News and Events
- Wednesday, November 12: National Day of Witness. If you couldn't be there, check out our pictures!
- Click here for names and pictures of D.C.-region congregations that have displayed anti-torture banners.
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Welcome to the website of the
Washington Region Religious Campaign Against Torture
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We believe that torture:
- Violates the basic dignity of the human person that all religions hold dear.
- Degrades everyone involved--policy-makers, perpetrators and victims.
- Contradicts our nation's most cherished ideals.
- Undermines respect for the U.S. and its traditional moral authority.
- Endangers our military personnel.
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
We are men and women of faith and conscience living in the Washington, D.C./Suburban Maryland/Northern Virginia area. We are joined together on a non-partisan basis in profound opposition to torture and cruel and inhuman practices by anyone for any purpose.
Although our beliefs are rooted in many different religions, and although we worship in different ways and in different languages, we stand firmly united and unswerving on this crucial moral issue.
Recent News Stories
George Hunsinger writes from a Christian perspective about torture.
The Washington Monthly devotes its entire issue to torture. Click here.
Why have we as a country decided to wring our hands, but do nothing?
Report of conditions faced by detainees
A good, quick summary of recent legal history of torture in the U.S.
A former prisoner of war explains why the U.S. should never allow torture
An attorney for a prisoner describes the system
A lawsuit in Germany seeks a criminal prosecution of U.S. officials
Where responsibility lies for the torture scandal
A clear and concise discussion of some implications of the recent Supreme Court decision
An ad, signed by heads of diverse faiths, demands an end to U.S. torture.
A former Navy general counsel explains why we should care about torture.
WRRCAT ACTIVITIES
Pictures and stories about the National Day of Witness, here.
Pictures and information on our March 10 Witness Against Torture, here.
See pictures of the Jan. 11 protest to end torture and shut down Guantanamo, here.
Read Washington Post letters of WRRCAT members, here.
Read about and see pictures of our anti-torture vigil on Oct. 17, the anniversary of the Military Commissions Act, here.
WRRCAT Reinstitutes Anti-Torture Vigils
Read commentary and see picture of vigil of Sept. 19, 2007
WRRCAT's October, 2006 protest of the Military Commissions Act (MCA).
- Charges dismissed: our press release
- Our protest of this law.
- The People's Signing Statement
- Photos--not copyrighted
- Protests in other cities
Report on WRRCAT Conference, "U.S. and Torture, A Religious Call to Action."
On June 17, 2006, over 250 people attended WRRCAT's first interfaith conference. Details here.
WRRCAT Protests at El Masri Trial
On May 12, WRRCAT attended the El Masri trial, in support of the ACLU case. Click here for info and pictures.
WRRCAT's Anti-Torture Vigil
See photos from WRRCAT's April 14 anti-torture vigil across the street from VP Cheney's house. Click here.
Donate Now! Help us work to stop torture.
U.S. Legalizes Torture
For information on the Military Commissions Act of 2006, click on the links below.
Transcripts of 4/26/07 Testimony at Senate Judiciary Hearing on Military Commissions Act
Denounce torture: Add your voice to the growing number declaring torture is a moral issue. Click here.
Photo courtesy of Stephen F. Rohde.
Click here for congregational form to join WRRCAT.
The Definition of Torture
"The term 'torture' means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third party information or a confession." From the Convention Against Torture, ratified by the U.S. in 1994.