Op/Ed: Nation's Religious Community Wants End To U.S.-Sponsored Torture

[Hissyspit]

http://www.pennlive.com/editorials/index.ssf/2010/01/nations_religious_community_ca.html

Nation's religious community wants end to U.S.-sponsored torture

By Patriot-News Op-Ed

January 23, 2010, 5:36PM

Two days after his inauguration in 2009, President Obama stated that Guantanamo Bay detention center would close its doors in one year, by Jan. 22, 2010. As we might have guessed, it wasn’t that easy.

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The Pennsylvania Council of Churches has been working with the National Religious Campaign Against Torture and religious institutions nationwide to end U.S.-sponsored torture forever.

We strongly believe that torture is a moral issue. Its practice violates the basic dignity of the human person who we believe is created in God’s image. We also believe it threatens the spiritual well-being of our nation, and damages our standing worldwide.

Sadly, “Guantanamo” has become a catch-phrase around the world for a place where people are detained indefinitely without a trial and where the United States abandoned the moral high ground by engaging in torture.

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Strong support for change will only come once Americans have a better understanding of U.S. torture policies and practices since 9/11 — who was tortured, why, who ordered it, who the torturers were and the effects on the tortured and torturers.

NRCAT, formed in 2006 and consisting of representatives from more than 260 religious organizations, including the Pennsylvania Council of Churches, has called for the creation of an independent, nonpartisan Commission of Inquiry to investigate and make findings and recommendations to Congress and the president about what further safeguards are needed.

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The only way we can guarantee a permanent end to torture is to embody the elements of the executive order in law.

Specific elements required to provide the necessary protections against use of torture include: (1) a “Golden Rule” standard that would require the president (or another appropriate official) to ensure that no American interrogators use techniques that we would not want used on our own military and civilian personnel; and (2) legislation that ensures transparency by requiring International Committee of the Red Cross access to all U.S.-held detainees.
Guantanamo passed its eighth anniversary as a detention center on Jan. 11.

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REV. SANDRA STRAUSS is director of public advocacy at the Pennsylvania Council of Churches.