Religious Leaders Heat Up Summer Debate on Torture

Monday, July 09, 2007

During Independence Day celebrations across the nation, citizens of the United States were called to remember and celebrate the values that founded American democracy.

This week, people of faith will challenge Congress and the American people to restore those values in our policies pertaining to the rights and treatment of U.S. detainees. As the Senate takes up key defense legislation, religious leaders will continue their campaign to restore habeas corpus and end torture -- without exceptions.

The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) kicked off their summer advocacy push with rally and lobby day in D.C. on June 26, joining with other groups like Amnesty International, the ACLU, and the Leadership Council on Civil Rights.

Religious groups have a long history of speaking for human rights and taking on torture ; people of faith spoke out against the abuse at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo and are currently working to rollback provisions of the Military Commissions Act, which eliminated habeas corpus for all detainees at Guantanamo and was signed into law in October of last year by President Bush.

Today, people of faith continue to be united by the belief delcaration that torture is a moral issue and we have a religious obligation to speak out against it.

Rabbis for Human Rights calls people to honor the image of God and stop torture, arguing to violate human dignity is to violate God.

Evangelicals for Human Rights, based in Tennessee, agrees, "When torture is employed by a state, that act communicates to the world and to one's own people that human lives are not sacred, that they are not reflections of the Creator. These are claims that no one who confesses Christ as Lord can accept."

These passionate beliefs prompt religious leaders to use every opportunity they have to change U.S. policy as Jeanne Herrick-Stare, a fellow at the Friends Committee on National Legislation, explains

They are preaching, in the language of each of their faiths and religious beliefs, that torture is a moral issue. They are educating others about the facts that lie behind the political rhetoric swirling around the nation. They are empowering those in their congregations, in their faith groups and denominations, and in their networks and to act as agents for change on the issue of U.S. sponsored torture - within their communities, regions, and states, and nationally, in gatherings such as the one in Washington D.C. tomorrow. They are nurturing those broken in body and spirit by being tortured or by being torturers.

This push from clergy and other leaders appears to be working. These campaigns have brought new groups of activists to Washington, many lobbying their senators and representatives for the first time. Seasoned activists like Lynn Yellot, who participated in the June 26 events helped others make the connection between opposing torture and broader aspects of detainee policy, such as restoring habeas corpus. She argues, “How can our country condemn the disappearances of our citizens and military members in other countries if we do not honor habeas corpus here? And, without habeas corpus, incidents of torture can easily be covered up.”

This week, the Senate will consider the Department of Defense authorization bill. According to media reports, members of Congress plan to attach amendments to stop funding for the Guantanamo detention facility and to restore habeas corpus rights for detainees.

People of faith will be watching as Congress proceeds, ready to challenge our leaders to live up to the spirit of our Constitution and so many of our faith traditions, by ensuring that the basic human dignity of all people is protected.

Resources:

Catholic, other faith groups urge U.S. restore habeas corpus for noncitizen detainees
(By Mark Pattison - Catholic News Service)

NRCAT: Torture Is a Moral Issue

Amnesty International Lobby Day Testimony

Rabbis for Human Rights' campaign against torture

An Evangelical Declaration Against Torture