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Legislative Action Message -- The Senate Can Stop Torture - FCNL
           
            Legislative Action Message
        
      
      The Senate Can Stop Torture - FCNL

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                  Read this alert online: 
<http://www.fcnl.org/action/2006/lam0918.htm> 

                  Congress is in a bind. Many members of Congress are opposed 
to any legislation that would condone torture, secret prisons, or other 
programs that would undermine U.S. security, and violate the moral principles on 
which this nation was founded. But member of Congress are under pressure because 
the president is arguing that these techniques are necessary for the defense 
of the United States. Hearing from their constituents now could help them 
resolve this dilemma and do the right thing. Please contact your senators today to 
let them know you oppose brutal, inhuman and degrading treatment and secret 
prisons.

                  Normally, we at FCNL provide you with legislative 
suggestions on Thursday. This week we're contacting you on Monday because members of 
Congress may be asked to vote in the next few days on legislation proposed by 
President Bush that would legalize the use of secret prisons and torture (what 
he calls an "alternative set of interrogation procedures"). The president 
argues he needs this capability to extract intelligence information that could 
prevent new attacks on the United States and that he says needs this legislation 
to be passed before Congress adjourns at the end of September for the election 
campaign season. 

                  Senators from both major political parties, former 
government officials, and retired military leaders have been encouraging Congress not 
to rush to pass legislation. "The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis 
of our fight against terrorism," warns former Secretary of State Colin Powell. 
He joins other former military leaders, several groups of retired judges, and 
Senators John McCain (AZ), John Warner (VA), and Lindsey Graham (SC) in 
stating that Congress should not undermine the internationally accepted standards 
for treatment of prisoners articulated in the Geneva Conventions. (Read some of 
the statements.)

                  This debate is not abstract. The president is asking for 
permission to hold "disappeared" prisoners in secret locations, without access 
to the International Red Cross, the nonpartisan international organization that 
monitors the treatment of prisoners worldwide. He wants the CIA to have 
permission to handcuff prisoners in uncomfortable standing positions for up to 40 
hours, to induce hypothermia by putting prisoners in cold cells and dousing 
them with water, by frightening them with attack dogs and near drowning 
experiences, and by using a series of other torture techniques. Civilized nations agree 
that these techniques are immoral and according to military leaders they 
don't lead to useful (accurate) intelligence information. 

                  Take Action: Torture is Not Acceptable, Anytime, Anyplace, 
Anywhere
                  Write your senators today to urge them to resist any rush 
toward approving the president's proposal and to speak out against torture and 
secret prisons. Congress to reject the president's proposals and consider 
carefully any changes to existing law governing treatment of U.S. detainees.

                  Read more!

                 
                    
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                  ________________________________________

                  Friends Committee on National Legislation
                  245 Second St. NE, Washington, DC 20002-5795
                  fcnl at fcnl.org * http://www.fcnl.org
                  phone: (202)547-6000 * toll-free: (800)630-1330

                  We seek a world free of war and the threat of war
                  We seek a society with equity and justice for all
                  We seek a community where every person's potential may be 
fulfilled
                  We seek an earth restored.