Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good has stage-managed a petition (see press release after the jump) from Catholic social justice types calling on the Obama administration to support an independent torture commission. While they’re at it, how about calling on the United State Conference of Catholic Bishops to do the same?
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Catholic Leaders Call on
President Obama to Support Independent Torture Commission
National Catholic social justice leaders, including a former
U.S. Army interrogator at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, are calling on President
Obama to support an independent torture commission. In a statement released
today, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, Pax Christi USA, the
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas
and other Catholic organizations call torture an “intrinsic evil that must
never be tolerated.”
“Torture leads neither to weapons caches, nor to the
elimination of threats, said Joshua Casteel, a former U.S. Army interrogator at
Abu Ghraib. “It leads only to the bodies of human persons, transformed into
objects of submission, which is to say: it is idolatry. Torture is the
transformation of human persons into gods and objects. Only one remedy heals
the wounds of such idolatry: repentance.”
The complete text of the statement follows:
“Torture which uses physical or moral violence to
extract confessions, punish the guilty, frighten opponent or satisfy hatred is
contrary to respect for the person and for human dignity” – Catechism of the
Catholic Church
Recently declassified Justice Department memos, which
provided the legal basis for torture, expose a litany
of abusive interrogation tactics that shock the conscience of anyone committed to the universal principles of human rights
and the rule of law.
As Catholic social justice leaders, our faith compels us to speak out against these grave
violations of human dignity as an
intrinsic evil that must never be tolerated. Torture demeans perpetrators and
victims. It violates our nation’s highest ideals, endangers our own prisoners
of war and often yields unreliable information.
We commend President Obama for signing an executive order
closing the Guantanamo
military prison, banning torture and
releasing these memos. However, we join a growing movement of human rights
experts and religious leaders from diverse faith
traditions to urge President Obama
to call for an independent, nonpartisan commission to investigate the use of
torture in fighting terrorism. Only by exposing
these horrific practices can our nation take the steps to bring
reconciliation and restore America’s
moral credibility in the world.
Joshua Casteel,
Former U.S.
Army Interrogator
Abu Ghraib Prison,
Iraq
Michael Duffy
Director
Joan and Ralph
Lance Center
for Catholic Studies and Social Thought
University
of San Francisco
Russ Testa
Executive Director
Franciscan Action Network
Marie Dennis
Director
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Dave Robinson
Executive Director
Pax Christi USA
Chris Korzen
Executive Director
Catholics United
Marie Lucey, OSF
Associate Director of Social Mission
Leadership Conference of Women Religious
Leadership Team
Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas
T. Michael McNulty
Justice and Peace Coordinator
Conference of Major Superiors of Men
Simone Campbell, SSS
Executive Director
James E. Hug
President
Center
of Concern
Joseph Fahey
Chair
Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice
Patricia A Daly, OP
Executive Director
Tri-State Coalition for Responsible Investment
