NATIONAL RELIGIOUS CAMPAIGN AGAINST TORTURE
For Immediate Release -- April 23, 2009
National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT)
Calls Any Delay of Commission on Torture a Mistake;
Asks President Obama to Act if Congress Doesn't
Washington, DC -- In response to statements by Senators Harry Reid, Dick Durbin, and Diane Feinstein that a Commission of Inquiry investigating the use of torture should not be established until after the Senate Intelligence Committee finishes its investigation, NRCAT Board President Linda Gustitus issued this statement:
“We are very disappointed that Senators Reid, Durbin, and Feinstein favor delaying the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry on Torture. Senator Reid suggested that ‘we have to get the facts’ before Congress can decide on the need for a Commission, but that’s exactly what a Commission would do -- get the facts. Unlike the Senate Intelligence Committee, whose jurisdiction is limited to the CIA, a Commission of Inquiry would have jurisdiction to look at all agencies across the government and develop the complete story. The various disclosures we've had to date have been important, but they are piecemeal; the public deserves and our moral responsibility requires that we make public the full truth on our country's use of torture.
"Since the Senate leadership has missed its historic opportunity, we
call upon President Obama to establish a nonpartisan, presidentially
appointed Commission of Inquiry.”
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 250 religious groups have joined NRCAT, including representatives from the Roman Catholic, evangelical Christian, mainline Protestant, Unitarian, Quaker, Orthodox Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Baha’i, Buddhist, and Sikh communities. Members include national denominations and faith groups, regional organizations and local congregations.
