NATIONAL RELIGIOUS CAMPAIGN AGAINST TORTURE

For Immediate Release – January 22, 2009

National Religious Campaign Against Torture Lauds President Obama for Issuing Executive Order Ending Torture -- Expresses Caution about the Task Force

Statement from National Religious Campaign Against Torture President, Linda Gustitus:

President Obama asked this country during his campaign to join him in changing the world.  By requiring the CIA to abide by the restrictions in the Army Field Manual in conducting interrogations of detainees, by closing the CIA’s secret prisons, and by providing the International Committee of the Red Cross access to all US-held detainees, he has already changed the world with respect to America’s use of torture.  He has rejected the use of torture as an interrogation technique and allowed the United States to again find its moral bearing.

The establishment of a task force to study whether the CIA should be able to use additional interrogation techniques beyond those approved in the Army Field Manual is a cause for concern.  We call on the President to ensure that any additional techniques are humane, effective, and available for public scrutiny.  We cannot afford to risk a return to the secret abuses of the past.  Specifically, the President should publicly affirm that any additional interrogation techniques comply with the “golden rule” – that they would be both moral and legal if used upon a captured American. 

The religious community has labored faithfully for three years to end U.S.-sponsored torture. We are grateful today for this important step. The dark, dark days of the past are behind us, and we all must work to make sure they never return again. 

For more information about the campaign
Click “Countdown to End Torture” at www.tortureisamoralissue.org

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The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) is a growing organization committed to ending U.S.-sponsored torture, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Since its formation in January 2006, more than 240 religious groups have joined NRCAT, including representatives from the Roman Catholic, evangelical Christian, mainline Protestant, Unitarian, Quaker, Orthodox Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and Sikh communities. Members include national denominations and faith groups, regional organizations and local congregations

Over the past year, NRCAT has been a leading voice advocating for an executive order ending torture by the United States.  As part of this effort, NRCAT co-sponsored the Campaign to Ban Torture with the Center for Victims of Torture and Evangelicals for Human Rights.  This campaign brought together hundreds of religious, military, and government officials, who signed a “Declaration of Principles for a Presidential Executive Order on Prisoner Treatment, Torture and Cruelty.”  NRCAT also coordinated a “Banners Across America” campaign, for which 330 congregations in all 50 states and DC displayed anti-torture banners in June 2008 – Torture Awareness Month.  In addition, NRCAT coordinated a “Day of Witness” in November 2008, which featured delegation meetings in more than 50 congressional offices around the country and a solemn procession to the White House.