NRCAT Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 1, 2014

CONTACT: Samantha Friedman, West End Strategy Team
Office: (202) 776-7700; Cell: (202) 215-9260, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

National Faith Group Condemns CIA Spying and Cover-up in Connection with the Torture Report

WASHINGTON – In response to recent reports that the CIA spied on Senate Intelligence Committee investigators who were working to uncover the truth about the CIA’s use of torture, Rev. Ron Stief, executive director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, released this statement:

“The public has not only the right to know the truth about the abuses carried out by our government in our name, we have an obligation to know.  The CIA would not have risked spying on the Senate Intelligence Committee investigators if they didn’t have something to cover up.  Torture by any other name is still torture, and the CIA’s efforts to cover up torture by interfering with the Intelligence Committee investigation or redefining brutal, inhumane, immoral acts as something other than torture ought to be profoundly embarrassing for the U.S. government.  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 30, 2014

CONTACT: Samantha Friedman, West End Strategy Team
Office: (202) 776-7700; Cell: (202) 215-9260; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Rabbi David Saperstein Nominated Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom

WASHINGTON – President Obama named Rabbi David Saperstein as his nominee for Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom on Monday.  Saperstein is director and counsel of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, a member organization of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture and a key partner in the interreligious campaign to address anti-Muslim bigotry, “Shoulder-to-Shoulder: Standing with American Muslims, Upholding American Values.”

Rev. Ron Stief, executive director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, released this statement:

“President Obama made an excellent choice in tapping Saperstein for this post to monitor abuses of religious freedom.  Rabbi Saperstein brings passion and commitment to justice to all his undertakings, and keen interest in protecting religious freedom.  Given the religious diversity in the United States and around the world, it is great to see someone with his vast interfaith experience named to this post.”

FOR PLANNING PURPOSES:  June 23, 2014

CONTACTS: 
American Friends Service Committee: Laura Magnani (510) 684-7254
California Families Against Solitary Confinement: Dolores Canales (714) 290-9077
National Religious Campaign Against Torture: Samantha Friedman, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , office: (202) 776-7700; cell (202) 215-9260

THURSDAY: Faith Leaders, Human Rights Advocates, Families of Prisoners to Meet With California Prison Officials
Meeting planned as part of Torture Awareness Month advocacy efforts

SACRAMENTO – This Thursday, June 26, on the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, advocates for inmate rights will convey their concerns about solitary confinement as a form of torture when they meet with Jeffrey Beard, Secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). Representatives of California Families Against Solitary Confinement (CFASC) will bring stories of their own and other families whose loved ones have been locked under the torture of solitary confinement -- some of them for decades.

During the hunger strike in California prisons last summer, in which 30,000 inmates participated, Secretary Beard initially promised the meeting “after the prisoners go off hunger strike.” The meeting was finally scheduled as advocates prepare to observe the one-year anniversary of the historic strike.

MEDIA ADVISORY
June 4, 2014

CONTACT: Samantha Friedman, West End Strategy Team
Office: (202) 776-7700; cell: (202) 215-9260 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

National interfaith human rights organization to mark Torture Awareness Month throughout June

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June is Torture Awareness Month, and the National Religious Campaign Against Torture is providing local congregations and faith organizations resources and activities to honor survivors of torture, ensure that the truth about the U.S. torture program is made public, and begin the restoration of human dignity for all.

With the theme, “Exposing the Truth of U.S. Torture: Restoring Human Dignity,” and focusing on the call for the White House and Congress to make the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on torture public, NRCAT has provided a toolkit to assist churches, mosques, synagogues, temples and other faith communities across the country in planning educational, advocacy and worship events to commemorate Torture Awareness Month. A full list of the largest events, all open to media, is below.

In conjunction with Torture Awareness Month activities, NRCAT launched a petition to President Obama, stating, “On April 3, 2014 a bipartisan majority of the Senate Intelligence Committee voted to release its report on post-9/11 CIA torture. Since then, reports indicate that the CIA has attempted to obstruct and delay its release. Now it is time for the truth to be revealed. No more obstruction, no more delays. Mr. President, make the report public now.”

MEDIA ADVISORY
May 28, 2014

CONTACT: Samantha Friedman, West End Strategy Team
Office: (202) 776-7700; cell: (202) 215-9260 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

TODAY: Representative of national interfaith human rights organization to participate in panel on mental illness in U.S. jails

WASHINGTON – A Congressional panel on the Hill today, “Mental Illness in America’s Jails and Prisons,” will bring members of Congress, human rights advocates and corrections experts into a conversation as part of Mental Health Awareness Month, commemorated in May. The goal is to bring attention to the challenges faced by incarcerating individuals suffering from mental health issues and to encourage positive change in the system.

Co-hosts Rep. Marcy Kaptur (Ohio-D), Rep. Bobby Scott (Virginia-D), and Rep. Cedric Richmond (Louisiana-D) are all expected to participate.

“The United States incarcerates more of its people than any other nation globally, disproportionately communities of color, the poor, and individuals with mental illness, and confines more incarcerated people to solitary confinement than any other democratic nation,” said Laura Markle Downton, Director of U.S. Prisons Policy and Program at the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, who will participate in today’s panel. “We must end the insidious use of torture in our policy, practice and culture.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 23, 2014

Media Contact: Gabe Cahn, West End Strategy Team, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 202.776.7700, c: 202.412.1678


WASHINGTON—On Friday, May 23, one year after President Obama once again promised to close the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay in a speech at National Defense University, Amnesty International, National Religious Campaign Against Torture, September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, Witness Against Torture and several other groups joined together to stage a Global Day of Action to Close Guantánamo and End Indefinite Detention. Hundreds of activists demonstrated in 35 cities around the world, including Washington, D.C. in front of the White House, New York in Times Square, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco, Portland, London, Sydney, Munich, Toronto and Mexico City.

The groups called on President Obama to transfer the dozens of cleared detainees, including those from Yemen, and make good on his commitment to close the detention facility this year. The President’s pledge last May came amidst a mass hunger strike by men protesting their indefinite detention. Since then, only a handful of detainees have been transferred despite Congress’ decision to ease restrictions on such transfers. The groups also called on President Obama to release the full Senate report on CIA torture and ensure that the CIA does not have the final say about what information is made public.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 5, 2014
CONTACT: Megan Crowe-Rothstein, 860-214-2348, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

LAWMAKERS, ADVOCATES, AND SURVIVORS OF SOLITARY CONFINEMENT BACK SWEEPING REFORMS TO USE OF ISOLATION IN NEW YORK'S PRISONS AND JAILS
 
Supporters Converge from Across the State to Lobby for the  
"HALT Solitary Confinement Act"
Groundbreaking Legislation Would Eliminate Extreme Isolation Beyond  
15 Days, Create Safe and Humane Alternatives

ALBANY, NY -- At a mid-morning press conference in the Legislative Office Building in Albany, leading legislators joined advocates, people who had experienced solitary confinement, and family members of those currently in solitary to promote the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term (HALT) Solitary Confinement Act (A08588A / S06466A).

At the same time, more than 120 individuals from across the state, many of them directly affected by the widespread use of solitary confinement in New York, gathered for an inaugural lobby day at the State Capitol, meeting with more than 50 legislators.

After years of activism by human rights and civil liberties groups, faith communities, currently and formerly incarcerated people, and other concerned citizens, solitary confinement is currently exploding as an issue, both in the media and on public policy agendas.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 30, 2014

CONTACT: Samantha Friedman, West End Strategy Team - Office: (202) 776-7700; Cell: (202) 215-9260; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Faith Leaders Call on Sarah Palin, NRA, to Repudiate Statement Equating Waterboarding with Baptism

WASHINGTON – Today, religious leaders sent letters to the National Rifle Association and Sarah Palin, asking them to denounce torture and to apologize to the U.S. Muslim and Christian communities for statements made by Palin at the NRA’s Annual Meeting in Indianapolis this past weekend. Referring to those whom she declares have “information on plots to carry out jihad,” Ms. Palin said on Saturday, “If I were in charge, they would know that waterboarding is how we’d baptize terrorists.”

The letters were organized by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, and eighteen religious leaders signed the letter to the NRA. Rev. Ron Stief, executive director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, sent the letter to Palin under his own name.

The following Press Release is from Faith in Action Criminal Justice Working Group and includes a quote from NRCAT's Executive Director, Rev. Ron Stief.

Religious leaders praise president’s clemency initiative for drug sentences
Faith in Action Criminal Justice Working Group applauds increased focus on remedying racially disparate consequences of 'War on Drugs'

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 23, 2014
Contact: Wayne Rhodes, Director of Communications
General Board of Church & Society
The United Methodist Church
(202) 488-5630 / This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Faith-based organizations praised U.S. Dept. of Justice (DOJ) officials’ announcements this week to expedite a clemency process for persons serving excessive sentences for low-level and non-violent offenses in federal prison.

Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement that DOJ would be prepared to consider thousands of applications to President Obama for a commutation (reduction in sentence or immediate release).

The review would be an unprecedented undertaking for this class of prisoner, according to the Faith in Action Criminal Justice Reform Working Group, an interfaith coalition of 35 religious organizations. The coalition said such a review could significantly reduce unnecessarily long prison sentences meted out under nearly 30-year-old mandatory-minimum sentences for drug crimes.

The working group, convened by the General Board of Church & Society of The United Methodist Church, seeks a more just and humane criminal-justice system that prioritizes restorative justice instead of overly punitive prison sentences.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 10, 2014

CONTACT: Samantha Friedman, West End Strategy Team - Office: (202) 776-7700; cell: (202) 215-9260; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Senate Report Concludes CIA Impeded Legal Analysis and Oversight of the Torture Program:  Faith Leaders Respond

WASHINGTON – More than five years after the torture program was ended, the American people now have the first concrete information from the congressional investigation into the CIA’s use of torture. A bipartisan 11-3 majority of the Senate Intelligence Committee recently voted to release the executive summary, findings and conclusions of the report -- a small portion of which was published tonight by McClatchy.  

Rev. Ron Stief, executive director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, an organization representing more than 300 faith communities across the country, responded by saying: “It appears that the CIA deceived Department of Justice lawyers and the Bush Administration in order to obtain approval for the use of torture. This deception suggests that even those using it knew that torture was immoral and illegal. In the future, robust oversight and officials who do not give the CIA carte blanche must ensure that the agency does not again violate our values.”