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NRCAT Torture Awareness 2010 |
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Wednesday, 26 May 2010 11:59 |
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| June is Torture Awareness Month |
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Because Torture Remains a Moral Issue
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Show "Ending U.S.-Sponsored Torture Forever"
Your congregation is encouraged to show a new, revised version of the 20-minute video Ending U.S.-Sponsored Torture Forever and use a corresponding discussion guide between now and May 30, 2010.
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NH has set a goal of having 10 congregations join 300 other congregations in at least 30 states make a commitment to show the video and hold an adult discussion.
Help us reach our goal!
Register now to show the film in your congregation!
View the 20-minute video online.
Order the DVD ($5.00).
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Download one of the 6 Discussion Guides.
(Evangelical Christian, Mainline Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, Unitarian Universalist)
Use these helpful tips to reach out to another congregation in your town, region, or faith group and encourage them to show the video.
This resource is particularly suited for an adult discussion within a congregation, but it could also be used with older youth or college groups and in ecumenical or interfaith settings.
Because this DVD project is intended to help us reach new audiences, NRCAT hopes that most of the congregations participating in this project will be new to NRCAT's efforts. You can help us achieve that by promoting the video to other congregations in your area.
Surveys of participants reveal significant diversity of opinion at the outset. A quarter of particpants became more strongly opposed to torture after viewing and discussing the video.
Participants have reported the film explained how torture harms the torturer, the victim and society; that helped reflect upon humans made in God's image; the pragmatic ineffectivenes of torture. Nearly all participants were changed by the DVD and discussion in their congregation.
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Torture Awareness Month - June
ENDING TORTURE: OUR NATION'S UNFINISHED BUSINESS
June 26th is United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. Several years ago, religious and human rights organizations in the United States declared the month of June to be Torture Awareness Month as a way to provide greater visibility to this issue and provide an opportunity for coordinated actions across the country.
This June, NRCAT encourages congregations and people of faith to focus on two primary efforts: Passing federal legislation granting the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to all detainees in U.S. custody.
ACTIVITIES for CONGREGATIONS
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NHRCAT encourages congregations and local interfaith groups to focus on two primary activities. Get more details and download resources.
1. 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.
2. 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.
Learn more details about these and other activities, including background resources available from NRCAT.
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Why the IRC? Some background:
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has a mandate under international law to act as a neutral observer in conflicts. The ICRC's role is to protect civilians from abuse as well as prisoners, and others who are not actively involved in the fighting. For decades, the ICRC has acted to ensure that captured soldiers are not simply "disappeared," but rather given the rights guaranteed to them under international law.
Traditionally, the U.S. has respected the importance of the ICRC and its role in protecting the rights of detainees. ICRC access is credited with saving the lives of numerous American soldiers - including, in 1993, that of U.S. Warrant Officer Michael Durant, whose abuse at the hands of a Somali warlord ended when the U.S. demanded assurances of ICRC access and asserted that it would give captured Somalis the same protections.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, however, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has opened several secret prisons in Eastern Europe and other parts of the globe for holding terrorism-related detainees. Few people know exactly what goes on in those prisons. Many former detainees claimed to have been tortured in them, but, of course, most are unable to prove their allegations. The ICRC does not have access to these prisons, nor does any other neutral third party. |
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 26 May 2010 12:10 |
