US church leaders renew Guantanamo Bay closure call
-12/06/06
The suicides of three pr
US church leaders renew Guantanamo Bay closure call
-12/06/06
The suicides of three prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba have prompted a renewed call by the National Council of Churches USA that the facility be closed.
The suicides are ìanother milestone in a sordid history of human rights denial and crimes against humanity,î declared the Rev Dr Bob Edgar, NCCUSA general secretary.
ìAmericans who love their country and its historic ideals are mortified by this continuing blot on our honour, on our steadfast defense of freedom, and on our commitment to democracy and the rule of law,î Dr Edgar said ñ countering accusations that to question policy is this area is ëunpatrioticí.
Edgar also repeated a plea he made in February 2006 to Secretary of State Condoleeeza Rice that the NCCUSA be allowed to send a small interfaith delegation to Guantanamo ìto monitor the physical, mental and spiritual condition of the detainees.î
Dr Rice has not responded to the request. Similar requests were turned down by former Secretary of State Colin Powell in 2003 and 2004, says NCCUSA.
The latest appeal comes in the wake over a storm about comments from the American governmentís Diplomacy chief (who rather undiplomatically called the deaths a ìPR stuntî and from the Guantanamo camp commander, who dismissed them as ìan act of asymmetric warfare against usî.
The US state department this morning issued a comment ìregrettingî the suicides, and distancing itself from the earlier comments ñ denounced by leading UK human rights lawyer Clive Stafford-Smith and other campaigners.
Last February, American ecumenical leader Bob Edgar praised a United Nations report that called upon the US to close Guantanamo, to refrain from ìany practice amounting to torture,î and either bring detainees to trial or ìrelease them.î
The NCCUSA governing board, composed of representatives of the councilís member communions, has warned that the denials of human rights and freedoms ìare not simply a crime against humanity; they are a sin against God.î
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Christian Peacemaker Teams are among those who have also called for the closure of the camp.
NCCUSA represents 35 member communions embracing over 45 million Christians across the USA.
[Also on Ekklesia: Human rights lawyer deplores deriding of Guantanamo suicides 11/06/06; Christians told of Guantanamo Bay hunger strike; Catholic Worker plans Guantanamo protests over Lent; Government minister joins Christians in calling for Guantanamo Bay closure; Christians face jail after Presidentís call to visit Guant·namo; Children being held at Guantanamo Bay; Former Guantanamo Bay detainees call for release of Christian Peacemaker]
The full text of Dr Edgarís statement follows:
The deaths by suicide of three prisoners of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility are another milestone in a sordid history of human rights denial and crimes against humanity. As the Governing Board of the National Council of Churches USA made clear in February 2004, the denial of rights and freedoms are not simply crimes against human beings: they are sins against God.
We urgently renew our call, made most recently on February 16, 2006, that the United States close its Guantanamo Bay detention facility without delay.
We also renew our request to the Secretary of State that the National Council of Churches USA be allowed to send a small interfaith delegation to Guantanamo to monitor the physical, mental and spiritual condition of the detainees.
It has been four months since the United Nations Commission on Human Rights called upon the U.S. to close Guantanamo, to refrain from ìany practice amounting to torture,î and either bring detainees to trial or ìrelease them.î The National Council of Churches USA immediately endorsed the U.N. report, and called upon the U.S. government to accept its recommendations.
Since then, 75 detainees have staged hunger strikes to protest conditions in the jail. Amnesty International has described the facilities as ìa legal black holeî where detainees are denied access to any court, legal counsel or family visits. ìDenied their rights under international law and held in conditions which may amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,î Amnesty reports, ìthe detainees face severe psychological distress.î
Americans who love their country and its historic ideals are mortified by this continuing blot on our honor, on our steadfast defense of freedom, and on our commitment to democracy and the rule of law. We appeal again to the President and to the Secretary of State: bring this cruel and humiliating chapter to an end. Close the Guantanamo Bay facility immediately.
US church leaders renew Guantanamo Bay closure call
-12/06/06
The suicides of three prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba have prompted a renewed call by the National Council of Churches USA that the facility be closed.
The suicides are ìanother milestone in a sordid history of human rights denial and crimes against humanity,î declared the Rev Dr Bob Edgar, NCCUSA general secretary.
ìAmericans who love their country and its historic ideals are mortified by this continuing blot on our honour, on our steadfast defense of freedom, and on our commitment to democracy and the rule of law,î Dr Edgar said ñ countering accusations that to question policy is this area is ëunpatrioticí.
Edgar also repeated a plea he made in February 2006 to Secretary of State Condoleeeza Rice that the NCCUSA be allowed to send a small interfaith delegation to Guantanamo ìto monitor the physical, mental and spiritual condition of the detainees.î
Dr Rice has not responded to the request. Similar requests were turned down by former Secretary of State Colin Powell in 2003 and 2004, says NCCUSA.
The latest appeal comes in the wake over a storm about comments from the American governmentís Diplomacy chief (who rather undiplomatically called the deaths a ìPR stuntî and from the Guantanamo camp commander, who dismissed them as ìan act of asymmetric warfare against usî.
The US state department this morning issued a comment ìregrettingî the suicides, and distancing itself from the earlier comments ñ denounced by leading UK human rights lawyer Clive Stafford-Smith and other campaigners.
Last February, American ecumenical leader Bob Edgar praised a United Nations report that called upon the US to close Guantanamo, to refrain from ìany practice amounting to torture,î and either bring detainees to trial or ìrelease them.î
The NCCUSA governing board, composed of representatives of the councilís member communions, has warned that the denials of human rights and freedoms ìare not simply a crime against humanity; they are a sin against God.î
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Christian Peacemaker Teams are among those who have also called for the closure of the camp.
NCCUSA represents 35 member communions embracing over 45 million Christians across the USA.
[Also on Ekklesia: Human rights lawyer deplores deriding of Guantanamo suicides 11/06/06; Christians told of Guantanamo Bay hunger strike; Catholic Worker plans Guantanamo protests over Lent; Government minister joins Christians in calling for Guantanamo Bay closure; Christians face jail after Presidentís call to visit Guant·namo; Children being held at Guantanamo Bay; Former Guantanamo Bay detainees call for release of Christian Peacemaker]
The full text of Dr Edgarís statement follows:
The deaths by suicide of three prisoners of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility are another milestone in a sordid history of human rights denial and crimes against humanity. As the Governing Board of the National Council of Churches USA made clear in February 2004, the denial of rights and freedoms are not simply crimes against human beings: they are sins against God.
We urgently renew our call, made most recently on February 16, 2006, that the United States close its Guantanamo Bay detention facility without delay.
We also renew our request to the Secretary of State that the National Council of Churches USA be allowed to send a small interfaith delegation to Guantanamo to monitor the physical, mental and spiritual condition of the detainees.
It has been four months since the United Nations Commission on Human Rights called upon the U.S. to close Guantanamo, to refrain from ìany practice amounting to torture,î and either bring detainees to trial or ìrelease them.î The National Council of Churches USA immediately endorsed the U.N. report, and called upon the U.S. government to accept its recommendations.
Since then, 75 detainees have staged hunger strikes to protest conditions in the jail. Amnesty International has described the facilities as ìa legal black holeî where detainees are denied access to any court, legal counsel or family visits. ìDenied their rights under international law and held in conditions which may amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,î Amnesty reports, ìthe detainees face severe psychological distress.î
Americans who love their country and its historic ideals are mortified by this continuing blot on our honor, on our steadfast defense of freedom, and on our commitment to democracy and the rule of law. We appeal again to the President and to the Secretary of State: bring this cruel and humiliating chapter to an end. Close the Guantanamo Bay facility immediately.