Today the Campaign to End Torture unveiled a declaration, signed by a wide-ranging coalition of religious leaders, former military officers, former Defense and State Department officials, national security and counterterrorism experts, and others, calling on President Bush to sign executive order unequivocally banning the use of torture in interrogations. Military signatories include Alberto Mora, the former Navy lawyer whose efforts to end torture from inside the Pentagon were thwarted, and Paul Kern, who led the military's internal investigation of Abu Ghraib.
David Gushee, president of Evangelicals for Human Rights, described many of the evangelicals signing on to the Declaration as "theologically conservative, not very politically inclined, a mix of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents," who didn't expect to get involved in such a campaign but "we cannot endorse or accept the cruel treatment of another human being."
The Campaign now is soliciting more signatories to the Declaration, and is launching grassroots efforts in Ohio, Virginia, and Florida, three states rich in evangelicals (but, I'm told, not targeted for any reason related to the presidential campaign). The organizers intend to present the Declaration to Bush because getting an executive order, said Mora, "is the fastest . . . most dramatic, powerful, and immediate way, the most powerful signal we could give to the world." Even if the next president has to sign it.
--Sarah Posner
