Hon. Alberto R.

Gonzales
Counsel to the President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500-0003

Dear Judge Gonzales,

We, the undersigned religious leaders, congratulate you on your

nomination to be the Attorney General of the United States. In the
prophetic tradition, and guided by the sacred principles of truth,
justice and respect for all of God’s creation, we write to express our
grave concern about the United States’ practice of Torture, renditions,
and rolling back minimum standards of human decency during your tenure
as White House Counsel. We call upon you to denounce unequivocally
this affront to human dignity. We also call on you to resolve that,
under your leadership, the Department of Justice will shape American
legal policy in a way that will help the United States regain its
status as a moral leader in the community of nations.

All people are created in the image of God. It is therefore a moral

imperative to treat each human being with reverence and dignity.
Torture – the deliberate effort to undermine human dignity – is a grave
sin and affront to God. The systemic use of torture on prisoners at
Abu Ghraib was fundamentally Immoral, as is the rendering of any
detainee to authorities likely to commit torture. A series of legal
memos and a general culture of disrespect for international law invited
these abuses and thus contributed to this evil. Those memos attempted
to justify the use of torture and to disavow protections for prisoners
of war – including one in which you referred to the Geneva Convention’s
protections as “quaint” and “obsolete.” As the nominee to be the
United States’ top law enforcement officer, we ask that you disavow any
imprimatur that you may have placed as White House Counsel on the use
of torture and that you unequivocally denounce the use of torture in
any situation against any human being.

We are all made in the image of God – every human being. No legal
category created by men can revoke that status. Any attempt to
undermine international standards on torture, renditions, or habeas
corpus is sinful.

The United States must be an example of moral leadership in the world

community. However, the events at Abu Ghraib have gravely compromised
America’s moral authority. We ask that you commit yourself as Attorney
General to repairing that damage by articulating and enforcing legal
policies that reject the use of torture, embrace and advance standards
of international law, and honor the dignity of all of God’s creation.

With prayers for wisdom and grace,