PRESS RELEASE:
October 22, 2013
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Six new films highlight U.S. government’s torture legacy
National interfaith coalition produced films to build support for call on Senate to release torture report
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture released six films to highlight key findings of a blue ribbon panel’s review of the interrogation and treatment of detainees, particularly those taken into U.S. custody in the aftermath of 9/11. On April 16, 2013, the bipartisan Task Force on Detainee Treatment, sponsored by The Constitution Project, issued a 600-page report that concluded that the United States, without a doubt, engaged in torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees. The religious community also has been urging the Senate Intelligence Committee to release its report on torture, a document of more than 6,000 pages that was adopted in December of last year, but as yet has not been made public.
In addition to one longer, 11-minute film, the titles of each of five short films follow the following formula: “There’s Nothing _____ About Torture;” the blank is filled with the following adjectives, depending on the content of each particular film: glamorous, healthy, honorable, legal, faithful. Among the films’ highlights, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Mendez discusses the torture he endured in Argentina and how torture is absolutely illegal under U.S. and international law. U.S. Army Major Jason Wright speaks to the tradition of honor in the U.S. Armed Forces, arguing there is nothing honorable about torture. Members of multiple faith groups speak to core faith values that underlie their anti-torture work.
The films were released publicly today and are available on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG9VjjIeEzY28fDcWysPCdgpaa1-zGnHq
The 11-minute film, “No Doubt, It Was Torture,” is accompanied by a discussion guide and designed to provide a platform for faith communities to discuss what has become a significant social justice issue in the post-9/11 era. In the film, members of the Task Force discuss their unanimous conclusion that top government leaders were responsible for the use of torture on detainees. Several national religious leaders discuss diverse faith perspectives against torture and why the religious community must be involved in efforts to make sure torture never happens again.
“Pop culture, through films such as ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ and the recently released video game ‘Grand Theft Auto V,’ makes the claim that torture is acceptable,” said Rev. Richard Killmer, executive director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. “The National Religious Campaign Against Torture is using our own short films to make clear, instead, that torture is never honorable, legal, faithful, nor healthy, nor should it ever be portrayed as glamorous. This is a message that Americans need to hear, and it is our hope that viewers will not be able to ignore the compelling stories and first-person narratives conveyed in our films.
“The National Religious Campaign Against Torture is asking those watching these films to take the next step and join with us in asking the Senate Intelligence Committee to release its report on torture. We should know the real truth about torture so that we can ensure that our government never tortures people again.”
Added Virginia Sloan, President of The Constitution Project, “These short films capture two of the key findings of The Constitution Project’s Task Force on Detainee Treatment - specifically that it is indisputable that some of the actions of U.S military and intelligence officials after 9/11 amounted to torture and that those actions were condoned at the highest levels of government. We are grateful that the religious community is aggressively spreading these findings across the country.”
The films are available at http://www.youtube.com/nrcatvideo. Follow #ItWasTorture on Twitter and Facebook.
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 325 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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