Democratic Party of Orange County, NC
Torture: A Resolution Calling for Ending United States Sponsorship of Torture, adopted at the April 21, 2007 Orange County Democratic Party Convention in Hillsborough, North Carolina
Whereas it has been alleged that privately owned firms and individuals physically resident in North Carolina may be engaged in torture, “torture by proxy,” and or extraordinary renditions; and
Whereas the systematic use of torture as a policy of governmental control is a crime against humanity; and
Whereas the right to be free of torture is a fundamental human right
recognized in both constitutional and international law, and all government-sponsored
acts of torture, regardless of circumstance, are immoral, unjustified,
and illegal; and
Whereas United States-sanctioned torture is not justified by national
security needs as it engenders hatred against the nation, does not
work to gain reliable information, does not keep the country safe,
and the use torture shames the nation and endangers United States
troops and citizens at home and abroad; and
Whereas acts of torture violate United States criminal laws, specifically
the federal Anti-Torture Statute and the Federal War Crimes Act of
1996, and they violate international treaties to which the United
States is a party, including the Geneva Conventions, the Convention
Against Torture, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights; and
Whereas no United States policy or official -- not the attorney general,
not the secretary of defense, not the president -- is above the rule
of law, including laws against torture and this time-honored principle
of respect for law is intended to prevent governmental corruption
and the abuse of power; and
Whereas the Orange County Democratic Party firmly rejects the use
of detention, incarceration, and interrogation techniques by agents
of the government of the United States that can be construed in terms
of law or common morality as torture and cruel or degrading punishment;
Therefore be it resolved that the Orange County Democratic Party calls
on all national and state leaders to support eradication of torture
practices by the United States, and the bringing of charges against
United States former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, former
Central Intelligence Agency director George Tenet, United States Attorney
General Alberto Gonzales, and all other officials responsible with
aiding, abetting, ordering, and conspiring to commit the illegal physical
and psychological torture of detainees in the custody of the United
States in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantánamo, as well as secret United
States-controlled prison facilities elsewhere, and further charge
these officials with the illegal transport, or extraordinary rendition,
of certain detainees to countries known for their systematic torture
of prisoners; and
Be it further resolved that the Orange County Democratic Party calls
on US Senators Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr, US Representative
David Price , Governor Michael Easley, and the NC Legislature in Raleigh
to support proposed additional legal restraints to further underline
our national laws against the use of torture and acts that the facilitate
the use of torture in the United States and elsewhere, and to fully
support all international law banning policies and practices of torture
and its facilitation, and
Be it further resolved that the Orange County Democratic Party calls
upon the Governor, the Attorney General of North Carolina and the
NC State Legislature to investigate, to report to the People of North
Carolina, and to prosecute if any of these alleged illegal activities
have violated N.C. law, and that the Attorney General of NC specifically
instruct the State Bureau of Investigations to investigate Aero Contractors
in Johnston and Lenoir Counties as to its activities and their compliance
with NC law.