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Stop Torture Project:
Light a Candle for Torture Victims

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only Light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate: only Love can do that."

 --Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Detainees hold onto a wire fence at the Camp Delta maximum security prison at Guantanamo Naval Base, in Guantanamo, Cuba, in 2004. Photo: Mark Wilson, AFP

Who are these detainees, "the worst of the worst?"  Did they have a life, a family, a community before their detention? What is one fact about their humanity? What are their names?
 
When listening to the stories of torture survivors, we learn that they share the common terror of being told again and again, that no one knows where they are. No one will find them. No one will rescue them. No one will remember them.

They are told they are alone.

Learn about the experience of detainees - Amnesty International's Case Studies on Torture site includes biographies of persons who have been held in U.S. detention.

In an effort to bridge distance in our hearts and cross thousands of miles of secrecy, in order to connect with the humanity of torture victims, we offer a simple candle ritual that can be done individually or in groups, privately or as a public demonstration.

Photo: Matthew Bowden

May this Light touch the soul of the one who is Tortured and the one who Tortures.
May this Light touch the heart of our nation and all nations.
May it bring compassion, healing and peace.
May it help us to see that of God in one another and in our fellow human beings.
 
May __(name)_______ know that he/she is remembered here and now.
May he/she hear their name spoken aloud.
May the light of love and compassion light their darkness.
May they be healed, whole and safe again.

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