FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 14, 2013
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SUNDAY in LA: Clergy, People of Faith Gather to Share the Facts About Torture
"Zero Dark Thirty" motivates people of faith to clear up misconceptions about efficacy of torture
LOS ANGELES – As "Zero Dark Thirty" continues to win accolades including several Academy Award nominations, people of faith and human rights advocates will gather Sunday to express their disapproval with the misleading manner in which the film conveys that torture led to finding Osama bin Laden. Sunday's events will include an informational program at Hollywood United Methodist Church in Los Angeles, followed by a procession and silent witness as people of various religious faiths gather at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue – where the Academy Awards ceremony will be held on February 24. Participating clergy will be wearing clerical attire.
During the gathering this Sunday, members of diverse communities of faith will share how each of their religious beliefs motivate them to oppose torture under all circumstances. Across the country, communities of faith are working to build moral consensus that torture is always wrong. Sunday's program in Hollywood is co-sponsored by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, and Los Angeles Region Religious Campaign Against Torture (LARRCAT) and Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace (ICUJP), Los Angeles-area partners of NRCAT.
"Hundreds of thousands of people have seen or will see 'Zero Dark Thirty,' and many of them will walk out of the theater believing they saw the truth," said Rev. Richard Killmer, NRCAT's executive director. "But the film is not based on the facts about torture. It is a work of fiction that depicts graphic acts of torture; it is neither investigative journalism nor congressional oversight. The movie's inappropriate – and dangerous – implication that the use of torture by U.S. authorities produced critical intelligence, including finding Osama bin Laden, is inaccurate."
Press is encouraged to cover Sunday's gathering and the silent faithful witness against torture.
What: A gathering of people of faith to share how the controversial new film, "Zero Dark Thirty," delivers a misleading message about the efficacy and acceptably of torture as a means to gain intelligence
When: 3-5 p.m. Sunday, February 17, 2013
- 3-4 p.m. - Gathering at Hollywood United Methodist Church, 6817 Franklin Ave., in Los Angeles
- 4:15-5 p.m. – Procession and silent witness at all four corners of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue
Who:
- Cindy Panuca, attorney representing Guantanamo detention center detainee Obaidullah
- David Clennon, actor and member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences
- Paz Artaza-Regan, director of program and outreach, National Religious Campaign Against Torture
Sunday's program is part of a national effort organized by NRCAT to tell Americans that "Zero Dark Thirty" is misleading and that torture is, illegal, immoral and counterproductive.
NRCAT is also advocating for the Senate Intelligence Committee, which late last year adopted a more than 6,000-page report on its three-year investigation into the U.S. government's past use of torture during interrogations, to release the torture report's findings so that Americans know the truth about torture committed by their government in their name. Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who are both members of the Intelligence Committee, have publicly refuted the idea that torture provided critical intelligence in the hunt for bin Laden. McCain, in fact, directly criticized "Zero Dark Thirty," saying that the filmmakers fell "hook, line and sinker" for a false narrative about how the United States obtained the intelligence to track down bin Laden.
More information on NRCAT's "Fact Not Fiction" campaign can be found online at www.nrcat.org/fact-not-fiction.
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 320 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. More information is available at www.nrcat.org.
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