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Religious communities must |
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RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES MUST STOP BLESSING TORTURE
ICUJP Statement on Torture:
Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace joins in the rising tide of condemnation and calls on the United States government to end torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading punishment at Guantanamo Bay and other detention centers and prisons around the world.
We endorse the comprehensive Report of the UN Commission on Human Rights (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4721068.stm) calling attention to this human rights crisis.
If you would like to sign onto this statement and place your name and/or organization's name here, please fill out the form below.
Tragically, oppressed people throughout American history have been the victims of torture from slavery and lynchings, to the savage extermination of Native Americans, to police brutality against people of color and immigrants, to the hidden violence perpetrated against inmates in our prisons and jails, to the founding of the U.S. Army School of the Americas (renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC)) where foreign troops are trained in assassination and torture. From these bloody breeding grounds, the United States has spread torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading punishment around the world.
Torture is universally condemned by people of faith and conscience as contrary to their most deeply held values.
For Christians, their opposition to torture is based, in the words of the National Council of Churches, "on our fundamental belief in the dignity of the human person created in the image of God, and in the rights accorded all persons by virtue of their humanity." The Council states that "indefinite detention of persons without due process is a violation of their dignity and worth as children of God." Jesus, in announcing his ministry, quoted Isaiah, saying, "God has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty the oppressed." (Luke 4:18) The Christian Testament underscores the importance of this outreach for all Christians: "Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them, those who are being tortured, as though you were being tortured." (Hebrews 13:3).
Speaking from the Buddhist tradition, Thich Nhat Hanh writes: "There is no ‘good cause’ for torture. As a torturer, you are the first to be a victim because you lose all your humanity. You do harm to yourself in the act of harming another. If you had a good cause to begin with, it is lost when you torture another human being."
The Jewish tradition likewise condemns torture and the mistreatment of those in custody. For Jews, the most fundamental ethical principle, which results from a belief in God as Creator of the world and Parent of all humanity, is that every human being is seen as reflecting the Image of God. Rabbis for Human Rights points out that torture shatters and defiles God's Image. The purpose of torture is to remove a person's pride, humiliate them, or make their lives so painful that they say or do whatever the interrogator wants. Torture 'works' by attempting to deprive a human being of will, spirit, and personal dignity. The humanity of the perpetrators is inevitably compromised by the use of torture. Jewish tradition calls for humane treatment even of one's adversaries. In the Book of Exodus (23:4), the Bible teaches, "When you encounter an enemy's ox or donkey, you must take it back to him." Here the religious test is, strikingly, not how one would treat a friend, but how one relates to one's enemy.
The teachings of Islam are equally powerful. "Oh you who believe! Stand forth for God, witnessing with justice. And do not let hatred of a people sway you into injustice, but adhere always to justice. That is true piety.” (Qur’an, 5:8) The spirit of this Qur’anic decree calls for an end to torture and for the universal guarantee of humane treatment and due process for all prisoners. In the Qur’an, "God enjoins upon you justice, and kindness, and generosity to your fellow men, and forbids all that is shameful and oppressive and unreasonable.” (16:90) As Muslims, we decry torture, indefinite incarceration without charge, and the abrogation of due process. Such means can never serve the ends of justice and peace.
Consequently, ICUJP calls on people of faith and conscience to speak out against the abomination of torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment by the United States and its allies. We demand that the United States take the following actions:
- 1. Ensure that persons held in prisons and jails in the United States are not subjected to torture, cruel and inhumane treatment, or cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eight Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; that they are protected from discrimination on the basis of race, religion, national origin, or sexual orientation and that WHISC is closed immediately.
- 2. Close the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp IMMEDIATELY.
- 3. Either release the Guantanamo detainees or charge them in US courts with specific crimes and afford them legal counsel and full due process.
- 4. Close all secret CIA detention centers around the world.
- 5. Hold anyone taken into custody in safe and humane facilities, with proper medical aid, subject to the Geneva Conventions and the jurisdiction of U.S. Courts.
- 6. End all practices of torture and cruel and inhumane treatment as defined by international law, not recent interpretations of the Justice Department.
- 7. Allow immediate, full and unrestricted access by the International Red Cross and the U.N. Commission on Human Rights to all facilities anywhere in the world where persons are being held by U.S. authorities or its allies.
- 8. End the practice of "rendition" under which persons under US custody are rendered for interrogation to foreign countries known to use torture.
- 9. Publicly pledge to abide by the Geneva Conventions and other international treaties which prohibit torture and cruel and inhumane treatments of any persons in U.S. custody.
- 2. Close the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp IMMEDIATELY.
ICUJP will spread this Call to religious congregations, elected officials, the U.N. General Assembly, non-governmental organizations, and prominent world leaders, calling on them to join with us and to take immediate action to stop this human rights crisis.
Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace
February 24, 2006
Signed,
Elizabeth Virani
Northridge, CA
Nel LaBar
member of Code Pink, Raging Grannies, Veterans for Peace
Euless, Texas
John Ishvaradas Abdallah
member of World Without Borders
San Pedro, CA
Mary Larson
United Methodist Church Cal-Pac Board of Church & Society
Redondo Beach, CA
K.C. Victor
Los Angeles, CA
Rev. Dr. David L. Wheeler
Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice
Los Angeles, CA
Terry Preston
Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento
Sacramento
CA
Rev. Jackie Kortright
UCC/FUMC of Loomis
Loomis State: CA
Rev. Lilian Patey
Minister with the United Church of Canada
Windsor
Ont., Canada
D. Strom
Los Angeles, CA
Barry Weiss
Encino, CA
Rev. Ilse & Carl Peetz
Pearblossom, CA
Richard W. Gillett
Minister for Social Justice, Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles
Pasadena, CA
Rabbi Steven B. Jacobs
Woodland Hills, CA
Tom Boughan
Cowan, TN
Lawrence Turner
Glendora, CA
Anthony Manousos
editor, Friends Bulletin
Torrance, CA
Richard R. Bunce
member of Claremont United Methodist Church
Pomona, CA
Juliana Otis
South Pasadena, CA
Jean Holt Koch
Los Angeles, CA
Fr. Chris Ponnet
Pax Christi LA & St. Camillus Church
Los Angeles, CA
Angel Copeland-Wolf
United Methodist Church Peace with Justice
Victorville, Ca
Haim Dov Beliak
HaMifgash
Los Angeles, CA
Chris Walker
North Hollywood, CA
Kelly Collins
Hermosa Beach, CA
If you would like to sign onto this statement and place your name and/or organization's name here, please fill out the form below.