A time comes when silence is betrayal . . . We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak. For we are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness so close around us.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Washington Region Religious Campaign Against Torture
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WRRCAT Anti-Torture Vigil
On Good Friday, April 14, about 150 ministers and church members from different denominations throughout the DC area participated in a vigil to demonstrate their opposition to the policies and practices of the Bush Administration that allow the cruel and inhumane treatment of individuals detained by or under the control of the U.S. government.
"We think it is especially appropriate to demonstrate against torture on Good Friday, as that day asks us to recall a first-century man tortured by an oppressive Roman government. In fact, torture violates the basic dignity of the human person that all religions hold dear," said Linda Gustitus, one of the organizers of the vigil. "Any policies that permit torture and inhumane treatment are shocking and morally intolerable. As people of faith, we are telling this administration to renounce torture in all its forms and to hold accountable anyone who commits, permits or orders torture on behalf of the United States."
WWRCAT Witnesses in Support of El Masri Case Against George Tenet and Others
The case: A German citizen, Khaled El-Masri, born in Lebanon, was abducted in Macedonia and taken to an unknown prison in Afghanistan, where he was tortured and incarcerated for several months, even after it was determined that he was innocent and the "wrong man." Subsequently, he was transported to Albania and released. He is suing George Tenet and others, including corporations hired by the CIA to transport such prisoners.
WRRCAT and others attended the hearing in Alexandria's Federal court on May 12 to protest Mr. El Masri's treatment and to offer witness to the world--and to our government--that we oppose such flagrant abuse of human rights. We brought signs that said Torture is UnAmerican and Close Secret Prisons--America's Shame, and others. Mr. El Masri's case is being handled by the ACLU. For additional information on this case, please click here.
Protest Outside Alexandria Federal Courthouse at El Masri Hearing on May 12.
