On the torture front

The National Religious Campaign Against Torture is making it very easy to send a message to President Obama and to Congress regarding creating a Commission of Inquiry. This comes up today because President Obama has yet to release the Bush administration's memos regarding torture. I hope he will. It occurred to me that perhaps I should say so. You can do so too, here.

Also I'd like to point out that NRCAT is encouraging congregations to take the opportunity in June to observe Torture Awareness Month. Please do pass that information on to your congregation, if you wish.

Boy, that was fervent, wasn't it?

Update: Just got this email from NRCAT

Dear Friends:

The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that the Obama White House might continue the Bush Administration policy of concealing key details about the CIA's use of torture. Please call President Obama immediately to tell him that he should not act to conceal our country's use of torture!

On Thursday, the Obama White House is expected to release a series of three 2005 legal memos that authorized the use of torture as an interrogation technique. These memos are crucial in order to understand exactly what torture techniques were used and how they were approved. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that these memos may be released in a redacted form - that parts of the memos may not be made public.

This is unacceptable! Our nation's use of torture cannot remain hidden. The American people need to know exactly what was done, how it was approved, and how it can be prevented in the future.

Please call President Obama TODAY at 202-456-1111, and tell his staff that you think that the legal memos authorizing the use of torture should be released in their full, unredacted form. Tell President Obama that you expect him to put an end to Bush Administration secrecy.

Thank you for your help,

Sincerely,

Rev. Richard Killmer
Executive Director