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Torture Stops with Your Congregation! Torture is damaging not only to the person being tortured, but to that person’s family, to the torturer and their family, and to the society that allows this corrosive act to occur in its name. You and your congregation can stop people who step up to defend their country from being forced into the false choice of torturing another person or risking our nation’s security. Here’s how:
Have a table at each worship service in June:
- Ask people to complete postcards (or letters) calling for legislation that will assure that the International Committee of the Red Cross has access to all detainees held by the U.S. The post cards can be taken to the local offices of Members of Congress on Monday, June 28, or mailed to their offices in Washington, DC.
- Ask people to sign a petition asking for a Commission of Inquiry.
- Click here for a copy of the postcard and petition you can print.
Hold an Educational Event, which could be one of the following:
- Show the 20-minute video "Ending U.S.-Sponsored Torture Forever".
- Organize a one-hour discussion, using a guide with background text and sample questions focused on why ending torture is our nation's unfinished business.
- In several cities in June, NRCAT will co-sponsor a panel discussion on the need for a Commission of Inquiry, featuring a religious leader, an attorney, a medical professional, a former interrogator or another expert.
For more resources and ideas, see NRCAT’s “June 2010 Activities for Congregations.” Resources for 2011 will be available in the spring.
NRCAT's definition of torture is the same as that contained in the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which defines torture as "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 person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions."
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