WASHINGTON (CNS) Religious leaders, former government officials and retired generals are calling on President George W. Bush to sign an executive order outlawing torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees as tools in the so-called global war on terror. Speaking at a teleconference convened by the Minneapolis-based Center for Victims of Torture June 25, representatives of the group introduced a declaration of principles which they are asking the president to follow when drafting an order that would ban any methods of interrogation that the United States would not find acceptable if used against American prisoners.
About 200 prominent individuals from around the country have signed the statement to date, said Douglas Johnson, executive director of the Center for Victims of Torture.
Signers include Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Orlando, Fla., chairman of the international justice and peace committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington.
Linda Gustitus, president of the board for the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, said the group is seeking an executive order rather than pursuing legislative changes through Congress because it is the fastest away to achieve its goal of ending the use of inhuman interrogation techniques.
"This is a statement that reaffirms Americans’ deepest values. The United Nations statement on torture says there are no exceptions to the use of torture and this statement tries to drive that message home," she said.
Religious leaders who have signed the statement span the spectrum of perspectives. The Rev. John H. Thomas, general minister and president of the United Church of Christ, was joined by David Gushee, president of Evangelicals for Human Rights, in calling upon the president to uphold the country’s highest moral traditions in the treatment of detainees.
Citing the president’s oft-repeated claim that the United States faces new dangers requiring a variety of techniques to obtain information, Rev. Thomas said that no matter how reprehensible an act by a detainee torture can never be justified.
"No threat is so great to justify violation of our central values of what it means to be a Christian," said Rev. Thomas, whose son is currently serving with the Army National Guard in Afghanistan.
Gushee said his organization came forward to help draft the statement after learning about the "systematic mistreatment of prisoners and the denial of human rights."
"We all have been faithful followers of Christ, the Jesus who comes to embrace a great God for humanity. We can never come to endorse torture," he said.
The time has come, he added, to seek the "moral center" in upholding traditional American values.
A year in the making, the statement is not critical of past practices, say its supporters, but outlines steps the president can take governing future American military and civilian interrogations. Specifically, the statement calls for the development of a single national standard for the questioning of detainees.
The statement also calls for acknowledging all prisoners being held to U.S. courts or the International Committee of the Red Cross and to prohibit the transfer of any person to countries that use torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
Alberto Mora, former general counsel for the U.S. Navy, said information obtained during harsh interrogations rarely is dependable.
"The United States’ adopting of harsh treatment and torture … would weaken us because it would prohibit the building and maintaining of alliances in the war on terror," he said.
Spearheaded by Johnson’s center, the campaign to seek additional support for the statement is beginning to filter to grass-roots organizations, parish and church congregations and interested individuals. Johnson said the statement has not yet been sent to the White House. The timing on approaching the president will depend on how quickly more people sign on.
The statement’s signers include more than 100 religious leaders as well as former Secretaries of State George P. Shultz, Madeleine Albright and Warren Christopher; former Secretaries of Defense Harold Brown, William Cohen and William Perry, and former National Security Advisers Zbigniew Brzezinski, Anthony Lake and Samuel R. Berger. More than 30 retired generals and admirals, former CIA officers and four former World War II interrogators also signed the statement.
White House spokesman Tony Fratto told The New York Times June 24 that the president in 2007 issued an executive order that outlawed torture and other abuses. It also allowed the CIA to use other "coercive" interrogation techniques. He also said members of al-Qaida should be treated differently from uniformed soldiers.