Saying NO To Torture!

<a href="http://www.multifaithpeace.org/images/articles/Rel...; title="View unscaled image"></a>MVPJ urges you to take action to stop torture. The National Religious Campaign Against Torture needs your help contacting Congress about a bill that is in the House and Senate.

The following letter is from NRCAT:

Dear Endorser of the Statement, Torture is a Moral Issue:

At last we have legislation pending that rights many of the wrongs done by the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA). It is called Restoring the Constitution Act of 2007 (RCA), S. 576 in the Senate, and H.R. 1415 in the House. The bills have been referred to the Armed Services Committees of the Senate and the House, respectively.

You can play a key role to end the policy of condoning torture by urging your Senator to co-sponsor S. 576, and your Representative to co-sponsor H.R. 1415. These bills will most likely be considered in May as amendments to the Department of Defense (DOD) Authorization Bill, a "must pass" piece of legislation.

Here is how you can make a difference. In the next 30 days:

1. Write your Senators and Representatives and ask them to cosponsor and support all efforts to enact the RCA. This is easy to do by going to the NRCAT website. You can send a letter -- edited to your satisfaction -- directly from this website.


2. Call your Senator's and Representative's offices to urge support for the RCA. The number for the Capitol is 202-224-3121. If you do not know the name of your Senators, go to [http://www.senate.gov]; for you Representative's name, go to [http://www.house.gov] and enter your zip code.

3. Schedule a meeting with your Senators and your Representative or with their staff in one of the district offices ­ or in D.C., if that is possible - to urge support for the RCA. Take these Talking Points and Handout to your meeting. For more information, including links to both the MCA of 2006 and Restoring the Constitution Act of 2007, go to [http://www.tortureisamoralissue.org]

4. Let us know what you did! You can reach me at CampaignAgainstTorture@gmail.com.

On behalf of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, I thank you for your commitment to restore our country's moral authority and sense of justice and due process, reaffirming that torture is always wrong. Your actions contribute to restoring the soul of our nation.

With gratitude,

Suzanne O'Hatnick
Director, National Advocacy Program

[http://www.tortureisamoralissue.org;National Religious Campaign Against Torture]


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From September 27th 2006

People of faith can NOT stand by and allow the United States government to torture people in our name. MVPJ came together on September 27th, seeking a just vote by our Congress on the so-called compromise on detention, torture, and military tribunals.

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., once said, "The time comes when silence is betrayal, and that time has come for us." When the Congress of the United States of America approves a bill that LEGALIZES TORTURE, it is imperative that we raise our voices and say "No!" to torture - by any name.

The following editorial appeared in the [http://www.mercurynews.com;San Jose Mercury News] on Sunday October 1st:

Compromise on torture violates American values
By Diana Gibson and Craig Wiesner

During the exact time that the so-called ``compromise'' on torture was being discussed in Congress, religious leaders gathered in Palo Alto to make their concerns about torture heard loud and clear. Muslims, Jews, Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, Roman Catholics, Quakers, Buddhists and others shared prayers of repentance and intercession for our country at this critical time.

As their ``Religious Leaders Statement Against Torture'' was read, those present who had signed the statement stood in front of the sanctuary of the First Presbyterian Church. Over 150 religious leaders, local and national, and 17 religious organizations endorsed the statement, ``Any policies that permit torture and inhumane treatment are shocking and morally intolerable. Nothing less than the soul of our nation is at stake on this issue.''

Presbyterian pastor [http://www.religionandspirituality.com/view.php?St... Daniel] reminded policy-makers who claimed Jesus Christ as their favorite political philosopher that in Matthew 25, Jesus said that how we treat those who are in prison is how we treat Jesus himself. ``Torture,'' Daniel said, ``is a deeply religious issue.''

A Japanese-American member of the board of directors of the Council of Churches of Santa Clara County spoke of his father, who was one of the 120,000 who were interned and robbed of their civil liberties under Executive Order 9066 during World War II.

``Fear is no justification for injustice,'' he concluded.

A Jewish U.S. Air Force veteran read from the military prayer book for Jews, a prayer for moral strength. ``May I do nothing that can bring dishonor on myself, on those I love or on any human being.''

From the Council of American-Islamic Relations, Sameena Usman offered a prayer in Arabic and English, ``I pray that God will guide us all on the straight path, may God restore the sanctity of human life, may he protect people all around the world from the evil of torture regardless of faith, race or nationality, may he bring us all together in his fold of peace and justice.''

Soon after this gathering, the House of Representatives passed the bill. A day later, the Senate followed suit. They have authorized the president to declare people to be ``enemy combatants,'' to imprison them indefinitely without charges, denying them the fundamental right to habeas corpus appeals to federal courts, to authorize acts against their bodies and minds that most decent people would consider torture, and to try them in military tribunals while denying them the right to see all the evidence against them or confront all of their accusers.

And, perhaps worst of all, it grants the president the authority to interpret the Geneva Conventions as he sees fit, while granting immunity to those who have committed torture over the past five years.

California Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein and Reps. Anna Eshoo, Mike Honda, Tom Lantos and Pete Stark joined many others who voted against this legislation, decrying the so-called compromise as immoral and unconstitutional.

Yes, this is a compromise. It compromises America's core values of liberty and justice for all. It compromises our honor and decency for the sake of expediency and election eve politics. It compromises the ultimate sacrifices made by generations past, defending the free world when totalitarian regimes employed practices similar to those Congress has just made legal. And finally, it compromises our very souls, as we react to fear with injustice, rendering evil for evil. Yes, it is a compromise and too high a price to pay.

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Religious Leaders’ Statement Against Torture
released Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Torture violates the basic dignity of the human person that all religions hold dear. It degrades everyone involved - policy-makers, perpetrators, victims, and those who stand silently by allowing it to happen. Torture contradicts our nation's most cherished ideals and undermines the quest for justice. Any policies that permit torture and inhumane treatment are shocking and morally intolerable. Nothing less than the soul of our nation is at stake in this issue.

As religious organizations, leaders and individuals, we are deeply distressed that our Congress is poised to legalize torture. The just-announced, so-called “compromise” on torture indeed threatens to compromise fundamental human values and American’s core rule of law. As Amnesty International and the Friends Committee on National Legislation confirm, this legislation (the “War Crimes Act” revision and “Procedural Rules for Military Commissions”), among other egregious provisions, would:
• Undermine the rule of law and give the President the freedom to interpret the Geneva Conventions any way he sees fit;
• Provide retroactive immunity to those responsible for human rights abuses;
• Exempt from prosecution those who authorize treatment traditionally considered torture;
• Allow secret CIA prisons, and “disappeared” detainees;
• Allow the CIA and other non-military personnel (such as civilian contractors) to use brutal and abusive interrogation techniques which fall outside of the Geneva Conventions;
• Permit the use in court of evidence obtained through coercion and hearsay;
• Prohibit U.S. federal courts from hearing suits based on violation of the Geneva Conventions, for past as well as future suits;
• Strip detainees of meaningful access to US courts;
• Suspend habeas corpus, the provision for judicial review of the legality of a detainee’s imprisonment;
• Authorize the President’s use of “enemy combatant” status (as defined by the President) as the starting point for detention.

We call upon our Congressional leaders to speak out immediately against this bill and to oppose the denial of basic human rights and torture by any name. We call upon our fellow citizens to stand firmly, speak loudly, and act boldly to uphold the moral character of our nation.

The scriptures of many traditions offer a version of the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” This principle is the moral guide for the lives of both individuals and nations. Everything we believe in is on the line.

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The information in this document has been reviewed by a lawyer from the Friends Committee on National Legislation for accuracy.

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Statements from MVPJ Press Conference

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In the section titled, “Basic Freedoms and Human Rights” The Social Principles, located in the Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church, state that “the mistreatment or torture of persons by governments for any purpose violates Christian teaching and must be condemned and/or opposed by Christians and churches wherever and whenever it occurs.”

The Administrative Board of First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto signs the Religious Leaders’ Statement Against Torture, and asks me to report the Administrative Board’s opposition to torture here today.
Katie Goetz

Associate Pastor, FUMC Palo Alto

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A statement by Eric Sabelman, Quaker, of Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice:

How did we come to this?

How did our Country come to consider walking away from the fraternity of nations that condemn illegal detention and torture in all its forms?

How did the Congress come to consider ceding such small restraint on the President as it and the courts still retain?

Why, in the midst of the Cold War, when America was threatened with utter annihilation, was the legalization of torture not considered necessary? Why is it now?

(It would be naive to think that the CIA did not act then as it does now, but the country's leadership tried to create “plausible deniability� in recognition of the immoral nature of the acts it condoned.)

Granting that America's leaders desire worthy ends, are they so fearful that they give no thought to damage done by unworthy means?

(We know that damage has been done to our relationship with Europe and the Islamic world. Damage is being done elsewhere, as in Latin America, where countries are emerging from decades of disappearances and torture and amnesty for those responsible; they have come to realize that it is all wrong. What must they think of us as we enter a time in which America engages in the same wrongs?)

Are the country's leaders so fearful of overt admission of failure that they cannot see that this is a 'covert� admission of failure?

What has become of America's leading the world in codifying and practicing “unalienable� human rights?

How can we teach our children that our Country abides by principles of justice and innate human worth if this legislation becomes law?

How can any American not feel shame that we are even considering legalization of such abhorrent practices?

How can any legislator who votes for such legislation consider him or herself to be following Micah's advice to "do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with one's God"�?

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My name is Craig Wiesner. I served in the United States Air Force for eight years, supporting and defending the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Today, the greatest danger facing this Constitution is an out-of-control president and a morally bankrupt Congress. While the president complains that there is something vague about Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, there is nothing vague about what the Congress and he are about to do in the next few days.

With an affirmative vote and a stroke of a pen, the President and members of Congress will violate their oaths of office.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause.

This so-called compromise legislation will allow evidence to be used that was seized within the United States without a warrant.

The right to a speedy trial, to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with the witnesses against you, are guaranteed… nothing vague or quaint about it.

No person shall be deprived the right to life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall anyone be compelled to be a witness against himself.

Yet Congress is about to grant the President the right to declare anyone an enemy combatant, lock them away in a foreign prison like Guantanamo Bay or in some dark hole in Eastern Europe or the Middle East, stripping individuals of any rights, coercing them to make confessions, using those coerced confessions in kangaroo courts, and finally making himself, the president, the final judge, jury and executioner.

The laws of the United States clearly prohibit torture. Yet Congress is about to grant immunity to those who have tortured under the orders of this president and his administration, and leaves it to the president to interpret what constitutes a violation of the Geneva Conventions.

This isn’t the America as defined in this Constitution. This is blasphemy. This is sin. Yes – this is a compromise. It is a compromise of American values, of their oaths of office, and it is compromising our freedom, honor and decency for the sake of expediency and election eve politics. It is compromising the sacrifice of our fathers, and brothers and sisters, who fought and died in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq. Yes – it is a compromise and too high a price to pay.

Thank you for listening.

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