Pax Christi USA, March 22, 2006
Stopping Torture: a Pro-Life Thing To Do
A Christian Call to Stop Torture Now
"The thought of Jesus being stripped, beaten and
derided until his final agony on the cross should
always prompt a Christian to protest against similar
treatment of their fellow beings. Of their own accord,
disciples of Christ will reject torture, which nothing
can justify, which causes humiliation and suffering to
the victim and degrades the tormentor." -
Pope John Paul II
As followers of Jesus, we must state clearly and
unequivocally that torture violates the basic human
dignity afforded all of God's children, and is never
morally acceptable. On this two-year annivesary of
the revelations of the cruel, inhumane and humiliating
treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison - the first
of numerous revelations regarding institutionalized
torture practices in the U.S. War on Terrorism - we
reiterate our Church's profound respect for the
dignity of all persons and reject as antithetical to
Christianity any and all justifications for the use of
torture.
There is no debate on where the social teachings of
the Catholic Church lie on the issue of
torture: "International judicial instruments concerning
human rights correctly indicate a prohibition against
torture as a principle which cannot be contravened
under any circumstances," states the Compendium
of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Pope John Paul II echoed this call when he decisively
stated that there is never any justification for
torture. "Christ's disciple refuses every recourse to
such methods, which nothing could justify and in
which the dignity of humanity is as much debased in
the torturer as in the torturer's victim."
Despite U.S. laws banning torture, the Bush
Administration has employed interrogation techniques
in the War on Terrorism which clearly constitute
torture. Despite prohibiting cruel and degrading
treatment of prisoners, the recently passed McCain
bill also provides legal defenses that greatly shield
those who command or commit torture.
As people of faith, we are ashamed of efforts by the
Bush Administration to circumvent national and
international laws that prohibit the use of torture,
under the auspices of national security. Evidence
that the Bush Administration implemented a system
of "rendition outsourcing" - which involves other
countries implementing policies of torture under the
direction of the U.S. government - as a component of
its War on Terrorism is exceptionally egregious. Such
evidence - two years after the reports from Abu
Ghraib of water-boarding, beatings, pouring chemicals
on inmates, and unleashing attack dogs on prisoners -
shows that this Administration aims to institutionalize
torture practices.
We call on the Bush Administration:
* to cease its justifications of torture in the name
of national security;
* to publicly reaffirm U.S. support for the U.N.
Convention on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;
* to institute as a national policy that no
exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a
state of war or a threat of war, internal political
instability or any other public emergency, may be
invoked as a justification of torture;
* to follow the recommendation from the United
Nations that the U.S. shut down the Guantanamo
Prison in Cuba.
We call for the U.S. Congress:
* to establish an independent commission to
publicly investigate the reports of abuse in U.S.
detention centers around the world;
* to pass legislation to uphold U.S. and
international law against "extraordinary rendition,"
requiring a ban on transferring a detainee to a
country that has a history of torture;
* to investigate ongoing reports of torture by Iraqi
officials, particularly in the Interior Ministry, and hold
accountable any U.S. citizens, either military or
civilian, associated with conceiving, directing,
supporting or acquiescing to this use of torture.
We join with the U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference,
the National Council of Churches and the National
Religious Campaign Against Torture in saying that
torture debases the torturer and tortured alike, and
denies the preciousness of life "and the dignity of
every human being." As citizens of the U.S. and
followers of the nonviolent Christ who suffered
torture at the hands of imperial power, we offer
sincere and heartfelt apologies to our sisters and
brothers in the Middle East, Iraq, Latin America,
Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, and throughout the
world who have been victims of torture. We pledge
that we will do everything necessary in our country
to abolish torture and to hold all offending parties
accountable for this affront to God and human
dignity.