NRCAT PROGRAMS, EVENTS, RESOURCES AND ACTIVITIES – Winter 2012
Speakers Bureau Press Release final Jan 15
NRCAT has four primary program areas
- Calling for a Commission of Inquiry intoU.S.government-sanctioned abuse and torture
- Countering anti-Muslim sentiment in theU.S.
- Ending extended isolation inU.S.prisons – anything more than 15 days
- Calling for the President to sign and the Senate to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture
Suggested Resources and Actions by Program area:
Ending Extended Isolation in US prisons
Federal Legislation – NRCAT is currently working to pass the National Criminal Justice Commission Act (NCJCA). NCJCA would create a commission tasked with conducting a comprehensive review of all aspects of our national criminal justice system. There has not been a comprehensive review of our national criminal justice system in over 40 years, and it is well past time.
- Contact your members of Congress to pass the NCJCA.
Resource: Special Rapporteur Juan Mendez presented a report about the use of solitary confinement in prisons across the world to the United Nations General Assembly on October 18, 2011. The report contains an overview of the history and effects of solitary confinement. The report also provides conclusions about when solitary confinement amounts to torture and offers recommendations to limit and reform its use. This report, General Assembly report A/66/268, is available in six languages on the UN website. Select “E” for English.
- Check the NRCAT website for a list of states where reform is taking place. A new DVD will be available by January 2012. Schedule a showing for 2012 on the subject.
Countering Anti-Muslim Sentiment in the U.S
Resource: DVD Hawo’s Dinner Party. Go to http://www.shelbyvillemultimedia.org/modules/hdp/ for a complete guide to using this DVD to foster discussion. View the trailer or the complete video. NRCAT has a limited supply of DVDs to share. WRRCAT has one copy available for use.
- Schedule a showing of the DVD and facilitate discussion using the guide provided.
Calling for a Commission of Inquiry
Resources: DVD “Repairing the Brokenness”, downloadable resources online at the NRCAT website. Download the petition style form of the call for a Commission of Inquiry into abuses approved by our government.
- Ask your congregation members and body to sign the call for a Commission of Inquiry.
Urging the President to sign the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture
Resource: DVD Preventing Torture Everywhere. Petition style form for groups to sign on to urge the President to sign OPCAT and for the Senate to ratify. Use the following link: http://nrcat.nonprofitsoapbox.com/storage/nrcat/documents/opcat_statement_petition_version.pdf
- Show the DVD
- Print the petition and invite individuals and the congregational body to sig
General Education for Congregations on What Torture is – and is not:Torture is a Moral Issue
- Download the petition style Statement of Conscience and ask individuals and congregations to sign – online or on the hard copy petition.
http://nrcat.nonprofitsoapbox.com/storage/nrcat/documents/petition_style_form_1_5_08.doc
- Go to the NRCAT Home Page to the Action Center and then to the Online Store and purchase a banner that states “Torture is Wrong” or “Torture is a Moral Issue” and display it prominently.
Some congregations keep the banner up all year; others display it during June, Torture Awareness Month.
- Use the NRCAT DVD “Ending Torture Forever” as an education piece for congregations to stimulate discussion about what torture is – and what it is not.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT WRRCAT CHAIRWOMAN SUZANNE O’HATNICK AT wrrcat2012(at)gmail.com