Torture of Prisoners:
Description of a case brought against George Tenet and others, by a man kidnapped, incarcerated, and tortured by the U.S. government.
Amnesty International says torture is common in U.S.-run detention centers around the world.
Detailed information requested on secret prisons, renditions, and other violations of torture convention.
U.N. report calls the practice akin to torture
A story from CBS News describing some of the torture in one prison.
Firsthand Accounts of Torture of Iraqi Detainees by the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division: One officer and two non-commissioned officers (NCOs) of the 82nd Airborne who witnessed abuse, speaking on condition of anonymity, described in multiple interviews with Human Rights Watch how their battalion in 2003-2004 routinely used physical and mental torture as a means of intelligence gathering and for stress relief. Report of Human Rights Watch, September 2005.
Frequently Asked Questions about Torture: Q&A on torture by the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, including What is the definition of torture? When was torture first banned in the United States? Don't we need torture to get good information and intelligence from suspects? If not torture, what does work? And is there a downside to using torture with the detainees suspected of terrorism?
Fact Sheet on Torture: Facts include that at least 27 detainees have died in U.S. custody due to suspected or confirmed criminal homicides of whom seven were tortured to death. At least 141 detainees have died while in U.S. custody in Iraq or Afghanistan where homicide was not proven to be the cause. Only one of the criminal homicides occurred at Abu Ghraib and at least 73 of the detainees died elsewhere. At least 54 detainees have died in U.S. custody since Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld was informed of the abuses at Abu Ghraib. By Human Rights First.
Abuse: Systematic and Chronic: John Sifton, Human Rights First. Published in www.TomPaine.com, reviewing the Abu Ghraib scandal.
Terror Suspects Should be Prosecuted, Not Tortured: Kenneth Roth, Financial Times, Nov. 22, 2005. Reviewing how Great Britain and the United States treat captured suspects and concluding that legal means are preferable to torture.
CIA Whitewashing Torture: Human Rights Watch, Nov. 21, 2005. Porter Goss, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, made misleading statements in USA Today, stating that the CIA does not use torture and that the CIA's interrogation techniques are legal.
Descriptions of Techniques Allegedly Authorized by the CIA: Human Rights Watch. Techniques used by various countries around the world over the last 50 years, most of which are "surprisingly mundane," including forced standing for long periods, sleep deprivation, exposure to cold, and waterboarding.
Why Torture Should Never be an Option: Larry Johnson, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 11, 2005. A former CIA officer and three good friends in the CIA agree that torturing detainees will harm, rather then help, us.
End Unjust Security Detention and Abuse: 10-Point Strategy: Human Rights First. A plan to help the United States reclaim its role as a leading defender of fairness and liberty in the world and to make clear that human rights abuses can never again be done in America's name.
National Council of Churches Statement on Torture: November 9, 2005. "....we find any and all use of torture unacceptable and contrary to U.S. and international legal norms.... We find it particularly abhorrent that our nation's law makers would fail to approve the pending legislation disavowing the use of torture by any entity on behalf of the United States government.... Torture, regardless of circumstance, humiliates and debases torturer and tortured alike."
On-Line Resources on Torture: Fellowship of Reconciliation. An extensive list of articles, fliers and other online resources about human-rights abuse and prisoners' torture. Articles, fliers and other resources about human-rights abuse and prisoner’s torture.
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
Rendition, or Outsourcing of Torture:
U.S.: Stop Handing Over Detainees to Torturers: Article in Human Rights News, Nov. 7, 2003.
U.S. State Department Criticism of “Stress and Duress” Interrogation Around the World: Article in Human Rights News, Dec. 2003. Shows how the same tactics used by the U.S. have been criticized as torture by the State Department.
Alleged Transfer of Maher Arar to Syria: Letter to the Department of Defense regarding an alleged illegal transfer of a prisoner to Syria; the letter is signed by leaders of several human rights and humanitarian organizations. November 17, 2003.
Congress Should Reject the Outsourcing of Torture: Letter to Congress signed by leaders of human rights and humanitarian organizations requesting Congress to ensure that torture remains illegal.
Statement on U.S. Rendition Legislation: Human Rights News, March 10, 2005.
Outsourcing Torture: By Jane Mayer, the New Yorker, February 14, 2005.
Secret Prisons
The United States’ Disappeared: Human Rights Watch briefing paper, October 2004. Provides a comprehensive overview of what we know about the United States' "disappeared;" an appendix detailing eleven cases for which there is some publicly available information; historical context on "disappearances;" and the specific provisions of U.S. and international law that outlaw the practice.
Ending Secret Detentions: A 47 page .pdf file, which lists known and suspected secret U.S. prisons around the world, with suggestions as to what to do about them. By Deborah Pearlstein, Human Rights First, June, 2004.
The Ghost Prisoners: An article about the Human Rights First report of June 2004. Published in the Village Voice, July 19, 2004.
Resources Focused on Ending Torture
Religious Resources
Transcripts of Speeches at WRRCAT Conference
Christian Resources
Way of Torture, Way of the Cross:
A Bible Study for Lent and Other Occasions
Catholic Statement on Torture:
Christian Materials Developed by Presbyterian Grassroots Organization No2Torture
Jewish Resources
Multi-Religious Resources
tatements against torture by religious groups.
Links to Organizations Working to End Torture
National Religious Campaign Against Torture: The grassroots group that is promoting an end to torture through organizing religious groups.
Human Rights Watch: A research and advocacy organization dedicated to ending human rights abuses throughout the world.
Human Rights First: A human rights advocacy organization, with a project to bring to trial the architects of torture in the U.S.
Amnesty International-USA: Amnesty International, a human rights advocacy organization, undertakes research and action to prevent torture and to advance freedom of conscience and expression. It is protesting U.S.-sanctioned torture.
Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International: TASSC advocates the abolition of torture and has numerous links to other web sites on the subject. Click here to sign up for their mailing list.
Faithful America: An online community of people of faith working for a more just and compassionate nation. Much action focused on ending torture.
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee: UUSC has a new campaign to stop U.S.-sanctioned torture.
Friends Committee on National Legislation: FCNL has a list of resources and is working on Capitol Hill to stop torture.
North Carolina Stop Torture Now: A campaign in North Carolina to stop rendition flights that are using a local airport.
Bill of Rights Defense Committee: Key resources in keeping up with how the Bill of Rights is being threatened.
ACLU of North Carolina: Work on the issue of rendition flights.
Articles and Reports Related to Torture
America's Architects of Torture
An editorial reflecting on the latest trial of a soldier related to the torture scandal.
Mock Trial Script: Call for Justice Coalition Against Torture: Transcript of a mock trial of Alberto Gonzales, Donald Rumsfeld and George Tenet on charges of crimes against humanity. Testimony describes torture, its outcomes and alternatives. By Jennifer Harbury, September 25, 2005. 81 page .pdf document.
Retired Military Officers Call for Comprehensive Investigation into Abuses: Five page letter from six retired generals and admirals to President Bush, September 7, 2004, deploring torture, pointing out its damage to the U.S. and in particular to U.S. troops, and asking for an investigation which would meet 7 criteria, including that its findings be open to the pubic.
Senior Officials Not Held Accountable for Torture: Where are they Now—One Year Later? Notes on the officials who were responsible for the policies that encouraged and supported torture. Points out that high officials implicated in torture by the U.S. are all enjoying accolades or promotion or financial success or all three.
The Lawsuit Against Rumsfeld Torture Policies: Describes a lawsuit filed by the ACLU and Human Rights First against Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on behalf of eight men subjected to torture and abuse by the U.S.
Other Topics Related to Torture
Prepared by Institute for Victims of Trauma, March 2006. This comprehensive bibliography addresses the psychological implications of torture.
General Publications
The U.N. report on the U.S. and torture, May 2006.
See the ad in the New York Times, signed by numerous prominent religious leaders, deploring torture and urging people to work against it. Click here.
Materials You Can Use Now
WRRCAT Slides for "Torture is a Moral Issue"
WRRCAT Flyer
You can use this memo to ask your congregation to become a member of WRRCAT.
Vigil at Vice President's House, September 26, 2006