Resolution Against Torture: Human Rights in a Time of Terrorism (2006)

This policy establishes biblical foundations for opposing torture, especially the affirmation that all persons, created by God, have value and rights that preclude inhumane treatment via torture. Although it addresses a number of places in the world where torture was ongoing in 2006, it focuses primarily on the United States’ use of torture in the course of the Iraq and Afghan wars. The resolution places the PC(USA) squarely in opposition to torture and approves any congressional steps to curb the practice by the country’s military and intelligence communities.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been among the strongest supporters of human rights law, an area of significant success in 20th Century Protestant Christian witness generally. One part of this has been our now 20-year history of preparing human rights updates for Christian education and public policy use. Previous General Assembly actions are noted in the background materials to this year’s resolution; copies can be found in the Advisory Committee’s Social Policy Compilation.