NRCAT Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 3, 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 Praise Bipartisan 11-3 Senate Vote to Shed Light on U.S.-Sponsored Torture
Clergy Urge President to Lead Declassification Process

WASHINGTON – After more than five years of urging the U.S. government to publicly air the truth about its use of immoral interrogation tactics (including torture), “The religious community applauds the Senate Intelligence Committee for voting to seek declassification of the executive summary of its report on the CIA’s rendition, detention and interrogation program,” said Rev. Ron Stief, executive director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, an organization representing more than 300 diverse religious organizations across the country. The report is believed to describe the CIA’s use of abhorrent acts of torture, to provide evidence that torture was unnecessary from a national security perspective, and to describe how and why the use of torture was authorized.

“The Senate Intelligence Committee took moral responsibility by voting to make public the truth about the CIA’s use of torture,” said Rev. Stief. “As people of faith, the members of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture believe that torture is always wrong. Admitting the truth about the United States’ past is the first step toward redemption.” 

Under NRCAT’s leadership, clergy across the country published opinion pieces in newspapers in all 50 states calling for the release of the Senate Intelligence Committee report on the CIA’s use of torture. In December, a compilation of all published op-eds thus far (listed online at NRCAT’s website) was distributed to the members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, to demonstrate the diverse religious community’s united support for release of the report.

Speaking about the importance of the vote to release the report on torture, Jim Winkler, president of the National Council of Churches, a member of NRCAT, said, “If elected leaders of the United States of America have the slightest interest in living up to the ideals of democracy and peace, they will not hesitate to make public the report on torture. The use of torture is abhorrent. Our leaders should express their deepest sorrow and regret for using torture, and they should publicly promise it will never again be employed by our nation.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 13, 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 Interfaith Group Applauds Obama’s Support of Declassification of Senate Report on CIA Torture

WASHINGTON – In response to President Obama’s support of declassification of the Senate report on CIA torture, Rev. Ron Stief, executive director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, said the following:

“The first step toward redemption is to admit the mistakes of the past. We’re glad that President Obama has joined us in calling for declassification of the Senate Intelligence Committee report on torture. We hope that when it is fully declassified, the report will provide us with the facts we need to ensure that the CIA never uses torture again.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 11, 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 Interfaith Group Applauds Senator Feinstein’s Defense of Congressional Oversight Regarding Torture Program

WASHINGTON – Today, prompted by controversy over a Central Intelligence Agency internal review document that is said to corroborate the results of the Senate Intelligence Committee investigation into CIA torture, Committee Chairman Sen. Dianne Feinstein vigorously defended the Committee’s work, suggesting that “If the Senate can declassify this report, we will be able to ensure that an un-American, brutal program of detention and interrogation will never again be considered or permitted.” She described how the CIA repeatedly removed documents it had previously provided the Committee and how it, possibly illegally, monitored the Committee’s work. She also said that the CIA’s acting general counsel, an individual who is named more than 1,600 times in the Committee’s report, may have attempted to intimidate Committee staff.

Rev. Ron Stief, executive director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, responded to Sen. Feinstein’s comments by saying: “We applaud Senator Feinstein for once more reminding the CIA that the use of torture was un-American, brutal, and should never happen again. As people of faith, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture believes that no one in the CIA stands above their moral responsibility to humanity. The facts of CIA torture contained in the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report should come out now so we can get beyond the bickering and take the next steps toward a torture-free future.”

MEDIA ADVISORY
March 3, 2014

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

TUESDAY: Representative of national interfaith human rights organization to deliver testimony at Maryland Senate hearing on solitary confinement

ANNAPOLIS – As part of a Maryland State Senate hearing on Tuesday, March 4, 2014, to discuss legislation to study the use of solitary confinement in Maryland prisons, Laura Markle Downton, Director of U.S. Prisons Policy and Program at the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, will deliver testimony.

In her testimony, Laura Markle Downton will spotlight the continuing national and state-level human rights crisis faced by tens of thousands of adults and children held in conditions of long-term isolation in prisons, jails and detention centers at the federal, state and local level. On any given day, approximately 8.5 percent of people incarcerated in Maryland prisons are confined in conditions of solitary confinement.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 25, 2014

CONTACT: Samantha Friedman, West End Strategy Team

Office: (202) 776-7700 or cell: (202) 215-9260 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

UN Special Rapporteur On Torture, Clergy, Family Members and Survivors Unite Against Solitary Confinement Before Senate Hearing
Gathering precedes Capitol Hill hearing on solitary confinement

WASHINGTON – Preceding a Congressional hearing on solitary confinement on Tuesday, Feb. 25, national faith leaders, survivors of solitary confinement and their families, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, and human rights activists, joined together to spotlight the continuing national human rights crisis faced by tens of thousands of adults and children held in conditions of long-term isolation in prisons, jails and detention centers at the federal, state and local level.

This gathering preceded a second hearing on solitary confinement by the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Reassessing Solitary Confinement II: The Human Rights, Fiscal and Public Safety Consequences. Tuesday’s pre-hearing gathering, held at the United Methodist Building on Capitol Hill, was organized by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) and the ACLU.

The gathering highlighted the ongoing work of NRCAT and its members and partners across the country toward the abolition of solitary confinement for certain populations, including individuals with severe mental illness and juveniles, and limits to its use in general.

MEDIA ADVISORY
February 24, 2014

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

TUESDAY: UN Special Rapporteur On Torture, Clergy, Family Members and Survivors to Unite Against Solitary Confinement Before Senate Hearing
Gathering to immediately precede Capitol Hill hearing on solitary confinement

WASHINGTON – Preceding a Congressional hearing Tuesday, Feb. 25, on solitary confinement, Reassessing Solitary Confinement II: The Human Rights, Fiscal and Public Safety Consequences, national faith leaders, survivors of solitary confinement and their families, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, and human rights activists, will join together earlier Tuesday to spotlight the continuing national human rights crisis faced by tens of thousands of adults and children held in conditions of long-term isolation in prisons, jails and detention centers at the federal, state and local level.

Tuesday’s gathering, organized by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture and the ACLU, will be held at 12 p.m. in the Simpson Memorial Chapel of the United Methodist Building, 100 Maryland Ave. NE. According to Laura Markle Downton, Director of U.S. Prisons Policy and Program for NRCAT, “The gathering will focus on calling on the federal government to honor its commitments to Constitutional and international standards of human rights by confronting the use of solitary confinement in federal facilities. We will highlight developments in states including New York and California that illustrate national recognition that the abusive use of solitary confinement is immoral, antithetical to rehabilitation, fiscally wasteful, endangers institutional and community safety, and must be brought to an end.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 23, 2014

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

Interfaith Prayer Vigil at U.S. Capitol on Eve of State of the Union
Vigil to Mark Obama’s Five-Year Promise to Close Guantanamo

WASHINGTON – In commemoration of the 5^th anniversary of President Obama’s Executive Order directing the closure of Guantanamo, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, an organization representing thousands of people of faith from diverse religious groups across the country, will sponsor an “Interfaith Prayer Vigil” on Monday, January 27. On the eve of President Obama’s State of the Union Address, people of faith will gather outside the U.S. Capitol in candlelight prayer and call for Guantanamo’s closure. The fifth anniversary of the executive order was January 21.

NRCAT will join fellow faith-based organizations and human rights groups at 5:30 p.m. Monday in front of the Capitol, after first gathering at 110 Maryland Ave., NE (details below). Participants will illuminate the night with prayers, candles, glow sticks, and courtesy of the Maryland Light Brigade, huge lights that will illuminate the message, “CLOSE GITMO NOW.” United in light, the group’s mission is to remind the President and Congress of the President’s five-year promise to close the detention facility as well as to call attention for policymakers that 155 men are still detained at Guantanamo.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 9, 2014

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

National Interfaith Anti-Torture Group Calls for Jan. 11 Prayer Circle to Close Guantanamo
12th Anniversary of Guantanamo’s Opening is Saturday

WASHINGTON – With the 12th anniversary of the day the first detainees were imprisoned at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay approaching this Saturday, January 11, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, an organization representing thousands of people of faith from diverse religious groups across the country, will sponsor a “virtual prayer circle” at 12 p.m. EST on Saturday. On this 12th anniversary, people of faith around the country and globe will at the appointed time join in prayer – whatever their religion – and call for Guantanamo’s closure.

In Washington, NRCAT will join fellow faith-based organizations and human rights groups at 12 p.m. on Saturday for a rally in front of the White House followed by a procession from the White House to the Museum of American History. Participants will include people wearing orange jumpsuits to show solidarity with Guantanamo detainees. Rev. Ron Stief, NRCAT’s executive director, will speak at the rally and lead an interfaith invocation, coinciding with NRCAT’s call for a “virtual prayer circle.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 20, 2013

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

People of Faith Applaud Congress for Easing Restrictions on Guantanamo Transfers

Washington, D.C. – An organization representing thousands of people of faith from diverse religious groups across the country expressed its appreciation today for provisions in the final version of the FY 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which smooth the path toward closing Guantanamo by easing the restrictions on transfers of detainees to foreign countries. The NDAA, which passed the Senate late yesterday, and which was previously passed by the House, is expected to be signed into law.

Rev. Richard Killmer, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, said about the new Guantanamo provisions, “Congress did the right thing by easing the restrictions on transferring prisoners out of Guantanamo.  Guantanamo is a place where detainees were tortured and where most have been imprisoned for years without charge or trial. Its very existence is a violation of American values.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 16, 2013

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

Religious Leaders in all 50 States Urge Release of Senate Intelligence Committee Report on CIA Torture
Clergy across the country publish op-eds in every state asking for the truth

Washington, D.C. – With the Kansas City Star’s publication today of an op-ed by the Rev. Dr. Kendyll Gibbons urging the Senate Intelligence Committee to release to the public its 6,000-page report on the CIA’s use of torture, religious leaders across the country have written opinion pieces for publications in all 50 states calling for release of the report. Tomorrow, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture will distribute a compilation of all published op-eds (listed online at NRCAT’s website) to the members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, to demonstrate the diverse religious community’s united support for release of the report.

Rev. Richard Killmer, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, said the following about the importance of religious leaders in every state joining a shared call for the public release of the Intelligence Committee report: