Torture is the Topic in a Day-Long Conference in Portland

Amnesty International Portland Group 48 co-sponsored “Ethics of Torture” Conference to bring faith-based, attorneys, political scientists and human rights activists together on July 23, 2008.

Amnesty International Portland Group 48 co-sponsored a day-long conference which focused on the ethics of torture on July 23. The event was organized by Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon (EMO) after members attended Group 48’s forum, Guantanamo: Democracies and Detainees, in March at Reed College.

While Amnesty International continues to push for a ban on the use of torture world-wide, the consequences of its continued use by the U.S. government and other nations violates some of the basic human rights outlined by the United Nations Convention on Human Rights and other international law. Jeff Bachman, new chair of the Board of Amnesty International USA, discussed the importance of human rights work and why Amnesty International pushes for accountability on every level. “The key word is justice,” he told over 100 in attendance. “Torture is not justice.”

Bachman said the ban on torture is one of the preeminent customary laws around the world. “We are facing a battle for the soul of our nation,” he told the audience. Bachman, who joined the afternoon panel of speakers representing Jewish, Muslim and Christian foundations supporting the ban on torture, explained why much of the language of international treaties on the use of torture has put fear into the current U.S. Administration. He said a Truth Commission is important to the U.S. as a way to finally provide a full and open airing of the policies which this country has demanded of others. Bachman said this is unlikely to happen until after the November elections.

The day-long conference delved into the legal, historical, religious, cultural and human rights perspectives of the use of torture.

Keynote speaker George Hunsinger, founder of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, spoke about his passion to end its use in all forms. “I just couldn’t take it,” he told the audience. “Torture does not stand alone. It is always attached with cruel and degradable treatment.”

Hunsinger questioned why the U.S. government would accept levels of torture used by former world governments to extract false confessions. He said that once torture is used, it becomes the preferred method of interrogation. And he warned that torture does not end when the sessions end both for the victim and the perpetrator. “Like Darius Rejali noted in his book, Democracies and Torture, torture always comes home. It comes home to police stations and it comes home to families.”

Hunsinger travels the country to educate people about the ongoing use of torture and to gain support to end it. His campaign has received national attention and broad-based support. “The Campaign to Ban Torture” includes former U.S. Department of State, Department of Defense, retired U.S. military generals, security experts, legal experts and faith-based leaders from Christian, Muslim, Jewish and other major religions. David Leslie, Executive Director of the EMO, is a signatory. For more information, visit: www.campaigntobantorture.org.

Amnesty International recently launched its “Counter Terror with Justice” campaign to continue its push to end torture. For more information, visit: www.amnestyusa.org/ctwj.

Submitted by:
Sherry Harbert