Religious Leaders meet with Senior White House Officials on June 11; RHR-NA to participate

National Religious Campaign Against Torture
 
Advisory for events (including telephone press conference) on June 11, 2009
 
As Noted in Today’s New York Times, Prominent Religious Leaders to Urge President Obama to Create a “Commission of Inquiry” on Torture at Major Event in Front of (and in) the White House on June 11
 
Declaring “only the truth can set us free,”
religious leaders to convey the moral necessity of a Commission
 
Press Conference at National Press Club at 11:00 am

(In-person and dial-in #: 800-704-9804; Passcode: 115594#)

Public event in front of White House (Lafayette Square) at noon

Delegation to meet with White House officials at 2:00 pm

 
Contact:  Rev. Richard Killmer, NRCAT, 202-547-1920 or rkillmer@nrcat.org
                 Steve Fox, Fenton Communications, 202-822-5200 or sfox@fenton.com
 
WASHINGTON, DC – At noon on June 11, eight heads of faith groups and other religious institutions will join other prominent clergy in standing with the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) at a public witness in front of the White House (in Lafayette Square), calling for a Commission of Inquiry on Torture. The religious leaders will issue a strong plea to President Obama to establish a Commission of Inquiry to investigate U.S.-sponsored torture that occurred post-9/11.  The public witness will include public statements from the leaders, as well as religious music and ritual.  Hundreds of individuals of faith are expected to be in attendance.
 
(As part of the program, there will be a religious ritual involving a blessing of bowls of water.  As part of the ritual, the crowd will move through the park and onto Pennsylvania Avenue for the public witness portion of the event just in front of the White House.  Throughout the event, the groups will display a banner saying, “The truth will make you free.”)
 
Prior to the public witness, the senior religious leaders will hold a press conference at 11:00 AM at the National Press Club at which they will discuss the letter to President Obama they have signed and which they will deliver to the White House following the public witness.  (A delegation of 30 religious leaders has been invited to meet with senior administration officials.) In this letter, the text of which is included at the bottom of this release, the religious leaders express their support for a Commission of Inquiry as the most effective means of helping the nation move beyond this chapter in its history – and to ensure that such acts of torture never happen again.  The letter, after noting President Obama’s stated desire to look forward, not backward, provides in part:
 
“We agree we must look forward -- forward to a future where torture will never happen again.  But we believe that the only avenue to, and guarantee of, such a future is a Commission of Inquiry.  An investigation of U.S.-sponsored torture will only be credible and thorough if conducted by a Commission comprised of citizens who are well-respected, non-partisan, and independent-minded.”
 
“The reality is that our nation is now shackled to a shameful history of torture,” the letter continues.  “As people of faith we know that only the truth can set us free.  We must therefore, as a nation, be mature and honest enough to examine fully and disclose completely the wrongdoing that has been committed.”
 
The following religious leaders, among others, will participate in both of the events in Washington:
 
The Rev. Dr. John Thomas, General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ

Rabbi Steve Gutow, President of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs

The Rev. William Sinkford, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations

Marie Dennis, Co-President, Pax Christi International (the Catholic Peace Movement)

Dr. Ingrid Mattson, President of the Islamic Society of North America

Archbishop Michael Seneco, Presiding Bishop of the North American Old Catholic Church

The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches

Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, Legate of the Armenian Church in America
 
# # #
 
The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) is a growing membership organization committed to ending U.S.-sponsored torture, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Since its formation in January 2006, more than 250 religious groups have joined NRCAT, including representatives from the Roman Catholic, evangelical Christian, mainline Protestant, Unitarian, Quaker, Orthodox Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Baha’i, Buddhist, and Sikh communities. Members include national denominations and faith groups, regional organizations and local congregations.
 
# # #
 
The following is the text of the letter referenced above and directed to President Obama, calling for the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry to investigate U.S.-sponsored torture:
 
Dear Mr. President:
 
As senior religious leaders in the United States, we write to give voice to the compelling need for a comprehensive investigation into U.S.-sponsored torture since 9/11.  We believe the most credible way to conduct such an investigation is by establishing an independent, non-partisan Commission of Inquiry.  Such a Commission is necessary to: (1) uncover the whole truth about U.S. torture policies and practices; (2) mobilize a national consensus, and (3) build support for the requisite safeguards to ensure that U.S.-sponsored torture never happens again.
 
We know that you share with us the understanding that torture is wrong – without exception, that it is illegal and immoral.  You have stated this unequivocally.  You matched your words with action on the second full day of your Administration when you signed the executive order banning torture.  With that order, you signaled to our nation, as well as to the world, your determination to return the United States to the rule of law and to begin the process of restoring our nation’s moral stature in the global community.  We are profoundly grateful for your swift and decisive action in signing this executive order.
 
But an executive order is not enough.  It can be superseded by laws, and, as we've seen, even laws are in jeopardy of being superseded by national emergencies.  Our nation can guarantee the abolition of torture only if and when we put in place safeguards to prevent once and for all the future twisting and abrogation of the existing laws that prohibit torture.
 
You have publicly announced your opposition to a Commission of Inquiry, stating that our existing institutions are adequate for investigating what went wrong.  You have expressed your desire to look forward, not backward.  We agree we must look forward -- forward to a future where torture will never happen again.  But we believe that the only avenue to, and guarantee of, such a future is a Commission of Inquiry.  An investigation of U.S.-sponsored torture will only be credible and thorough if conducted by a Commission comprised of citizens who are well-respected, non-partisan, and independent-minded.
 
The reality is that our nation is now shackled to a shameful history of torture.  As people of faith we know that only the truth can set us free.  We must therefore, as a nation, be mature and honest enough to examine fully and disclose completely the wrongdoing that has been committed.  The transparency and openness of a Commission of Inquiry will help to hold us all accountable for the policies and acts of torture carried out in our name.  Accountability is essential in a nation of laws.
 
Recent polls show that many people of faith have been persuaded that the use of torture can be justified in some situations.  These findings weigh heavily on us, as religious leaders.  We have more work to do to educate our people.  We accept our responsibility to bear bold and compelling witness to the sanctity of the divine image in all people and to the fact that torture in every instance defiles and desecrates this divine image.  We commit ourselves anew to greater faithfulness in preaching to and teaching our members.
 
We beseech you, in furtherance of your responsibility to restore, protect, and preserve the sanctity and rule of law in this nation, to commit yourself to the creation of a Commission of Inquiry that will uncover the truth, identify and establish legal safeguards, and guarantee for our children and grand-children a future in this country free of torture, without exceptions.

We pray for you “the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of God” (Isaiah 11:2).  And we look to you to lead our nation back to the path of truth and justice.