Letter to Secretary Rumsfeld on Ethical Treatment of Detainees, June 16, 2006

Letter from Bishop Thomas G. Wenski, Chairman, Committee on International Policy, to Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Ethical Treatment of Detainees, June 16, 2006

As Chairman of the Committee on International Policy of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, I urge you to make sure that the Defense Department upholds the highest ethical standards and U.S. commitments to observe international law in its treatment of detainees whether here in the United States or abroad.   

Last year the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops encouraged Congress to adopt provisions in the FY 2006 Defense Appropriations Act prescribing uniform standards for the interrogation of persons under detention of the Department of Defense and prohibiting cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment of persons under custody or control of the United States government.  We welcomed President Bush’s endorsement of those provisions.  When Congress adopted them with his support, the United States began to turn the corner on the profound moral question of how we should treat detainees.  This issue also has a major impact on the way the United States is viewed abroad. 

The Committee on International Policy is writing now to express its concern over press reports regarding a directive on the treatment of detainees under consideration by your Department.  These press accounts, if they are accurate, seem to suggest that the new directive might not incorporate the standards of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.  As you know, the United States has long supported Common Article 3, which prohibits “cruel treatment and torture” as well as “outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment….”  Our own troops and citizens benefit from the protections of this standard.  We strongly urge you to ensure sure that these important protections are in the new directive on the treatment of detainees. 

letter-to-secretary-rumsfeld-from-bishop-wenski-on-ethical-treatment-of-detainees-2006-06-16.pdf