Dear Friends, As we prepare for the incoming Biden-Harris Administration, here is what NRCAT has been working on: Human Rights and National Security
President-elect Biden has called for Guantanamo to be closed. NRCAT and others have made a set of recommendations for how it can be done. As Vice President, Biden also supported making the summary of the Senate Intelligence Committee's Torture Report public. NRCAT is asking him to take additional steps to improve accountability and transparency, and to institute further steps to ensure that this nation never tortures again. NRCAT is also encouraging Biden to restrict the use of armed drones and the use of force outside of recognized areas of armed conflict. Refugees, Bigotry and the Right to Asylum
President-elect Biden has already promised to repeal the Muslim Ban as one of his first steps toward ending the official bigotry of the Trump era. NRCAT is joining faith and human rights allies in working to overturn the Trump policies that placed unfounded restrictions on entry for asylum seekers. The Biden Administration can, and must, immediately seek to raise the number of refugees allowed into the U.S. from the current all-time low of 15,000 to a number at or above the cap of 110,000 President Obama set for FY 2017. The world currently faces a refugee crisis that is greater than any since World War II. Ending Solitary Confinement
The Biden platform promises to “end the practice of solitary confinement, with very limited exceptions such as protecting the life of an imprisoned person.” NRCAT is joining allies across the criminal justice field and in Congress to work with the incoming Administration to bring the U.S. into full compliance with the UN Nelson Mandela Rules. This would bring hope and an end to torture for the estimated 300,000 people who are now in solitary confinement as prisons use solitary and lockdowns as their response to COVID-19 instead of more safe and humane strategies like medical isolation and early release. Establishing the Faithful Vision
The faith community will be called upon, time and time again in the coming year, to take action to ensure that promises are kept and that a vision of human rights takes hold with meaningful change. If you would like to help us on this journey to justice, please consider contributing now to our annual NRCAT year-end fundraising campaign. This year, our campaign theme is Ending Torture, Building Hope. From now to the end of the year, your donation to NRCAT will be matched by a generous NRCAT donor. Each dollar you give is doubled, making our task of ending torture and building hope, possible. Thank you for your generosity and partnership, Rev. Ron Stief
Executive Director | 
