Torture_Human Rights

Torture/Human Rights

Torture is a Moral Issue

The Pennsylvania Council of

Churches believes that torture is

a moral issue. This belief has led the Council to become a partner with the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT), signing on to NRCAT’s “Torture is a Moral Issue” Statement of Conscience and supporting the Campaign in a number of actions aimed at eradicating the use of torture by any American entities.

The Council calls on you to show your solidarity with people of faith from many religious traditions by signing on to this statement. You can read the brief statement below. NRCAT cites many reasons why it is imperative that people of faith support this statement:

· It is always important to take a public stand on clear issues of right

and wrong. As Nobel Laureate, Eli Wiesel proclaimed, "I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation."

· It is important to support each other, to join hands with like-minded people of all faiths, in the effort to end U.S.-sponsored torture.

· Numbers make impressions on policymakers and the media—NRCAT shares the number of endorsers with members of Congress, the press, and other religious organizations.

· Our elected representatives are pledged to be responsible to their constituents. Your endorsement sends a message to your Congressperson, and once again, numbers speak loudly.

· As the number of endorsers grows, NRCAT will continue to provide the opportunity to endorse the Statement of Conscience, therefore it is important to spread the word and urge others to add their endorsement.

· We all want to effect positive change. Like the story of the butterfly that fluttered its wings on one side of the globe, inducing a tsunami on the other, your endorsement is one way to create the climate for change.

To sign the statement, click here.

"Torture is a Moral Issue" Statement of Conscience

Torture* violates the basic dignity of the human person that all religions, in their highest ideals, hold dear. It degrades everyone involved—policy-makers, perpetrators and victims. It contradicts our nation's most cherished ideals. Any policies that permit torture and inhumane treatment are shocking and morally intolerable.

Nothing less is at stake in the torture abuse crisis than the soul of our nation. What does it signify if torture is condemned in word but allowed in deed? Let America abolish torture now—without exceptions.

Sign the statement NOW!

*NRCAT's definition of torture is the same as that contained in the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which defines torture as "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions."

Call for a Commission on Inquiry

On January 22, 2009, President Obama signed an Executive Order designed to put
an end to U.S.-sponsored torture. An Executive Order does not have the force of
law, however—a future president could reverse it.

We now must urge our leaders to create a Commission of Inquiry that will
help us to gain the understanding of the chain of events that led to the use of
torture in order to ensure that U.S.-sponsored torture never happens again. This
action is needed now more than ever in light of the June 7, 2010 release of
Physicians for Human Rights’ (PHR) new report, Experiments in Torture: Human Subject Research and Evidence in the ‘Enhanced' Interrogation Program detailing allegations of medical experimentation on detainees.

Here’s how you can help:

You can join with the Council’s Commission on Public Witness by endorsing “A Call for a Commission of Inquiry” by clicking here. It takes thousands of names to send a strong message that the religious community supports this action.

Click here to print out a petition format of the statement (Word document) and ask members of your congregation, family, and friends to endorse it. Click here for a pdf version of the petition.

Documents That May Be Helpful

· Questions and Answers about a Commission

· List of heads of faith groups that have endorsed the statement

· Press release on the statement about a Commission

· Testimony that NRCAT submitted during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on a Commission of Inquiry