Thursday, December 11, 2014

US Bishops Say CIA Acts of Torture Were Wrong; "Violated the God-Given Humanity in All People"

The U.S. bishops' Committee on International Justice and Peace said acts of torture outlined in a Senate Intelligence Committee report this week "violated the God-given human dignity inherent in all people and were unequivocally wrong," the Catholic News website reports today (December 11, 2014).

Bishop Oscar Cantu of Las Cruces, New Mexico -- the Committee chair -- also called on President Barack Obama to strengthen the legal prohibitions against torture "to ensure that this never happens again."

The bishop joined several religious leaders who condemned the use of torture by the CIA after Democrats in the Senate released a 500-page executive summary of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence findings on December 9.

Sister Patricia Chappell -- executive director of Pax Christi USA -- said she was appalled by the "lack of moral integrity of a nation and individuals who justify the use of torture in the name of national security." She called the actions by the CIA a "travesty of justice and a flagrant violation of human rights, with no reverence for the dignity of human life."

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