Scott Horton has been one of the most tenacious investigators and reporters on issues of torture and accountability. Earlier this year, he broke the stunning story about three Guantanamo prisoners, whose deaths there were previously reported as suicides. Horton's investigations showed they more likely died during torture by US secret units. They were killed at a previously unknown "black site" outside the Guantanamo complex.

Father Roy Bourgeois is a featured speaker. A decorated Vietnam veteran, Father Bourgeois founded School of the Americas Watch in1990 and has advocated its closure since then. Also speaking at the Conference is Terry Kupers. Kupers is Institute Professor at The Wright Institute, a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He is an expert on the psychological effects of prison conditions including isolated confinement in super-maximum security units, the quality of correctional mental health care, and the effects of sexual abuse in correctional settings.

Click here for more information on the QUIT Conference and to register for this important event.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. — Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

• Postcards asking Congress to support ICRC access to all U.S. detainees.
• Three informational presentations to Bay Area congregations.
• BARCAT delegation visits Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office.

ICRC Access Postcards
We began this project with a BARCAT Leadership Team meeting in late April. Dick Strong, Patty Lipinska, Randy Summers, Maureen Wesolowski, and Geoffrey Gaskins made a plan was to call our contacts and ask them to “pledge” a number of postcards they believed they could get signed by their congregation. We received pledges from nine congregations for a total of 595 cards. We also gave 160 cards to the Tikkun Leil Shauvot event in Berkeley, bringing our total to 755. We asked everyone to sign three postcards for their entire Congressional delegation.

Of the 595 postcards mailed in early June, we received 453 back, a return rate of roughly 60 percent. We took 213 postcards to our meeting at Senator Feinstein’s office. The remaining postcards were mailed to appropriate Congress members.

Informational Presentations
Louise Specht pledged to NRCAT to do at least three presentations of BARCAT's Dismantling the Ticking Time Bomb presentation if NRCAT would help BARCAT buy a projector. As it turned out, Louise was invited to make four presentations and to assist on a fifth for these congregations:

June 6, First Baptist Church of Berkeley, Berkeley
June 12, Masjid-al Imam Mosque, Oakland
June 13, First United Church of Christ, Palo Alto
June 27, First Congregational Church, Berkeley
June 30, St. Mary Magdalene Church, Berkeley

Delegation to Senator Dianne Feinstein’s Office
At 3:00 p.m. on Monday, June 28, 2010, a nine-member BARCAT coalition met with Christine Epres at the Senator’s San Francisco office. Peggy Alter, Robin Braverman, Gregory Demirchyan, Geoffrey Gaskins, Michael Hamill, Patty Lipinska, Rev. Will McGarvey, Joel Siegel, and Louise Specht attended, representing Catholic,, Protestant, and Jewish traditions, NRCAT prepared a press release for the event, which was released on July 29, 2010.

The issues discussed included the following.

• BARCAT would like Senator Feinstein to support language codifying ICRC access provisions in the FY 2011 Intelligence Authorization bill.
• The Physicians for Human Rights Report alleges that medical and psychological experimentation were conducted on detainees. We requested that the Senator publish a report on the findings of the investigation currently under way in the Senate Intelligence Committee and respond to BARCAT in writing within two weeks about her support for the bill.
• We reiterated our previous request that the Senator support the appointment of a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the U.S. torture program and its possible violations of domestic and international law.
• Would the Senator put her position on US torture on her website?

Epres encouraged continuing communication between BARCAT and Senator Feinstein's office and committed to addressing the issues raised in our discussions.

On June 12, I sent Christine Epres a followup letter; and soon NRCAT will issue a press release thanking the Senator for including the PHR allegations in the Intelligence Committee investigation. Although Epres has since moved to Washington D.C., she has introduced BARCAT to her replacements, and we are working on scheduling a followup meeting with them.

This Iftar celebration  was an opportunity for the BARCAT community to come together with Bay Area Muslims and begin to get to know each other. We had a delicious meal prepared by Maruf. A wonderful time was had by all! Many thanks to Maruf and Robin for creating this wonderful time together to celebrate the blessed month of Ramadan.

The main thing for the All-BARCAT Meeting is to present the updated, PowerPoint version of "Torture, Popular Culture and the Truth." Louise Specht, with help and feedback from a variety of friends, supporters, and audiences, has been working on it continuously since it was first developed last year (just about a year ago!), and it's very good. We want everyone to see it, and we want to urge you to promote it to your home congregation. At the meeting, we are also going to take a little time to get better acquainted with one another. We shall find out who is of the same faith, and who is from the sameCongressional district, and brainstorm together the BARCAT 2010 agenda. **We hope to have a phone-in from a surprise guest** SUNDAY, JANUARY 31, 2:00 pm KEHILLA COMMUNITY SYNAGOGUE 1300 GRAND AVENUE, PIEDMONT (Exit from Hwy 580, both ways, Grand Avenue) We chose Oakland/Piedmont because it's about as centrally located a spot as we could find for folks coming from all over the Bay Area. Kehilla Community Synagogue is very close to the 580 freeway. Hope to see you there! Thanks to the folks who have already replied! If you haven't done so, please RSVP to Randy Summers, 925 363-0092 , summerslo@comcast. net Blessings and True Peace.

Many constituents mailed personalized letters to Senators Feinstein and Boxer and other local representatives. The Los Angeles Region Religious Campaign Against Torture (LARRCAT), a partner organization, also delivered hundreds of signed letters making the same call to action to Feinstein’s southern California office today. In conjunction with these on-the-ground efforts, hundreds of California residents have sent emails using NRCAT’s online form to their Members of Congress urging them to vote to ensure that the President has both the authority and the funds necessary to close the detention center. "Our values and laws are not decorations we wear when times are good; they are there to guide us through the difficult times,” said Louise Specht, Convener for BARCAT. “We depart from them at our peril, as the legal tangle at Guantanamo makes clear." BARCAT has played an active role in the movement to end U.S.-sponsored torture since 2007. Last summer, BARCAT fielded visits to every Congressional office in the greater Bay Area in order to give constituents an opportunity to discuss U.S. torture policy with their member of Congress and urge them to support an investigation of U.S. torture through a House select committee.

“People of many religious faiths hold dear the tradition that human beings were created in the image of God. That tradition carries with it deep responsibility – the responsibility to ensure dignity and justice for every human being, even for our enemies. Legitimate systems of law based on internationally recognized human rights are the best tool we have for ensuring justice and peace in our world. The creation of secretive, shadowy pseudo-justice systems like that at Guantanamo invite abuse and undermine the ability of us all to build a just, peaceful world in which the dignity of each human being is protected. Guantanamo must close now.”

Rabbi Katie Mizrahi Congregation Or Shalom, San Francisco

"Guantanamo has been a shameful episode in our history. We can do better. We are seeking justice for all the detainees."

Rev. Patricia E. de Jong, Senior Minister First Congregational Church of Berkeley