NRCAT Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 17, 2018
CONTACT: T.C. Morrow, 202-547-1920 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

National Faith Group Condemns Senate Confirmation of Gina Haspel to Direct CIA

WASHINGTON, DC – On Thursday, May 17, with a 54-45 vote, the U.S. Senate confirmed known torturer, Gina Haspel, to be the next CIA Director. Gina Haspel supervised waterboarding and other torture at the CIA black site in Thailand. She was also wrote the memo ordering the destruction of the videotaped evidence of torture before Members of Congress were able to review the tapes, and, when asked by four different Senators during her confirmation hearing, she consistently refused to say that torture is immoral.

Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, said this about vote:

"In a new low, the U.S. Senate today confirmed a known torturer to a Cabinet-level position in the U.S. government. While Ms. Haspel was forced to say that she would never restart the CIA's torture program, she nevertheless refused repeated requests to say that torture is immoral. This is a good day for tyrants, dictators, and others who abuse human rights. This is a bad day for anyone who cares about reining in this President, and others in his Administration, who have no moral hesitation around torturing another human being."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 9, 2018
CONTACT: T.C. Morrow, 202-547-1920 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Haspel: A Moral Compass that Spins in Circles Around Torture

WASHINGTON, DC – During her hearing on Wednesday, May 9, CIA Director nominee, Gina Haspel, claimed to have a "strong moral compass" yet, when asked repeatedly by Senators Warner, Heinrich, Harris, and Reed, not once was she able to say that the CIA's torture program was immoral.

Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, responded to Ms. Haspel's moral confusion by saying:

"Ms. Haspel argued that the program was legal, she suggested that Congress had adopted the Army Field Manual as a 'stricter' moral standard, and she even suggested that waterboarding was inhumane if done by a terrorist but not if done by the CIA. She was never, though, able to say that waterboarding or any other act of torture was immoral. Ms. Haspel has conflated law with morality and seems to have a moral compass that is spinning in circles. Being unable to say that torture is immoral shows that she lacks the character necessary to stand up to the President and be an independent, moral CIA Director."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 8, 2018
CONTACT: T.C. Morrow, 202-547-1920 and This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish Faith Organizations
Oppose Haspel Nomination Based on Her Record on Torture

WASHINGTON, DC – On Tuesday, May 8, letters from national Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish organizations opposing Gina Haspel's nomination to be CIA Director because of her record on torture were delivered to the offices of all U.S. Senators.

Representing 30 million church members in 38 denominations with over 100,000 local congregations, Jim Winkler, the President and General Secretary of the National Council of Churches wrote: "Confirming Haspel will be widely understood as a message that the U.S. accepts torture and it will be used by tyrants and dictators to justify both torture and a legion of other human rights abuses...I pray that you and your colleagues will consider the deep cost of promoting someone who supervised torture to be the CIA Director and will ultimately choose to oppose this nomination." For the full text of the letter, see http://www.nrcat.org/ncc-letter-haspel-nomination

Eight different national Catholic organizations also weighed in, writing that "using basic moral standards for human dignity disqualifies her [Haspel] from leading the agency" and that confirming Haspel "would also be understood as a message of support for torture by our President – who has repeatedly stated his personal interest in restarting the torture program." They also noted that if Haspel is confirmed, "American Catholic pastoral and humanitarian aid workers would be distrusted and endangered." For the full text of the letter, see http://www.nrcat.org/catholic-letter-on-haspel-nomination

In a letter signed by over 200 Rabbis, T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights wrote "a vote to confirm her [Haspel] is incompatible with any kind of meaningful commitment to the prohibition on torture and so-called 'enhanced interrogation.'" It follows by saying: "As Jews, we believe that every human being is created in God's image. This assertion applies to all people, friend or enemy. The shame and humiliation caused by torture degrade the divine spark inherent in each of us. Furthermore, the Torah commands not to inflict punishments that degrade the perpetrator." For the full text of the letter, see http://www.nrcat.org/truah-letter-haspel-nomination

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 17, 2018
CONTACT: T.C. Morrow, (202) 547-1920 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Faith Coalition Opposes the Corker-Kaine Expansion of Presidential War Powers in AUMF

WASHINGTON, DC –Senators Corker, Kaine, Flake, Coons, Young, and Nelson introduced a bill today that would remove almost all limits on the President's authority to use military force. In particular, it would authorize this and any future President to use force in any country, at any time, against any group he or she claimed was affiliated with ISIS, Al Qaeda, or the Taliban. The bill also mandates that Congress can only limit the President's ability to order the use of force with a 2/3 vote in both the House and Senate.

In response to this proposal, Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, released the following statement:

"Giving

the President virtually unlimited war powers is a congressional dereliction of duty. Our founders took the impact of war seriously and provided Congress, not the President, with the authority to declare war. During these dangerous times, these six Senators propose to abandon their Constitutional obligation to keep the authority for declaring war in the hands of the American people. We call on Congress to stand up for American values and against perpetual war by rejecting this immoral and unconstitutional bill."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 13, 2018
CONTACT: T.C. Morrow, (202) 547-1920 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Faith Coalition Condemns Nomination of Haspel for CIA, Citing Past Record on Torture

WASHINGTON, DC - With news that President Trump plans to nominate CIA Deputy Director Gina Haspel to replace Mike Pompeo as CIA Director, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) reiterates its call for no new government jobs for torturers. Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director, said:

"NRCAT calls on the U.S. Senate to block the nomination of Gina Haspel to the position of CIA Director. It is morally repugnant that a former head of a CIA torture site who helped destroy videotaped evidence of torture would be elevated to the role of CIA Director. Haspel cannot be trusted to follow the law, nor represent our country's fundamental values of ethical government and transparency."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 7, 2018
CONTACT: T.C. Morrow, (202) 547-1920 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Faith Coalition Joins Other NGOS to Express Concern Over Trump Admin Use of Armed Drones

WASHINGTON, DC - In a statement released today, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) and several other NGOs expressed deep concerns regarding the Trump Administration's use of armed drones and other lethal force. Reports indicate that current Trump Administration policy is likely to lead to more civilian deaths and more killing. The groups recommend that all use of lethal force, including the use of armed drones, respect international law and that polices for the use of lethal force be transparent and subject to democratic accountability. The groups also recommend that there be full investigations, accountability and redress for civilian casualties, and that the international community refuse to support any illegal use of force.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 15, 2018
CONTACT: T.C. Morrow, (202) 547-1920 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Interfaith Coalition Applauds NY Assembly inclusion of HALT Act in Criminal Justice Legislative Package

WASHINGTON, DC -  Joining with partners throughout New York state, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture applauds the New York Assembly for including the Humane Alternatives to Long Term (HALT) Solitary Confinement Act (A.3080) in its criminal justice reform package.

Prolonged solitary confinement is an internationally recognized form of torture. Nationwide, alternatives to solitary are supported by leading corrections officials and a growing number of state legislatures. In New York, the HALT Act creates alternatives to isolated confinement for any person separated from general population for more than 15 continuous days. It requires that such persons be in a separate secure residential rehabilitation unit – a rehabilitative and therapeutic unit aimed at providing additional programs, therapy, and support to address underlying needs and causes of behavior, with 6 hours per day of out-of-cell programming plus 1 hour of out-of-cell recreation.

The HALT Act also prohibits special populations from placement in solitary confinement, including persons twenty-one and younger, fifty-five and older, and pregnant women.

Johnny Perez, Director of U.S. Prisons Program, said, "The HALT bill will bring relief to more than 5,000 people who are subjected to the torturous conditions in New York by creating meaningful alternatives. For the interfaith members of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture throughout New York state, its passage is a moral imperative."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 30, 2018
CONTACT: T.C. Morrow, (202) 547-1920 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Faith Coalition Regrets Trump Decision to Continue Indefinite Detention at GITMO

WASHINGTON, DC – In response to President Trump’s State of the Union prix cialis announcement that he would order that prisoners continue to be detained indefinitely without trial in Guantanamo Bay, Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, released the following statement:

“If President Trump wants to be tough on terrorists, he should close the prison at Guantanamo Bay and deprive them of an important recruiting tool. It is a moral outrage that the U.S. continues to spend more than $10 million per detainee each year to keep open a prison that is an international symbol of U.S. torture. Calling for indefinite detention without trial is one of the most un-American things I’ve ever heard in a State of the Union address.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 14, 2017
CONTACT: T.C. Morrow, (202) 547-1920 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Faith Coalition Condemns U.S. Senate Confirmation of
Torture Memo Lawyer, Steven Bradbury

WASHINGTON, DC – In response to the Senate's 50-47 vote to confirm Steven Bradbury to be General Counsel at the Department of Transportation earlier today, Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director at the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, released the following statement:

"We are disappointed that the U.S. Senate would confirm a lawyer who wrote key legal memos authorizing torture. Torture was against the law then and now, and the brutality that Mr. Steven Bradbury defended violated an act of Congress, the Detainee Treatment Act, that was passed specifically to put an end to the torture program. Multiple

Senators took to the floor to describe Mr. Bradbury's unethical record of defending torture, and the vote to confirm him despite that record demonstrates what is wrong with a Senate that rubber-stamps almost anyone for high level positions in government."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 1, 2017
CONTACT: T.C. Morrow, (202) 547-1920 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Faith Coalition Opposes Trump's Statement that NYC Attack Suspect
May be Sent to Guantanamo Bay Prison

Washington, DC – In response to President Trump's statement that he may send Sayfullo Saipov, the man suspected of killing 8 people on a bike path in New York City, to Guantanamo, Rev. Ron

Stief, Executive Director at the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, released the following statement:

"In this day of mourning, we must unify as a people, holding fast to our shared values and demanding justice – not revenge – for the attack in New York City. Indefinite detention without trial in Guantanamo is un-American, illegal, immoral, and is no way to bring justice for the victims of this attack. The suspect should be tried in accordance with U.S. law, not sent to Guantanamo where he may never face the legal consequences of his actions.

Every American should resist the calls of those who are using this tragic event to divide us by blaming immigrants, Muslims, or refugees for this attack. Now is not the time to look for scapegoats, rather it is a moment to stand together in unity against acts of senseless violence."