June 26 is the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. Find ways to speak out against torture.
The following article was published in the July-August 2023 issue of NewsNotes.
To commemorate the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, Pope Francis named the abolition of torture as the intention for his monthly prayer video. (Watch the video at https://thepopevideo.org/)
“Torture is not past history. Unfortunately, it’s part of our history today,” Pope Francis says. Explaining the teaching of our faith to put the dignity of the person above all else, the Holy Father asked for prayers “that the international community commit itself concretely to abolish torture, guaranteeing support to victims and their families.”
During the week of June 26, staff of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns assisted torture survivors in attending meetings with staff of Congressional offices in Washington, DC. Survivors from countries such as Cameroon, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Nigeria, and Sudan shared stories of their life experiences and asked Members of Congress to stand strong against the use of torture everywhere.
The meetings were organized by the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition (TASSC), a Washington, DC-based social service and advocacy organization for healing and ending torture. The late Ursuline Sister Dianna Ortiz founded TASSC in 1998, after surviving torture in Guatemala ten years earlier.
The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns also continues to support efforts to close Guantánamo Bay Detention Center, site of countless acts of torture by the U.S. government on the 780 people detained there since 2002. Thirty Muslim men are currently detained at the site in Cuba. Nineteen of these men have never been charged with a crime, and 16 of them have been cleared for transfer.
The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) invites all people to ask President Biden to immediately transfer all the men cleared for release from Guantánamo to countries where their human rights will be respected. Send a message Pres. Biden here: https://mogc.info/NRCAT-Guantanamo
NRCAT hosts monthly public vigils in cities around the country. Consider hosting a vigil in your community. With just three people, you can have two hold a banner, and one take some pictures to share with your local newspaper and on social media. Their website offers a litany and prayer written by the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns. To receive a “Close Guantanamo” banner, email tmorrow@nrcat.org.
Photo of the TASSC advocacy group, June 27