NRCAT Opposes Haspel Nomination

"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." ~ Rev. Ron Stief

Get Involved

  • Call Your Senators - You can reach your Senators by calling the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and asking to be connected with their offices. You can say:
    "Hello, I'm ________ from ____________. I'm calling because someone like Gina Haspel who doesn't understand that torture is immoral should not be our next CIA Director. I would like the Senator to vote against her nomination and to encourage other Senators to do likewise."
  • Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper - You can use these talking points to help craft your message.

NRCAT Statements

Ron-Stief-050918-2

Op-eds from the faith community on Gina Haspel's nomination include:

Faith Community Letters

  • Sixty-six faith leaders in Maine signed an open letter to Senators Collins and King, saying, "[H]er operational role in the CIA's torture program disqualifies her from leading the agency." Read the letter, which appeared as an ad in the Portland Press Herald and Bangor Daily News.
  • Jim Winkler, the President and General Secretary of the National Council of Churches wrote in a letter to U.S. Senators: "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 national Catholic organizations wrote in a letter to the U.S. Senate 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 in a letter to U.S. Senators "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
 
 
 
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