Email 4/29/10 from the National Religious Campaign Against Torture

Dear NRCAT Supporter:

It's time to begin planning for June's Torture Awareness Month activities for your congregation and/or religious organization. NRCAT has developed a number of useful resources to help you prepare.

This June, NRCAT is highlighting two major efforts:

Passing federal legislation granting the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to all detainees in U.S. custody.

The need for a comprehensive investigation, a Commission of Inquiry, into the use of torture by the United States since September 11, 2001.

We are asking congregations and local interfaith groups to focus on two primary activities to engage people of faith in these efforts:

Have a table before or after each worship service in June to gather signatures on postcards and petitions on these two issues to present to Members of Congress.

Hold an educational session, using NRCAT's 20-minute video or a new study resource on a Commission of Inquiry based on a recent book review.

Complete information about these activities and resources are available on our new
Torture Awareness Month webpage.

You'll also find an interfaith prayer, a bulletin insert, new banners and bumper stickers, and sample Letters to the Editor.

In addition to providing these resources for congregations, NRCAT will be helping to organize significant events in Washington, DC, New York City and Los Angeles in late June. We'll send you more information about those events in the next few weeks.

Thank you for all your efforts to end U.S.-sponsored torture - forever,

Linda Gustitus, President
Rev. Richard Killmer, Executive Director
National Religious Committee Against Torture