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Christian PostPresident Barack Obama won the praises of some religious leaders on Thursday when he signed executive orders to close the controversial U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within a year, ban torture and end the CIA’s secret overseas prisons.
The executive orders signed by the new president on his second day at the helm sought to send a message to the world that the United States will not tolerate torture and will abide by domestic and international laws concerning the treatment of detainees.
“The religious community has labored faithfully for three years to end U.S.-sponsored torture,” said the president of the interfaith group National Religious Campaign Against Torture, Linda Gustitus. “We are grateful today for this important step. The dark, dark days of the past are behind us, and we all must work to make sure they never return again.”
NRCAT had urged Obama to issue an executive order to end torture on his first day as President. As part of their campaign to end U.S. practice of torture, the group featured a countdown clock on its Web site that counted up from Obama’s first day in office to track how long it takes the new administration to ban torture.
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http://christianpost.com/Society/Ethics_rights/2009/01/faith-leaders-laud-obama-for-torture-ban-23/
http://jta.org/news/article/2009/01/22/1002460/jewish-groups-praise-orders-prohibiting-torture-closing-gitmoJewish groups praise torture ban, Gitmo closing
WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Two U.S. Jewish groups and an interfaith coalition hailed President Barack Obama's executive orders closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center and prohibiting torture.
"The decision to close Guantanamo and end U.S-sponsored torture gives us hope that we are on a path to restoring principles of justice that have been set aside for far too long," said Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, in a statement. "These executive orders send a clear statement of a return to the principles that have made the United States of America a beacon of freedom and democracy to the world."
The Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the umbrella body for public policy groups, also praised the orders, calling it a "welcome move toward restoring the American and Jewish ideals of human dignity and respect.
"By signing these orders during the first days of his presidency, President Obama has indicated that upholding human rights will be a central pillar of his administration’s national security and foreign policies," the group said in a statement.