In this column published Thursday in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Robert Crawford of the UWT faculty called attention to a resolution passed last week by the Presbytery of Seattle advocating a commission to investigate high-level responsibility in the U.S. government for torture, as part of "a nationwide campaign by people of faith." -- Religious people invoke the notion of human beings being created in "the image of God," while secular-minded individuals conscious of history are aware that whoever is aware of evil and chooses "to be silent enters into complicity with the evil witnessed," Crawford wrote, urging "all people of conscience" to join in the effort to seek "an independent investigation to establish the facts." -- In August 2005, Crawford joined a UFPPC delegation that lobbied Adam Smith (D-WA 9th) in support of John McCain's anti-torture legislation, which the president eventually signed but accompanied with a "signing statement" stating his conviction that he has the right to set aside the law whenever he deems it necessary. -- "The question has become a stark one," Crawford stated: "Are we a society ruled by law? Or are we ruled by a president who proclaims his right to ignore the law, ignore the Constitution, dodge congressional and judicial oversight and exercise unlimited power in the name of national security?" ...
Commentary
Opinion
Guest columnist
ABUSE PUTS SOUL OF OUR NATION AT RISK
By Robert Crawford
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
March 30, 2006
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/264768_torture30.html
Last week, the Presbytery of Seattle passed a resolution concerning detainee torture and abuse. At the behest of its Social Justice and Peacemaking Committee, the Presbytery decided to endorse an "overture," to be forwarded to the church's General Assembly, calling for a 9/11-style commission to investigate "direct command responsibility for having ordered or participated in violations of law."
What an extraordinary thing. Once again, the churches are pressing our government to act responsibly. This effort is part of a nationwide campaign by people of faith. This January, a conference at Princeton Theological Seminary, attended by 200 Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Sikh leaders, founded an interfaith National Religious Campaign Against Torture. Why are religious people acting?
People who see the image of God in every human being cannot tolerate officially sanctioned torture. Along with many secularists, they cannot witness grave injustice without responding. Many have also been informed by history: If one knows of an evil and does not act, one becomes a "bystander" -- a person who by choosing to be silent enters into complicity with the evil witnessed.
Torture is an absolute degradation of human dignity. Despite official denials, multiple sources have documented that torture has been widespread and systematic, up to and even including homicide. Enough evidence exists to warrant an independent investigation to determine if these unlawful practices have been sanctioned by top military and civil authorities. For those of us closely following the issue, the conclusion that torture has been officially sanctioned at the highest levels is unavoidable.
It is important to note that the numerous official investigations have evaded the matter of policy and command responsibility. No high-ranking military or civilian official has been held accountable. There have been no investigations of civilian leaders at the Pentagon or CIA. The principle of command responsibility is recognized both in U.S. and international law; yet, no officer has been indicted for abuses by subordinates under his command. Instead of command responsibility, the official mantra has been that the "abuses" were "unauthorized actions taken by a few individuals." Thus, the trials of only low-level personnel.
One cannot but be appalled by the Bush administration's audacity: on the one hand, denial of wrongdoing; on the other, the president threatened to veto the McCain amendment that called for an unconditional end to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of anyone in the custody of U.S. personnel, anywhere in the world. On one hand, denial; on the other, Vice President Dick Cheney pressured Congress to exempt the CIA from the McCain prohibition. On the one hand, denial; on the other, the president proclaimed in his signing statement that he will implement the new law as he wishes. These practices are the administration's public face. Behind the scenes, secret programs, secret directives, secret working groups, secret and extreme legal rationales.
The question has become a stark one: Are we a society ruled by law? Or are we ruled by a president who proclaims his right to ignore the law, ignore the Constitution, dodge congressional and judicial oversight and exercise unlimited power in the name of national security?
If Congress is too compromised or too timid to act, the burden falls to Americans. Democracy has always been a historic struggle against arbitrary and absolute power by government. If unjust and illegal acts have occurred, the law offers just remedy.
The Presbyterian Initiative Against Torture seeks an independent investigation to establish the facts. All people of conscience should join in their effort. As the Princeton interfaith conference put it, "Nothing less is at stake in the torture-abuse crisis than the soul of our nation."
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