For Immediate Release:
Friday, December 3, 2010

Contact: Rev. Richard Killmer, NRCAT, (202) 547-1920, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
             Alanna Sobel, NRCAT, (202) 265-3000, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Religious Leaders React to WikiLeaks Revelations on Torture
Cables reveal U.S. government pressured Spanish officials to drop potential criminal investigations of U.S. officials

WASHINGTON – Rev. Richard Killmer, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT), issued the following statement in response to the revelations that U.S. diplomats put pressure on Spain to end an inquiry into the Bush administration’s use of torture.

"Instead of pressuring other governments to protect our nation’s dark secrets, the President should appoint a non-partisan Commission of Inquiry to fully investigate our nation's use of torture. Without a comprehensive investigation, the United States will fail to live up to its most cherished values.

These revelations, contained in a series of cables made public by WikiLeaks, indicate that State Department officials pressured both Spain's acting foreign minister and its chief prosecutor to drop the potential criminal investigations of senior U.S. officials for their involvement in the use of torture on detainees in U.S. custody post 9/11."

///

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, 299 religious groups 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.