Press Release
Faith Community Celebrates Torture Ban
Tireless Multi-Faith Campaign Achieves Key Goal
For three years, religious leaders and organizations from across the faith and ideological spectrum have worked tirelessly to end America’s torture of detainees in its custody. Today, the faith community applauds President Obama’s executive orders banning torture, closing the prisons at Guantanamo Bay and secret locations, ensuring Red Cross access to all detainees, and ending extraordinary rendition. Together, we call for continuing diligence in the effort to ensure the US government never tortures again.
Religious organizations who have led the struggle to end our immoral treatment of detainees are responding to this afternoon's executive orders:
Evangelicals for Human Rights, the leading Evangelical voice against U.S.-sponsored torture, President Dr. David P. Gushee:
• The president has implicitly but clearly recognized today that the aberrant detainee and interrogation policies of the last seven years in fact damaged our national security, harmed our foreign policy interests, and violated core principles of justice... While we celebrate today, there is more to do...We need a religious and moral accounting, not just a legal one.
National Religious Campaign Against Torture, which includes diverse Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders, President Linda Gustitus:
• 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.
Rabbis for Human Rights North America, the leading voice of the Jewish community against U.S.-sponsored torture, Executive Director Rabbi Brian Walt:
• “Torture is not a subjective term. It dishonors the image of God found in every person. Today, we can say that the United States is on the right path to restoring our moral standing. I am proud of the role that the Jewish community has played in bringing about this important day for American values.”
Faithful America, an 80,000-member online community of people of faith:
• Just last week, Faithful America called on then President-Elect Obama to sign an executive order banning all forms of torture as one of his first acts in office. Today, we commend the president for taking this important step toward restoring morality and justice to our treatment of detainees.
