NEXT WEEK: Coalition of religious/human rights groups to demonstrate against torture in Washington, as part of Torture Awareness Month - National Religious Campaign Against Torture

Media Advisory: June 21, 2013

Contact: Samantha Friedman, Rabinowitz/Dorf Communications
Office: (202) 265-3000 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

NEXT WEEK: Coalition of religious/human rights groups to demonstrate against torture in Washington, as part of Torture Awareness Month

Events to include keynote by UN Special Rapporteur on Torture

Washington, D.C. – As part of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture’s annual commemoration of Torture Awareness Month, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture will keynote a talk, “Healing a Culture of Torture,” on Tuesday, June 25, at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation. He will discuss his work to investigate and decrease the prevalent use of solitary confinement in prisons at all levels of the American justice system. The following day, NRCAT will join a national coalition of religious and human rights groups for a demonstration against torture in front of the White House. The public witness will focus on the call for the closure of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, and an end to indefinite detention.

Both the talk and the public witness are open to the media, and coverage is welcome. Photo and video opportunities will be available, and NRCAT will collect photos and video to distribute afterward. NRCAT representatives also are available for interview. To arrange interviews, please contact Samantha Friedman at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or (202) 265-3000.

Details on the two events can be found below:

HEALING A CULTURE OF TORTURE
A panel discussion featuring the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, human rights advocates, and anti-torture advocates from the faith community

WHEN: Tuesday, June 25
6:30 p.m. - Opening reception with refreshments and hors d’oeurves
7-9 p.m. - Keynote, panel response and discussion

WHERE: Lutheran Church of the Reformation
212 E. Capitol Street NE
Washington, DC

WHO:
Keynote: Juan E. Mendez, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and a torture survivor
Panelists:

Aileen Diez-Bacalso, Focal Person, International Coalition against Enforced Disappearances; Secretary General, Asian Federation against Involuntary Disappearances
Adotei Akwei, Managing Director of Government Relations, Amnesty International USA
Rev. Michael Neuroth, Policy Advocate for International Issues, United Church of Christ’s Justice and Witness Ministries

Sponsors: National Religious Campaign Against Torture, Amnesty International USA and Torture Abolition and Survivor Support Coalition

Co-sponsors include:
Advocates for Survivors of Torture & Trauma, Bill of Rights Defense Committee, Center for Constitutional Rights, Center for Victims of Torture, Council on American–Islamic Relations, Disciples Justice Action Network, Franciscan Action Network, Human Rights Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Interfaith Action for Human Rights, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, Presbyterian Church (USA), The Refuge Media Project, T’ruah – The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, UCC Justice and Witness Office, Witness Against Torture, and World Can’t Wait

PUBLIC WITNESS AGAINST TORTURE
In commemoration of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the 10th anniversary of the date (June 26, 1987) that the Convention Against Torture came into force.

WHEN: Wednesday, June 26, 12-1 p.m.

WHERE: In front of the White House North Lawn
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC

WHO:
Speakers include:

Rev. Richard Killmer, Executive Director, National Religious Campaign Against Torture
Kristine Huskey, Adjunct professor on national security, Georgetown University Law Center; board member, The Constitution Project; former Director of the Anti-Torture Program, Physicians for Human Rights
Rabbi Charles Feinberg, Rabbi, Adas Israel Congregation
Dr. Sayyid Syeed, National Director for Interfaith and Community Alliances, Islamic Society of North America

Co-sponsors include:
National Religious Campaign Against Torture, Amnesty International USA, Torture Abolition and Survivor Support Coalition, Center for Constitutional Rights, Interfaith Action for Human Rights, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, Witness Against Torture, and World Can’t Wait

The National Religious Campaign Against Torture has released a free online toolkit to guide congregations and religious organizations as they observe Torture Awareness Month this year. NRCAT’s Torture Awareness Month toolkit includes two bulletin inserts (one focused on post-9/11 detainee treatment and one focused on solitary confinement in U.S. prisons), interfaith prayers, and a downloadable poster being posted in houses of worship and college campuses across the country.

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.
www.nrcat.org

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