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
On Feb. 13, Congress passed H.R. 2082 that would prohibit all U.S. intelligence agencies, including the CIA, from subjecting detainees to waterboarding, stress positions, hypothermia, and other forms of torture and inhumane treatment. Bush's vetoed the bill on Saturday, March 8.
On March 10, WRRCAT and others joined in a spiritually-rooted ceremony and rally to demand that Congress act to stop torture now and to express shame at the veto. The rally included brief speeches, powerful music, and a call to Congress for action.
Rally Speakers:
Rep. Jim Moran
Congressman, D-Virginia
Rabbi Gerry Serotta
Chair, Rabbis for Human Rights North America
Sister Marie Lucey, OSF
Associate Director, Leadership Conference of Women Religious
Rev. Dr. Joseph Eldridge
University Chaplain, American University
Jumana Musa
Attorney, Amnesty International
A Torture Survivor
Rev. Dr. Janet Parker
Pastor for Parish Life, Rock Spring Congregational United Church of Christ
Music by Art Laffin
Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House
Co-Sponsors of Rally: Pax Christi; Amnesty International; Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition; Episcopal Peace Fellowship of D.C.; Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice; Chaplain's Office of American University; National Religious Campaign Against Torture.
Public Witness Against Torture
March 10, 2008
A torture survivor speaks at WRRCAT's Public Witness Against Torture
Upper Senate Park, Washington, D.C.
Rep. Jim Moran speaks at WRRCAT rally.