For Immediate Release: August 15, 2011
Contact: Samantha Friedman, office: (202) 265-300 or cell: (202) 215-9260 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to the recent decision by a federal appeals court to allow a lawsuit to proceed against former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for allegedly ordering the torture of two American citizens, Rev. Richard Killmer, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT), released the following statement:

“We do not know if Donald Rumsfeld is guilty of ordering the torture of two U.S. citizens who were contractors in Iraq; that is for the courts to decide.  But the decision by a federal appeals court to allow a lawsuit against the former Secretary of Defense now permits the courts to determine if he ordered – or was responsible for authorizing – the torture of these two contractors.  No one should be above the law, and no one should be protected from a lawsuit just because he once held a high position in the government.

The decision to let the lawsuit proceed comes after a consistent refusal by the U.S. government to thoroughly investigate other instances of torture (involving waterboarding, induced hypothermia, prolonged isolation, beatings and other abuses).

The National Religious Campaign Against Torture calls on President Obama to establish an independent, non-partisan Commission of Inquiry to fully investigate all instances of U.S.-sponsored torture and to make recommendations for ensuring that our country never uses torture again.  All people are endowed by their Creator with a basic human dignity that should never be violated by acts of torture.  A great country, like the United States, should not be afraid to confront and learn from its past.  Torture is wrong, and until our country is willing to learn from its past, we risk engaging in torture again.”

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