No More Torture: Defending against Global Risk

A Lecture/Discussion featuring

Brig. Gen. Stephen Xenakis (U.S.A. Ret.)

Leading Military Critic of US Torture Policy

Brigadier General Stephen Xenakis, retired after a 28-year Army career, is one of many high-ranking military officers opposed to the use of torture. He has repeatedly pointed to evidence that abusive techniques amounting to torture -- including sensory deprivation, sexual humiliation, and forced nudity -- have been used repeatedly by U.S. military personnel, and not only at Abu Ghraib but also elsewhere. Such practices, he shows, violate the ethical principles of medicine and military tradition.

Dr. Xenakis is today engaged in clinical practice, research, and consulting on traumatic brain injury and mental health in the military. In his busy schedule of speaking and writing he focuses on the ethical and professional obligations of military physicians regarding the treatment of detainees.

Rutgers Presbyterian Church
236 West 73rd Street
IRT subway trains 1, 2, 3, and 9

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As part of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, the Rutgers Presbyterian Church and the Second Presbyterian Church in Manhattan will present a public lecture and discussion on June 22, 2008, featuring Brig. Gen. Stephen Xenakis.

Gen. Xenakis, formerly head of medical services in the U.S. Army Southern Command, is one of many high-ranking military officers who have recently spoken out against the use of torture by American military and intelligence services. His objections, which are in line with U.S. military tradition, are based on medical ethics as well as respect for human rights and religious principles.

Gen. Xenakis has repeatedly pointed to evidence that abusive techniques amounting to torture -- including sensory deprivation, sexual humiliation, and forced nudity -- have been wrongly used by U.S. military personnel not only at Abu Ghraib but also at other places of detention.

Studies have shown that the use of torture in the campaign against terror is controversial even within religious communities.
The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) is a growing membership organization committed to ending U.S.-sponsored torture, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Since its formation in January 2006, over 130 religious groups have joined NRCAT, including representatives from the Roman Catholic, evangelical Christian, mainline Protestant, Unitarian, Quaker, Orthodox Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh communities. Members include national denominations and faith groups, regional organizations and congregations.

NRCAT has designated June as “Torture Awareness Month.”