Catholic social justice organizations, including Pax Christi USA petitioned President Barack Obama on May 6 to support the formation of an independent commission to investigate the use of torture by U.S. interrogators on suspected terrorists. The petition followed the release of declassified Justice Department memoranda that outline the legal justifications for the so-called enhanced interrogation of detainees in the years following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The memos set the stage for the use of techniques deemed by human rights activists to be torture, including waterboarding, which causes the sensation of drowning, and exposure to extreme temperatures, sleep deprivation and physical violence. While commending Mr. Obama for his executive order banning torture and his order to close the prison at Guantenamo Bay, Cuba, the signatories argued that a commission would help expose "these horrific practices” and allow the nation to move toward reconciliation and healing.
Obama Asked to Back Torture Commission
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
The Gregorian’s American-born rector, Mark Lewis, S.J., describes how three Jesuit academic institutes in Rome will be integrated to better serve a changing church.
Speaking at a conference about the synod in Knock, County Mayo, Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the synod, said that “Fiducia Supplicans,” will not affect the forthcoming second session of the Synod on Synodality.
Speaking with Catholic News Service before formally taking possession of his titular church in Rome April 21, Cardinal Christophe Pierre described the reality of the church in the United States as a “paradox.”
Listen to Gemma’s homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year B, in which she explains how her experience of poverty in Brazil gave radical significance to Christ’s words: “Make your home in me as I make mine in you.”