Banning Torture -- A first week priority
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers ... our found fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all the other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.
With that he signaled that America would no longer give way to this false choice, which involved the use of torture. Some might ask, what is torture? Well, some have asked what is "cruel and unusual punishment," which is outlawed by the Constitution. On some matters it should be easy to decide. Water boarding has long been considered torture, although Bush Administration Attorneys General apparently didn't know this.
Among the first acts of the new president was to issue an executive order limiting the CIA to the interrogation techniques listed in the Army Field Manual. Attorney General nominee Eric Holder has forthrightly stated that water boarding is torture, that America will not use torture, and therefore, America will no longer water board.
These actions have led many in the faith community to rejoice. Faith in Public Life has provided a list of several agencies/figures who have commented.
Among those groups and individuals is the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, which sent to the President-Elect a petition calling for an end to torture by American forces, a petition I signed. In response to the issuing of that executive order, the NRCAT issued a press release that reads:
Statement from National Religious Campaign Against Torture President, Linda Gustitus:
President Obama asked this country during his campaign to join him in changing the world. By requiring the CIA to abide by the restrictions in the Army Field Manual in conducting interrogations of detainees, by closing the CIA’s secret prisons, and by providing the International Committee of the Red Cross access to all US-held detainees, he has already changed the world with respect to America’s use of torture. He has rejected the use of torture as an interrogation technique and allowed the United States to again find its moral bearing.
The establishment of a task force to study whether the CIA should be able to use additional interrogation techniques beyond those approved in the Army Field Manual is a cause for concern. We call on the President to ensure that any additional techniques are humane, effective, and available for public scrutiny. We cannot afford to risk a return to the secret abuses of the past. Specifically, the President should publicly affirm that any additional interrogation techniques comply with the “golden rule” – that they would be both moral and legal if used upon a captured American.
The religious community has labored faithfully for three years to end U.S.-sponsored torture. We are grateful today for this important step. The dark, dark days of the past are behind us, and we all must work to make sure they never return again.
For more information about the campaign
Click “Countdown to End Torture” at www.tortureisamoralissue.org
This is not an issue that is completely resolved. We must keep watch and keep reminding the President of his commitment to the rule of law and to remaining true to the principles enshrined in the Constitution.
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