NOV. 28 - Coalition partners are concluding a six-month initiative in Iowa working to raise awareness of the issues surrounding U.S. interrogation policy and torture and abuse suffered at the hands of U.S. officials. With the first-in-the-nation presidential caucus just weeks away, there is no doubt that Iowans will play a unique and important role in shaping the national dialogue on this vital issue.

Randi Aho, Summer 2007 Human Rights Fellow, and Hillari Hoerschelman, current Human Rights Fellow, have worked tirelessly to bring torture to the forefront in discussions with candidates across Iowa, and to build capacity at the grassroots level. With this initiative, the Coalition has laid groundwork enabling Iowans to keep the issue on the front burner over the coming year leading into the election in November 2008.

The Coalition’s work began by connecting with multiple presidential campaigns and existing political and social networks in Iowa to raise awareness of the torture issue. Our Fellows attended candidate forums and community gatherings, armed with questions formulated to elicit concrete responses on a candidate’s stance on the use of torture. Our Fellows concluded the summer with three educational forums (“What is torture and how do we talk about it?”) in Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, and Des Moines. The forums were focused on informing participants of each candidate’s stance on torture and related issues, and instructing in the “language of torture”, supplying participants with background and language skills necessary for engaging in discussion of the topic.

This fall, the Coalition’s focus shifted slightly to greater outreach to faith-based communities. Most recently, our Fellows has been actively reaching out to several faith-based organizations, equipping them with the tools necessary to engage the presidential candidates on the issue of torture, secret prisons, and extraordinary rendition. With this important initiative, candidates have heard loud and clear from Iowans across the state that the U.S. should not, and cannot, be a country that tortures.