National Religious Campaign Against Torture Welcomes Withdrawal of Haynes Nomination

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 10, 2007

Washington, D.C. – In response to the announced withdrawal of the judicial nomination of William J. Haynes, Jeanne Herrick-Stare, Chair of the Coordinating Committee for the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, released the following Statement:

"The National Religious Campaign Against Torture welcomes the withdrawal of William J. Haynes' judicial nomination. As General Counsel for the Department of Defense, Mr. Haynes was the primary architect of the Department’s policies with regard to adoption of a narrow definition of torture; failure to apply Geneva Convention protections to detainees captured in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the world; authorization of private and therefore unaccountable interrogation sessions. These erosions of safeguards intended to prevent the abuse of detainees paved the way for the incidents of abuse, torture, and violations of human rights by U.S. personnel at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, and elsewhere.

“Our communities of faith share a profound commitment to affirm the worth and dignity of all people. Every person should have the protection of law. We reject torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, and we endorse human rights principles because these flow directly from our religious experience of every person as a child of God. Further, as representatives of our communities of faith we believe that expediency and short term 'necessity' are no excuse for rejecting the rule of law or the moral imperative of justice. Let us abolish torture now -- without exception."

The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) empowers members of America’s faith community to join one another in religious witness to ensure torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment never play a role in U.S. policy. With more than 80 religious member organizations, NRCAT’s “Torture Is a Moral Issue” statement has been endorsed by such high profile leaders and groups as Rick Warren, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Jimmy Carter and Eli Weisel. Full membership and more information about NRCAT is available on the NRCAT website at www.nrcat.org.

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CONTACT: Jeanne Herrick-Stare at (202) 547-6000 x 2513, jeanne@fcnl.org or Katie Barge at 202-481-8147, kbarge@faithinpubliclife.org