
Rabbi Dan Ehrenkrantz
President
Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
