November 11, 2005

HUNT VALLEY, Maryland – Delegates to the 2005 General Assembly of the National Council of Churches USA and Church World Service, held November 8-10 in Hunt Valley, Maryland, have deplored the fact that, as the House of Representatives begins debate on anti-torture provisions in the 2006 Defense Appropriations bill, some high-ranking U.S. government officials have declined to support the provisions.

"We find any and all use of torture unacceptable and contrary to U.S. and international legal norms," the delegates said in a November 9 statement that passed unanimously. "We find it particularly abhorrent that our nation's law makers would fail to approve the pending legislation disavowing the use of torture by any entity on behalf of the United States government."

Bishop Christopher Epting, ecumenical officer for the Episcopal Church, said, "Our entire delegation fully supported this important moral statement with our sister communions. We encourage all members of the Episcopal Church to make their views known particularly to their Representatives in the House and Senate as soon as possible."

In an October 11 letter to Senator John McCain (R-Arizona), an Episcopalian, Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold of the Episcopal Church thanked him for offering and gaining passage of an amendment establishing uniform standards for the conduct of U.S. military personnel when interrogating those held in U.S. custody, including detainees being held at Guantanamo Naval Air Base in Cuba. [Full text: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_68525_ENG_HTM.htm]

A similar letter was sent to the House and Senate FY'06 Department of Defense appropriations conferees who form the "Conference Committee" to work out differences in the defense appropriations bills.

"This issue is currently a stumbling block for final passage of the appropriations bill because of strong opposition from the White House, which has threatened to veto the bill if this is included," said John Johnson, domestic policy analyst in the Episcopal Church's Office of Government Relations. "The resolution of this issue could depend on constituents calling their members of Congress to urge conference committee members to retain intact Senator McCain's detainee language."

"Torture, regardless of circumstance, humiliates and debases torturer and tortured alike," the General Assembly declared by unanimous vote. "Torture turns its face against the biblical truth that all humans are created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27). It denies the preciousness of human life and the dignity of every human being by reducing its victims to the status of despised objects, no matter how noble the caused for which it is employed."

The full text of the NCC statement can be found online at: http://www.ncccusa.org/torture.html.

Episcopal News Service