July 12, 2006
by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE – A broad coalition of religious organizations, including the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), has expressed "grave concern" to lawmakers about one of President Bush's nominations for federal appellate court judge.

The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) says nominee William J. Haynes II, currently general counsel of the Department of Defense, was the "primary architect" behind implementing a United States policy allowing torture and abuse against prisoners held in connection with the war on terror.

NRCAT sent letters on Monday (July 10) to each of the Senate Judiciary Committee's 18 members urging them to look closely at Haynes' role in U.S.-sponsored torture when considering him for a seat on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

"We ask that you fully investigate Mr. Haynes' views on detention, interrogation, and torture," the group said in its letter. "And that you allow your own religious and moral values, which, we trust, include fairness and respect for all people, to guide you throughout the confirmation process."

The White House maintains that the U.S. government does not torture detainees held in its custody.

The NRCAT letter came as the Judiciary Committee convened a hearing Tuesday (July 11) to consider Haynes' nomination, which is expected to face an uphill battle.

Signers included a range of faith-based groups such as the Presbyterian Washington Office, which penned its name to the letter on behalf of the PC(USA). Agencies of the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church, and the Disciples of Christ were among other signatories.

People of faith are called to stand against the use of torture, which erodes the character of the nation using abusive treatment, according to Catherine Gordon, the associate for International Issues in the Presbyterian Washington Office, the public-policy advocacy agency of the PC(USA).

"All of these prisoners are children of God," she said. "They're no less than anyone else and our faith calls us to protect those lives. If they have done something wrong then we must bring about justice. But in terms of our current policies, we're becoming the monster. If we turn to torture then they (the terrorists) have won."

Other groups attaching their name to the NRCAT letter included the Adventist Peace Fellowship, the Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns, and the group African American Ministers in Action.

"We have strong concerns with Mr. Haynes' role in overseeing the development of detention, interrogation, and torture policies for the military's handling of prisoners in Afghanistan, Iraq, Guantanamo Bay (Cuba) and elsewhere," read the letter sent to members of the Judiciary Committee.

The letter claims Haynes was behind policies that too narrowly define torture and fail to apply Geneva Convention protections to detainees captured in Afghanistan and in other places around the world.

The policies also authorize private and "therefore unaccountable" civilian contractors to participate in interrogations while ending the practice of using Army Judge Advocate General (JAG) officers to observe interrogation sessions, the group wrote.

NRCAT also sent a letter to Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R-SC), a judiciary committee member, thanking him for taking a stand against U.S.-sponsored torture.

Graham, who is expected to be one of Haynes' strongest opponents, has been outspoken about the Bush administration's efforts to circumvent anti-torture laws and expressed concern with advice Haynes provided the administration regarding the treatment of detainees.

In its letter to Graham, NRCAT called policies permitting torture and inhumane treatment "morally intolerable."

"As people of faith, we join with millions of Americans in the belief that torture violates the basic dignity of the human person that all religions hold dear," said the letter to Graham. "That it degrades everyone involved – policy-makers, perpetrators and victims; and that it contradicts our nation's most cherished ideals."

The letter to Graham, signed by Jeanne Herrick-Stare, NRCAT's coordinating committee chair, accused Haynes of recommending approval of a series of "extreme interrogation techniques (including threats to kill a detainee's family member, waterboarding, forced nudity, and use of dogs to induce stress)."

Graham has had plenty of opportunity to mull Haynes' nomination. Its two and a half years in the Senate make it one of the longest-stalled nominations. The Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Haynes in November 2003 and voted him to the floor in March 2004, but the 108th Congress adjourned without taking action, forcing the administration to re-nominate him in February last year and restart the confirmation process.

NRCAT was formed in response to allegations of human rights abuses at U.S. detention centers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. The interfaith organization says it is working "for the immediate cessation of torture by the United States, whether direct or by proxy, within our territory or abroad."

The group was organized by the Rev. George Hunsinger, a Presbyterian minister and theology professor at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, NJ.

More than three-dozen faith organizations including the PC(USA) have already joined NRCAT, which was launched during a conference convened by Hunsinger at Princeton seminary in January. The group's membership includes Lutherans, Baptists, Episcopalians, Quakers, Jews, Catholics, Unitarians, Sikhs, Methodists, and Muslims.

A grassroots network of Presbyterians called the No2Torture movement has also become a member of NRCAT. Rick Ufford-Chase, moderator of the PC(USA)'s 216th General Assembly, was a catalyst for the group's first meetings during the 2005 Presbyterian Peacemaking Conference along with the Rev. Carol Wickersham, a Presbyterian minister and sociology professor at Beloit College in Wisconsin.

NRCAT's mission falls in line with anti-torture related action approved last month by the PC(USA)'s 217th General Assembly in Birmingham, AL.

In response to an overture that commissioners approved from San Francisco presbytery, the assembly will send petitions asking Congress to create an investigative body with "broad investigative powers," similar to the Sept. 11 Commission, to explore "whether any official or officer of the United States government bears direct or command responsibility for having ordered or participated in violations of law in the mistreatment of persons detained by the government of the United States at Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib Prison or elsewhere, or in transporting persons into detention in nations with known records of brutality and torture."

The action calls for a special counsel to be appointed to investigate and prosecute such cases.

The Assembly also approved a "Resolution on Human Rights in a Time of Terrorism and Torture," recommended by the PC(USA)'s Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy.

Commissioners also affirmed that the PC(USA) opposes torture and all forms of "cruel, inhuman, or degrading" interrogation by representatives of the U.S. government and added language opposing such actions by foreign governments or combatants as well.

The full text of the letter sent to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

Dear Senator:

We, the undersigned religious leaders and representatives of faith-based organizations, write to express our grave concern regarding the nomination of Department of Defense General Counsel William Haynes to this lifetime position on the federal appellate court. We ask that you take into account the concerns we pose from our religious perspective.

We have strong concerns with Mr. Haynes' role in overseeing the development of detention, interrogation, and torture policies for the military's handling of prisoners in Afghanistan, Iraq, Guantánamo Bay, and else where. As General Counsel for the Department of Defense, Mr. Haynes was the primary architect of the Department's policies with regard to:

defining torture so narrowly that it was later disavowed by the administration; failing to apply Geneva Convention protections to detainees captured in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the world; authorizing private, and therefore unaccountable, civilian contractors to participate in interrogations and ending the practice of having Army Judge Advocate General (JAG) officers observe interrogation sessions.

These erosions of safeguards that were intended to prevent the abuse of detainees have paved the way for the incidents of abuse, torture, and violations of human rights by U.S. personnel at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere.

Our communities of faith share a profound commitment to affirm the worth and dignity of all people. Every person should have the protection of law. We reject torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, and we endorse human rights principles because these flow directly from our religious experience of every person as a child of God. We are led to share our deep concern with you because of our own faith-based regard for human rights and our commitment to uphold U.S. law and international treaty obligations that protect those rights and the human dignity of the people of all nations. Further, as representatives of our communities of faith we believe that expediency and short term "necessity" are no excuse for rejecting the rule of law or the moral imperative of justice.

We ask that you fully investigate Mr. Haynes' views on detention, interrogation, and torture, and that you allow your own religious and moral values, which, we trust, include fairness and respect for all people, to guide you throughout the confirmation process.

In faith,
Adventist Peace Fellowship
African American Ministers in Action
Churches' Center for Theology and Public Policy
Disciples Advocacy and Witness Network of the Christian Church, Capitol Area
Disciples Justice Action Network (Disciples of Christ)
Faith Action Network of People for the American Way
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Dr. George Hunsinger, Founder National Religious Campaign Against Torture
Rev. Jim Kofski, Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns
National Council of Jewish Women
Presbyterian Church (USA), Washington Office
Rabbis for Human Rights
Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Director, The Shalom Center
Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International
United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries
United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
Washington Region Religious Campaign Against Torture

The full text of the letter sent to Sen. Lindsey Graham:

Dear Senator Graham:

On behalf of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT), I want to thank you for the stand you have taken against U.S.-sponsored torture. As people of faith, we join with millions of Americans in the belief that torture violates the basic dignity of the human person that all religions hold dear; that it degrades everyone involved – policy-makers, perpetrators and victims; and that it contradicts our nation's most cherished ideals. Any policies that permit torture and inhumane treatment are morally intolerable.

It is because of these deeply held beliefs that we are concerned about the nomination of William J. Haynes II to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. As you know, Mr. Haynes currently serves as General Counsel of the Department of Defense. We understand that in that position, he

helped devise a strained interpretation of the Convention Against Torture and Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment, clouding the military's policy on the use of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment; recommended approval of a series of "extreme interrogation techniques" (including threats to kill a detainee's family member, waterboarding, forced nudity, and use of dogs to induce stress); commissioned and participated in the preparation of a special Working Group Report on Detainee Interrogations, which included the assertion that military forces could not be prosecuted under the U.S. anti-torture criminal statute for actions directed by the President in his exclusive constitutional authority; adopted as part of the Working Group Report an extensive passage from the so-called "Bybee memo," defining torture in an impermissibly restrictive fashion (a memo subsequently repudiated by the Department of Justice), and providing defenses against criminal liability for military forces charged with violation of the criminal torture statute.

We hope that you, as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and someone concerned about U.S. policies and practices with respect to torture, will urge the Committee to thoroughly review Mr. Haynes' role in U.S.-sponsored torture and carefully evaluate his eligibility to serve as a lifetime appointee to the Federal Appellate bench.

NRCAT is an interfaith organization formed earlier this year to bring the religious voice to the issue of torture. Our membership includes, among others, Lutherans, Baptists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Quakers, Jews, Catholics, Unitarians, Sikhs, Methodists, and Muslims. Our full membership is available on our website at http://www.nrcat.org/.

We welcome the opportunity to discuss this nomination and the issue of torture with you or your staff, should you so desire. Again, we thank you for your work on this important issue.

Sincerely,
Jeanne E. Herrick-Stare, Esq.
Chair, Coordinating Committee, National Religious Campaign Against Torture

Presbyterian News Service