NRCAT, National Religious Campaign against Torture   

Jed Downhill, the NSP's representative to NRCAT outlines what the organization does and how NSP members can help.

The Network of Spiritual Progressives is a member organization of the National Religious Campaign against Torture. NRCAT is made up of member religious organizations such as churches, synagogues and mosques, as well as other organizations such as NSP and Rabbis for Human Rights North America. NRCAT opposes US-sponsored torture as a moral issue. This past summer NRCAT organized a demonstration in front of the White House to mark the beginning of the campaign to influence lawmakers and President Obama support the creation of an independent non-partisan Commission of Inquiry The purpose the Commission will be to investigate the use of torture and other inhumane and degrading treatment used as a tool of the military and the CIA in the process of interrogation of detainees, during interrogation, particularly those captured after September 11^th in the so-called Global War on Terror. It will also investigate torture and mistreatment or detainees rendered by the US to other countries.

Some of NRCAT's goals in 2009-2010:

NRCAT's Highest priority:

Current Project: Supporting a Commission of Inquiry into US Torture practices

Securing an independent Commission of Inquiry that will investigate and disclose the torture policies and practices of the U.S. government since September 11, 2001.

More goals:

The "Golden Rule":  Congress should create one national standard for interrogation by requiring the President to affirm publicly that every interrogation technique authorized for use by American interrogators is based upon the "Golden Rule."

ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) Access:  President Obama has ordered that the International Committee of the Red Cross be allowed access to all detainees. Congress should codify this into law.

Addtional goals can be found on the NRCAT website Under "NRCAT's agenda for 2009" at:

http://www.nrcat.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=285&Itemid=202

 

Getting  Your Group Involved

Members of the Network of Spiritual Progressives can work with NRCAT in different ways.

You can individually endorse the call for a commission of inquiry

You can interest the religious or spiritual organization to which you belong to endorse the principles embedded in the Statement of Conscience on the NRCAT website.

To do this one can familiarize oneself with the information and present it to your organization's leadership.

Your organization can endorse the principles in the Statement of Conscience and be an endorsing organization. It can go a step further and become a member of NRCAT (see the website) and they can also, as a religious organization, endorse the creation of the Commission of inquiry.

Once your church, synagogue, mosque or other organization has joined NRCAT, the person (perhaps an NSP member) who is the organization's NRCAT representative can help to educate the other congregation members. They can also represent that organization on monthly NRCAT conference calls to get updates on upcoming activities and report on your group's activities

Anyone, even if not part of a religious congregation can support the goals and help them to be realized.

There are materials available on the NRCAT website, (www.nrcat.org)  to bring the message to those interested. The materials range from:

Videos: The most powerful way to awaken people to the reality of this issue is through the use of video presentations. The feature film "Taxi to the Dark Side" is very powerful. There is a new DVD, produced by NRCAT available for order on the site: "Ending US Sponsored Torture Forever"

http://www.nrcat.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=312&Itemid=236

Bumper stickers,

Banners to hang in front of your organization's building,

Worship materials

including materials Jewish Christian and interfaith prayer and sermons.  Individual congregations can incorporate them into their services.

http://www.nrcat.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=49

NEW: Advent materials for Christian Clergy

http://www.nrcat.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=382&Itemid=288

Advocacy:

The project to establish a Commission of inquiry will use advocacy to convince our elected representatives in Congress and president Obama to create a commission or allow to be created.

The Message:

We are deeply appreciative of the significant steps taken so far by President Obama, including pledging to close Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility and a promise to not use torture, but these are not enough.  We need to have a comprehensive understanding of what happened in an effort to assure accountability. We need an independent non-partisan commission of inquiry. Now we need the president and the congress to take moral and political leadership to make something like this happen.

Members of congregations that are close enough geographically to Washington can set up meetings with their representatives in DC itself.

The next congressional recess, between 1^st  and 2^nd sessions of the 111^th congress, will be between (probably) late November to early December and (probably) January 5^th. It is a time when members of congress will be in their local districts. Officially for the holidays, but many if not most will have some office hours during part of that time.  Congregations and individual NRCAT members are encouraged to organize visits to their local congressional offices. Contact the members scheduler to set up a time.

Anytime congress is in session members close enough to Washington to travel there can set up meetings with their members or their staffers in their DC offices.

Congressional visit Asks

1.)  Ask your Congressperson/Senator to support the establishment of a Select Committee to investigate the use of torture

2.)  Ask your Congressperson/Senator if he or she will support legislation based on the "golden rule" that would require the President to affirm that all interrogation techniques approved for use would be legal and moral if used upon a captured American?

3.) Ask your Congressperson/Senator if he or she will support legislation providing the International Committee of the Red Cross with access to all detainees?

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Other Things you can do:

Go to the Website www.NRCAT.org and Click on the "Working for a Commission of Inquiry" button.

There you can learn all you can from this very informative site.

You can then:

1. Endorse the statement (yourself)

2. Print out the petition format of the statement (Word document) and ask members of your congregation, family, and friends to endorse it.

3. Print and copy a form letter to your Representative; have people in your congregation sign the letter and then mail/deliver the copies to the district office of your Representative.

4. Send a form email or even better a fax to your Representative asking him or her to introduce and/or support a bill establishing a Commission of Inquiry to help ensure that U.S.-sponsored torture never happens again.

Member organizations and congregations who haven't already can endorse the commission of inquiry: 

http://www.nrcat.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=59

On the website there is a link to religious institutions that have already endorsed the call for a commission.

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Torture is wrong. A torturer intentionally causes the suffering of another human being. Information obtained under torture is often wrong and almost always unreliable. Senator Sheldon White House (D Rhode Island) said in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in May that he had not seen any evidence that would support former vice-president Cheney's assertion that good intelligence has been obtained using torture.  Ending US-sponsored torture is an issue that unites all people of spirit and conscience. An independent, non-partisan Commission of Inquiry into torture practices or a somewhat broader inquiry into all illegal activities by the US government, as Congressman Conyers has introduced, would shine a light into this very dark corner of US foreign policy. The National Religious Campaign against Torture is an organization that can show the government that people of faith and spirit are opposed to this practice. Please support NRCAT's efforts and get your religious or spiritual community to endorse the call for a commission.

Questions of NSP's representative to NRCAT can be directed to Jed Downhill at: jeddd@well.com