Dear Friends, As we are all processing the results of this week’s election, NRCAT remains committed and prepared to carry out our mission which, since our founding in 2006, has been to mobilize people of faith to end torture in U.S. policy, practice, and culture. Our interfaith members include representatives from the Baha’i, Buddhist, Catholic, evangelical Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Orthodox Christian, mainline Protestant, Quaker, Sikh and Unitarian Universalist communities. Going back to our origin as a coalition of religious organizations representing diverse religious traditions, we share these common core values: • All persons possess a basic human dignity and inherent rights to the support of community and the protection of law, and therefore should in no instances be subjected to the threat or practice of torture.
• Torture in any form is an illegal and criminal action and its use degrades humanity and wounds the soul of all involved, including the tortured, torturers, those who approve of torture's use and those who stand by in silence.
• Any nation or society that uses and tolerates the use of torture is diminished; its collective moral authority and voice for justice are eroded.
• Torture, like any injustice present in our world, is a threat to all persons. These perilous days call us to remain steadfast in the common commitment our many interfaith partners have made to make these values a reality, without exception. These values will be defended unequivocally state by state and in Washington D.C. in our two primary campaigns – ending the torture of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons, jails and immigration detention and closing Guantanamo prison. The NRCAT national staff, U.S. Prisons Advisory Council, and Board of Directors, are prepared and ready to face whatever these next 4 years hold for our nation, working in a bi-partisan way and together in our, and your, steadfast hope of a torture-free future for all. With determination, The NRCAT Team, Ron, T.C., Johnny, Laura and Nicole |
