January 28, 2009

Groups applaud Obama’s decision to end torture, close Guantanamo

WASHINGTON (CNS)—Presidential executive orders to ban torture and close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are just the first steps in an effort to assure that torture never again becomes part of American policy, said religious and human rights workers. Organizations such as the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, which has partnered with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, planned to work toward getting the restrictions outlined in the Jan. 22 orders signed by President Barack Obama adopted into law.  “Our goal is to make sure this dark chapter never repeats itself in American history,” said the Rev. Richard Killmer, the campaign’s executive director. Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany, N.Y., chairman of the bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, welcomed the order to ban torture Jan. 22, saying in a statement that the president’s action will “help restore the moral and legal standing of the United States in the world.”