NRCAT Press Releases

For Immediate Release: November 1, 2011
Contact: Samantha Friedman, office: (202) 265-3000 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Former Guantanamo Bay chief prosecutor: Torture was wrong, prison should be closed
People of faith agree

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ten years after the United States opened the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, its former chief prosecutor condemned the prison as a “law free zone” that tortured detainees.  In response to news reports that retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Morris Davis has again spoken out against torture at the prison at Guantanamo Bay and urged the government to close the detention center, Rev. Richard Killmer, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, released the following statement today praising Davis’ perspective and message:

"As the United States’ former chief prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay, Colonel Davis knows what he is talking about when he says that our government ‘turned our backs on the law.’  The U.S. government’s use of torture as an interrogation technique at Guantanamo Bay was both illegal and immoral.  Colonel Davis also has said that while the U.S. military opposed torture because of its ineffectiveness, inexperienced political appointees were the ones responsible for ordering its use.

For Immediate Release: October 19, 2011
Contact: Samantha Friedman, office: (202) 265-3000 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Tuesday, October 18, Juan Méndez, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, delivered the keynote address at a briefing and panel discussion at the Church Center for the United Nations entitled: “The Dangerous Over‐Use of Solitary Confinement: Pervasive Human Rights Violations in Prisons, Jails & Other Places of Detention.”  The panel was organized by 11 organizations, including the National Religious Campaign Against Torture.  Earlier Tuesday, Méndez presented a report on solitary confinement to the General Assembly of the U.N.

As UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Méndez investigates charges of torture by governmental entities worldwide.  Méndez has concluded that prolonged solitary confinement – which he defines as solitary confinement for any amount of time longer than 15 days – is a harsh measure that can cause serious psychological and physiological effects on prisoners.  Because of the severe mental pain and suffering that solitary confinement may cause, it can amount to either torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, both of which are illegal in most countries.

For Immediate Release: October 13, 2011
Contact: Samantha Friedman, office: (202) 265-3000 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

UN Report Details Torture in Afghanistan
Coalition of people of faith say U.S. must act effectively to end Afghan torture

WASHINGTON, D.C. – According to a United Nations report released Monday, many detainees who were captured by NATO forces and transferred to Afghan custody have been subjected to torture by Afghan interrogators. In response, NATO has halted transfers of detainees to certain Afghan detention facilities and begun work on a plan to reform the Afghan detention system.  Rev. Richard Killmer, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, released the following statement today in response to these steps:

For Immediate Release: October 11, 2011

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

OCTOBER 18 AT THE CHURCH CENTER FOR THE UNITED NATIONS:
The Dangerous Over‐Use of Solitary Confinement
Religious and human rights groups to participate in panel discussion featuring UN Special Rapporteur on Torture

NEW YORK – Tuesday, October 18, Juan Méndez, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, will deliver the keynote address at a briefing and panel discussion at the Church Center for the United Nations entitled: “The Dangerous Over‐Use of Solitary Confinement: Pervasive Human Rights Violations in Prisons, Jails & Other Places of Detention.”  The panel was organized by 11 organizations, including the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. He will be speaking to the General Assembly of the U.N. earlier that day.

Under an authoritarian military dictatorship ruling Argentina in the 1970s, Méndez, an Argentinean citizen, was imprisoned by his own government outside Buenos Aires. Held captive as a political detainee, he was subjected to torture by an electric prod.  Today, Méndez serves as the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. In that role and guided by the principles of the UN Convention Against Torture, he investigates charges of torture by governmental entities worldwide.

For Immediate Release: September 28, 2011

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

New inmate hunger strike in California leads religious coalition to again call for end to prolonged solitary confinement

WASHINGTON, D.C. – For the second time this year, hundreds of state prison inmates in California have undertaken a hunger strike to bring attention to inhumane confinement conditions.

The National Religious Campaign Against Torture has been vocal in its opposition to the controversial and frequent use of prolonged solitary confinement in California prisons, including through sending representative Rev. Will McGarvey of Pittsburg, Calif., to present public testimony at the California State Assembly’s Committee Policy Review August 23, which focused on the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s Secure Housing Units.

For Immediate Release: September 21, 2011

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

Religious coalition asks Obama to respond to reports of mistreatment of detainees in Somali prison

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Religious Campaign Against Torture, as part of a coalition of eight human rights groups, released a letter yesterday asking the Obama Administration to respond to recent reports about CIA involvement in potentially abusive prison conditions in Somalia. 

According to the reports, there is a secret underground prison in Mogadishu, which, while technically being run by Somalis, is paid for by the CIA.  CIA agents are believed to take part in interrogations of detainees in this prison.  Further, it appears that the United States may have played a role in the involuntary transfer of citizens of third countries to the prison.  Reports from former prisoners suggest that the conditions in the prison are inhumane and that prisoners are mistreated. 

For Immediate Release: September 20, 2011

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

Religious coalition encouraged by Administration’s plan to shutter Guantanamo Bay prison
Faith groups say now Administration must follow through on promise

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to Attorney General Eric Holder’s announcement today at the European Parliament that the Obama administration wants to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay "as quickly as possible," Rev. Richard Killmer, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, released this statement:

"In his second full day in office, President Obama made a promise to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay.  It’s good to hear Attorney General Holder reiterate that vow.  As a site where torture is known to have occurred, Guantanamo remains a symbol of America’s use of torture, and the fact that it is still open raises concerns about the strength of our country’s commitment to never again use torture.  People of faith from around the nation have called on President Obama to act more aggressively to close Guantanamo, and we will continue to do so until our nation lives up to its moral obligations and closes this terrible chapter of American history forever.

For Immediate Release: September 15, 2011

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

Faith Leaders Respond to Soufan Book

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, former FBI interrogator Ali H. Soufan’s new book was released describing his experiences as a special agent working on U.S. counter-terrorism efforts.  In The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against al-Qaeda, Soufan is persuasive in his argument that brutal interrogation techniques don’t work.  In response to the book, Rev. Richard Killmer, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, released the following statement:

"We agree with Ali Soufan that torture and other forms of brutal interrogation techniques are ineffective.  We make a mistake, however, if we only discuss whether torture is effective.  More importantly, torture is wrong.  It is against American values.  We appreciate Mr. Soufan so persuasively showing that torture is ineffective – but Americans should not make the decision about whether or not to use torture based only on questions of effectiveness.  Instead, they should look to their values and look to their faiths.  The religions of the world agree that torture is wrong.

For Immediate Release: September 7, 2011

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

NATO Acts to Prevent Torture
Coalition of people of faith praise “wise decision”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to a forthcoming U.N. report said to reveal allegations that detainees are tortured in certain Afghan jails, NATO is no longer transferring detainees to those jails.  Rev. Richard Killmer, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, released the following statement today in response to NATO’s decision:

“As people of faith, we are deeply concerned to hear reports of torture and other abuses occurring in Afghan prisons, and we are relieved to see NATO take this important step to prevent further torture.  We are grateful to the United States and to other NATO member states for their participation in this wise decision.  For the U.S. in particular, this decision stands in bold contrast to decisions of the past.  Previously, the U.S. was known to transfer prisoners to other countries to be tortured.  Now, the U.S., as part of NATO, is actively suspending the transfer of prisoners to jails where there are credible allegations of torture.

For Immediate Release: August 25, 2011

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

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As excerpts from former Vice President Dick Cheney’s memoir – as well as his own commentary on the book – begin to be made public, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture is condemning Cheney’s reported ongoing defense of torturing detainees.

In a pre-taped NBC interview to air next week after the release of his book, “In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir,” Cheney is quoted as asserting he has “no regrets” about supporting the euphemistically named enhanced interrogation tactics, and even in retrospect, he would again authorize waterboarding, widely considered a violation of U.S. law today.  “I would strongly support using it again if circumstances arose where we had a high-value detainee and that was the only way we could get him to talk, Cheney told NBC’s Jamie Gangel.