Action Alert: Immediate Action needed on the Habeas Amendment

Immediate Action Needed on the Habeas Amendment

Dear NRCAT Supporter:

Today or tomorrow, the Senate is expected to vote on an amendment to restore the most basic human right to U.S. detainees - the right to go before a court and ask the government to show that they have a basis for their detention. The right of habeas corpus gives our federal courts the opportunity to discover and address U.S.-sponsored acts of torture upon detainees. This right was stripped from the federal courts when Congress passed and the President signed into law the Military Commissions Act last year.

You can help change this.

Please contact your Senators today (Capitol Switchboard 202-224-2131) and urge them to vote "YES" on the Specter-Leahy Amendment to the Department of Defense Authorization bill.

60 votes are needed in the Senate to pass the amendment. The following Senators have not announced which way they plan to vote:

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT)
Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE)
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE)
Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN)
Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID)
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)
Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN)
Sen. George Voinavich (R-OH)
Sen. John Sununu (R-NH)
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR)

Please contact your Senators -- whether they are on this list or not -- immediately and urge them to vote "YES" on the Specter-Leahy Amendment to the Department of Defense Authorization bill.

After your calls, please help NRCAT by completing our online report form. A report that you called and a description of anything noteworthy about the call is always helpful to NRCAT as we work together.

Thank you for all you do to end U.S.-sponsored torture.

Sincerely,

Linda and Rich

Linda Gustitus, President, Board of Directors, National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT)
Rev. Richard Killmer, Executive Director, NRCAT

P.S. You might find these two editorials helpful:

"Terrorism and the Law: In Washington, a Need to Right Wrongs" New York Times, 7/15/07.
"Bring Back The Rule Of Law" Hartford Courant, 7/18/07.