Take Action Now
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=12428
Please contact your Members of Congress today to urge them to keep the anti-torture amendment exactly as passed by the U.S. Senate and to oppose the Graham Amendment.
Click here to take action
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=12428
We need your help to ensure that members of the House support the Anti-Torture Amendment as passed by the Senate, and oppose the Graham Amendment.
Some Representatives are reportedly trying to strip the anti-torture amendment. Please send an email and call your Representative today to urge them to keep the Anti-Torture Amendment exactly as passed by the Senate, and to support the fundamental right to due process by opposing the Graham Amendment!
Click here to take action now.
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=12428
A critical vote in the House of Representatives could come as early as tonight. Representatives may soon vote on how to advise a small group of their colleagues who are negotiating the fate of the Anti-Torture Amendment. They might also vote on the fate of the Graham Amendment that would dangerously restrict the right for detainees at Guantanamo to challenge their detention in federal courts.
Click here to take action now.
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=12428
You can also call your Member of Congress:
U.S. Representative
Anti-Torture Talking points
Because there are differences between the House and Senate passed versions of the bills, Congress will appoint a select group of Representatives and Senators to a "conference committee" responsible for reconciling the discrepancies between House and Senate versions of legislation and agreeing on one final version for both chambers to vote on and send to the President for signature. For this reason, we'd like activists to contact both of their Senators and their Representative in support of the Anti-Torture Amendment and opposing the Graham Amendment.
-- As your constituent, I urge you to adopt the Anti-Torture Amendment, as originally passed by the U.S. Senate. I urge you to forcefully oppose any effort to modify or to strip the language of the Senate passed amendment from the Department of Defense Appropriations bill. And I urge you to press the President to sign the provision into law without revisions.
-- Any attempts to create exemptions for the CIA, a presidential waiver on the ban, or other qualification would put the U.S. government in a position of authorizing inhumane treatment, in violation of core principles that Americans embrace and in violation of U.S. and international law. Any such revisions to the original amendment should be overwhelmingly opposed.
-- Torture is a tool of terror, not liberty. No country can hope to promote freedom, democracy and justice if it also claims a right to inflict inhuman cruelty. America’s best values will only survive for our children if we stand by them in fearful and uncertain times. We must never let terrorists influence standards for moral and lawful behavior.
-- I am particularly concerned to hear that some Representatives may want to strip the anti-torture language from the Appropriations bill, and let identical language wither and never be signed into law on the authorization bill. The Senate passed anti-torture language must be adopted without modification on both bills. I urge you also to oppose the Graham Amendment to the Defense Authorization bill and to ensure that Congress protect core principles of justice and due process, especially the basic right to Habeas Corpus. The ability to challenge one’s detention in a court of law is absolutely critical to protect the human rights of anyone in custody.
-- The US Army Field Manual recognizes that torture and inhuman treatment is ineffective, stating that "Use of torture and other illegal methods is a poor technique that yields unreliable results, may damage subsequent collection efforts, and induce the source to say what he thinks the interrogator wants to hear."
-- As my elected official, I urge you to press for the adoption of the Anti-Torture Amendment in the form passed by Senate, and to urge the President to sign the provision into law without revisions.
