A Minute Against The Abuse and Torture of Prisoners Held
By the United States Military
It has been reported in the media that the United States Armed Forces and the Central Intelligence Agency are subjecting captives, who are suspected terrorists, to physical and emotional torture. Amnesty International considers the conditions in which most of the detainees have been held a cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. The International Committee of the Red Cross, as the only nongovernmental organization to have access to the detainees, has taken the rare step of making public its observation that the conditions of confinement have had a very adverse impact on their physical and mental well-being. [New York Times 10/9/03] This is being done in places that are not United States soil, so United States laws do not apply. These captives are being called combatants instead of soldiers, so that the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of prisoners of war do not apply.
We abhor the torture of prisoners of any classification in any place. We must not sink to this level of inhumanity.
Our country presents itself as a shining example of morality and right use of power for the rest of the world. We have been shaped in our regard for human rights by Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Carter. The U.S. Constitution provides for due process and fair trial, imprisonment that is not “cruel or unusual,” and innocence until proven guilty. The Constitution extends these rights to "persons," or "the people," or "the accused," and does not limit them to citizens. We proclaim our horror of and our opposition to this inhumane imprisonment. This wrong is not evaded by incarceration outside the United States.
Romans 12:21 says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
William Penn said, “a good end cannot sanctify evil means, nor must we ever do evil that good may come of it. Let us try what love will do.”
Approved by Chesapeake Quarterly Meeting of Friends gathered at Patapsco Friends Meeting, June 13, 2004
John McKusick, Clerk