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Take action against torture |
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Action Alert
Washington Office of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
Stop U.S. Torture
Take Action!
Support McCain Amendment Against Torture
July 27, 2005
Speak out to stop torture! The August congressional recess is an ideal
opportunity to contact your senators while they are home from Washington.
Urge your senators to support the McCain amendment (#1557, as modified) to
the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 (S. 1042).
Torture -
 | is inhumane; |
| doesn't reflect our country’s
moral values; |
| undermines human rights standards worldwide; |
| creates legions of enemies of the U.S.; |
| brings danger of retaliation on U.S. troops and travelers abroad; and
|
| does not work - it does not produce reliable intelligence information.
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Act Now
Write or call your senators in their district offices nearest you. You
can find your senator's district contact information here.
http://capwiz.com/pcusa/home/
Tell them to send a message loud and clear to the U.S. military that no
intelligence information is worth spoiling our country ’s
long-standing moral position that we in the U.S. do not condone torture,
ever. Urge them to support Sen. McCain's amendment.
Below are some talking points that you can use in your message. You may
also want to identify yourself as part of your community (where you live,
your occupation) and include a sentence about why you care about this issue.
The more specific you can be the better.
| I am deeply appalled to know that my
government condones and participates in torture. This must be stopped.
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| I urge you to support Sen. McCain’s
amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (FY 2006) requiring
that U.S. armed forces must observe the humanitarian standards in
international, national and military law - the Geneva Conventions, the
U.N. Convention Against Torture, our own U.S. Constitution, and our
military’s
effective rules governing military interrogations.
|
| Civilized cultures treat all human beings
with dignity. The rule of law must be recognized as governing the behavior
of our troops and agents overseas. Torture by U.S. agents is morally
wrong. It puts our soldiers overseas in danger of retaliation. It doesn’t
yield reliable intelligence information because those being tortured will
say anything, true or not, to make the torture stop. |
Please, make it clear that the U.S. does not and will not condone the use
of torture.
Background
Sen. McCain's amendment #1557 provides a clear directive to the military
that torture is an unacceptable technique to use for intelligence gathering
anytime, anywhere, and under any circumstances.
Sen. McCain (AZ), himself subjected to more than five years of torture as
a POW during the Vietnam War, introduced the "Uniform Standards for the
Interrogation of Persons Under the Detention of the Department of Defense."
The amendment provides that: (1) all U.S. military interrogations must be
governed by the Army Field Manual on Intelligence Interrogation; (2) no
interrogation technique may be included in the manual that would constitute
torture or cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment prohibited
by the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the U.S.; and (3) all U.S.
military detainees must be registered with the International Committee of
the Red Cross.
In addition, Sen. McCain plans to introduce a second amendment to the
Defense Department authorization bill. Amendment #1556 (printed but not yet
introduced - wording under scrutiny as of this legislative action alert)
would prohibit cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment of
persons under custody or control of the U.S. government. The amendment uses
the definitions of the U.S. Constitution, the Geneva Conventions, and the
U.N. Convention Against Torture.
--Catherine Gordon
Published by the Stewardship of Public Life (SPL) advocacy program of the
Washington Office, Presbyterian Church (USA), 100 Maryland Avenue NE,
Washington, D.C. 20002, (202) 543-1126,
www.pcusa.org/washington.
For more information about the content of this article, please e-mail
Catherine Gordon, at
cgordon@ctr.pcusa.org.
If you are not a member of SPL but would like to be, please click [here].
Take Action! |
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July 28 - August 3, 2008
Paths toward Peace and Justice:
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An index of
our reports
from
BECOMING NEIGHBORS:
An Invitation
to Global Discipleship
A Witherspoon conference
on global mission and justice
September 16 - 19, 2007
Louisville, Kentucky |
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Check out our report from the
Conference
on
Terror, Torture,
and Security |
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