ICUJP Statement on Release of Torture Report – December 10, 2014
Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace (ICUJP) applauds the long-delayed release of the Executive Summary of the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on the CIA's use of torture on post 9/11 detainees.
Even in its heavily-censored form, the 500-page summary is shocking in its detailed and thoroughly documented account of barbaric acts of torture sanctioned by our government -- acts which not only violated our moral standards as a country but proved ineffective and often counterproductive in producing useful intelligence. Indeed our use of torture became and continues to be a powerful recruiting tool for terrorist groups.
The CIA repeatedly provided inaccurate information to the Department of Justice, Congress and the Administration in an attempt to justify its use of torture, and it subsequently destroyed videotapes that documented these abuses, telling detainees they would be killed in order to prevent the abuses from being made public.
The report clearly indicates that those who carried out the campaign of torture should be held accountable for their actions. It also shows that strong legal and policy measures need to be enacted in order to prevent such illegal and immoral actions from being taken again during any future security crises.
As people of faith, we believe in the inherent dignity of every human being. Torture is always wrong, and how we respond as a nation to the fact that we tortured is essential if we are to ensure that it never happens again.
We encourage everyone who believes in the Constitution and the Rule of Law to immediately contact President Obama and Attorney General Holder and demand that all government officials, high and low, complicit in ordering and carrying out torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment, be held accountable and be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Some links to more information and actions:
National Religious Campaign Against Torture Statements and Actions
Center for Constitutional Rights Petition to Prosecute Torturers
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