resolution

The Abolition of Torture

2016 Book of Resolutions, #6147

Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured (Hebrews 13:3 NRSV).

Torture is a grave sin that inflicts severe moral injury not only to victims, their families, and communities, but also to any society that remains silent whenever the evil acts of torture occur. The biblical mandate is clear that evil must cease and evil deeds must stop. “[C]ease to do evil,/learn to do good;/seek justice,/rescue the oppressed,/defend the orphan,/plead for the widow” (Isaiah 1:16- 17 NRSV). The Social Principles remind United Methodists that the “use of detention and imprisonment for the harassment and elimination of political opponents or other dissidents violates fundamental human rights. Furthermore, the mistreatment or torture, and other cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment or punishment of persons by governments for any purpose violates Christian teaching and must be condemned and/or opposed by Christians and churches wherever it occurs” (Social Principles ¶ 164A).

The United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment came into force June 26, 1987. The Convention is a key tool to fight torture and other forms of ill-treatment and protect the rights of the survivors, the women, children, and men in every country. By early 2015, 157 governments had ratified the Convention but in 131 countries there were cases of torture and ill-treatment by security forces, police, and other state authorities, according to Amnesty International. (Amnesty International Report 2014/15: The State of the World’s Human Rights, https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/pol10/0001/2015/en/).Torture is defined as “… any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions” (Part I, Article 1 of the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 39/46 of 10 December 1984, entry into force 26 June, 1987, in accordance with article 27 (1)-Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, http://www.ohchr.org).

Each year, the 26th of June is lifted up as the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. It reminds us what the writer of Hebrews urged long ago, that we are first and foremost called to offer compassion for all victims of torture as if it were ourselves. We seek societies based on the golden rule that would never condone the use of torture that we would never want imposed on ourselves. The International Federation of Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (FIACAT) on June 26, 2014, joined together in calling on all States to take up three key actions:

Prevent torture by ensuring respect for all human rights, by training government agents, by cooperating with international and regional institutions and by making their populations aware of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment or treatment;
Condemn any act of torture by criminalizing it in their legislation, by systematically prosecuting those responsible for acts of torture and by fighting against impunity;
Support victims of torture and ill-treatment by offering them protection and by putting into place mechanisms for reparation and compensation.

(International Federation of Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture, Statement on International Day in Support of Victims of Torture: FIACAT celebrates 30 years of the UN Convention against Torture. See www.fiacat.org http://www.fiacat.org.)

In the United States the religious community’s struggle against torture is interreligious. The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) has a membership of over 320 religious organizations including Christians (Catholic, evangelical, main-line Protestant, and Orthodox), Unitarians, Bahai, Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh communities. NRCAT works for an end to torture in four areas:

To ensure that US-sponsored torture of detainees never hap- pens again.
To end the use of torture in US prisons and detention facilities, in particular the use of prolonged solitary confinement.
To end US support (direct or indirect) of any country that engages in torture and to work for US policies that help other nations stop their torture practices.
To end the bigotry and hatred that promotes the practice and acceptance of torture against religiously, ethnically and other targeted groups. Since the fall of 2010, NRCAT has worked for an end to anti-Muslim bigotry. (National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) WHAT IS NRCAT? See web site: www.nrcat.org http://www.nrcat.org. Note: Both the Board of Global Ministries and Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church belong to NRCAT.)

On June 26, 2007, the United Nations International Day to Remember the Victims of Torture, several religious leaders, representing member organizations of NRCAT, spoke. Dr. Ingrid Mattson, President of the Islamic Society of North America, noted, “Torture is a major transgression of God’s limits. The impact of such a transgression is not just on the victim, but on the souls of those engaged in and complicit in the evil act.” Rabbi Gerry Serrota, Chair of the Board of Rabbis for Human Rights-North America, joined her, “… torture shatters and defiles God’s image … meaning that torture violates the tortured human being, who was created in the likeness of God, as well as the torturer’s human soul, which is inevitably defiled and compromised in dishonoring the image of God in his victim.” And, Dr. Charles Gutenson, an evangelical leader and Professor at Asbury Theological Seminary, adds, “Jesus not only commanded, but also modeled a way of life that refused to repay evil with evil. When his enemies came for him, he embodied that call to love our enemies. How then can we who seek to imitate this Jesus ever see torture as a legitimate tool wielded to serve our own purposes?” (NRCAT Press Release— June 26, 2007, Religious Leaders’ Message to Congress: Restore Habeas Corpus, Abolish Torture.)

Increasingly governments are using prolonged solitary confinement as a form of punishment. According to the Vera Institute, roughly 80,000 incarcerated adults and youth are held in solitary confinement each day in the United States. The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Mendez, in a 2011 report found that “where the physical conditions and the prison regime of solitary confinement cause severe mental and physical pain or suffering, when used as a punishment, during pretrial detention, indefinitely, prolonged, on juveniles or persons with mental disabilities, it can amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and even torture. In addition the use of solitary confinement increases the risk that acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment will go undetected and unchallenged.” (See http://solitaryconfinement.org/uploads/SpecRapTortureAug2011.pdf>)

The UN Special Rapporteur, international human rights organizations, and the National Religious Campaign Against Torture are all calling for: an end to prolonged solitary confinement beyond 15 days; abolishing the use of solitary confinement for pretrial detainees, individuals with mental illnesses, youth under the age of 18, pregnant women, and immigrants detained on immigration charges.

Therefore:

The United Methodist Church must continue to publicly condemn and oppose torture wherever it occurs through legislative and other means. The Council of Bishops and all agencies of the church must work together to develop resources and find ways to keep the information about torture, its perpetrators, the victims, their families, and their communities continuously in the consciousness of United Methodists.
United Methodists must take time in their churches, wom- en’s, youth, and men’s groups to study, reflect, and pray about how to abolish torture and live out the biblical mandate to “love our neighbors” even in the midst of a “war on terror.” (Paraphrase from Letter to the United Methodist Women on Torture, May 11, 2005, sent by Kyung Za Yim, President, Women’s Division, Global Ministries, United Methodist Church, and Jan Love, Deputy General Secretary, Women’s Division.)
United Methodists must seek to ensure the ratification by and compliance of their governments with the provisions of the Convention against Torture and all internationally accepted norms and standards on the prevention of torture; fully support the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and honor their international obligations to prosecute alleged perpetrators of torture.
United Methodists should join international efforts to end the use of solitary confinement.
United Methodists must express their solidarity with churches and peoples everywhere in the common struggle to have the provisions of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture strictly applied in all countries. And, United Methodists should organize or join events and join in prayer on the 26th of June, the United Nations International Day to Remember the Victims of Torture.
United Methodists should seek access to places of detention and interrogation centers in order to ensure that persons held are not mistreated. Treatment of prisoners should not be contrary to the Geneva Convention Relative to Treatment of Prisoners of War (1949) particularly Articles 13, 14, 15, 17, 18. (Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, adopted on 12 August 1949 by the Diplomatic Conference for the Establishment of International Conventions for the Protection of Victims of War, held in Geneva from 21 April to 12 August 1949, entered into force: 21 October 1950, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Web site: http://www.ohchr.org.)
United Methodists should join ecumenical and interfaith efforts to ensure the inalienable right of survivors of torture to rehabilitation, access to adequate reparations, including medical and psychological rehabilitation, restitution, compensation, satisfaction, and the guarantee of nonrepetition. It is recommended that The United Methodist Church work in partnership with international organizations, such as the Center for Victims of Torture, which have for many years developed the skills to care for victims of torture. Most organizations have Centers around the world sensitive to the language and culture of the victims and their families.
United Methodists should urge governments to fully fund the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture which was established in 1981 for humanitarian, legal, and financial aid to persons who have been tortured and to members of their families. (Fact Sheet No. 4, Methods of Combating Torture, Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights.)

ADOPTED 2008
AMENDED AND READOPTED 2016
RESOLUTION #6147, 2012 BOOK OF RESOLUTIONS
RESOLUTION #6119, 2008 BOOK OF RESOLUTIONS

See Social Principles, ¶ 165C, D.

To purchase the Book of Resolutions, click here.