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June is Torture Awareness Month! June 2nd, 2014
Join the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT), which is providing educational, advocacy and worship resources on torture during the month of June. The group is also hosting activities to honor survivors of torture, ensure truth about US torture programs and begin the restoration of human dignity.The theme for the month is Exposing the Truth of U.S. Torture: Restoring Human Dignity.
A Torture Awareness Toolkit is available to help you and your local faith community participate in the awareness initiative. The Missionary Oblates JPIC Office is a member of the National Religious Coalition against Torture (NRCAT), and we encourage you to become involved.
December 10: Celebrate “Human Rights Day” December 8th, 2012
“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights remains one of the highest expressions of the human conscience of our time” -Pope John Paul II, Address to the Fiftieth General Assembly of the United Nations, 5 October 1995
December 10 is International Human Rights Day. The theme for 2012 is My Voice Counts: Inclusion and the Right to Participate in Public Life.
The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT), of which Missionary Oblates JPIC office is a participating member, is encouraging the celebration of Human Rights Day in your own community, parish or congregation.
View here for resources to celebrate international human rights day.
June is Torture Awareness Month June 8th, 2012
You are invited during the month of June to join the National Religious Campaign Against Torture and our partner organizations in reflecting and taking action to confront the “Culture of Torture.”
The Missionary Oblate JPIC Office is a member of the National Religious Coalition against Torture (NRCAT) and has endorsed the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International (TASSC)
JPIC staff will participate in a June 21st event organized by TASSC, called Justice for Survivors of Torture. This event will feature the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan E. Méndez, and will be held at Catholic University of America.
Resources:
Please share widely…
- NRCAT Worship resources (Download PDF) This is a Christian worship resource for use during Torture Awareness month. Please share with pastoral leaders in need of such material.
- Torture is a Moral Issue: A Catholic Study Guide
Action Alert: Torture is Never Permissible July 2nd, 2011
The National Religious Coalition Against Torture (NRCAT) of which Oblate JPIC is a member, is concerned about statements made in Congressional testimony by General David Petraeus regarding torture. On June 23, in a hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee on his nomination to be the Director of the CIA, General Petraeus suggested that the U.S. needed procedures for using “more than the normal [interrogation] techniques” during a ticking time bomb-like incident.
Yet, as NRCAT points out in an action alert, there are no situations — even a ticking time-bomb — in which torture is permissible, moral, or legal. General Petraeus has opened a door that he and President Obama need to close. Please write to President Obama and ask him to publicly reject General Petraeus’ June 23rd testimony on “more than normal” interrogation techniques.
People who support torture often refer to the hypothetical “ticking time bomb” to make their argument. Yet torture is always wrong and always illegal.
As people of faith, we know that, above all, our country must act morally. General Petraeus may have misstated his own position, but he and President Obama need to immediately reaffirm their unequivocal opposition to torture in all instances.
