Click here to see attorney Bill Quigley’s comprehensive account of the sentencing

October 17, 2007 — Fr. Louie Vitale, O.F.M. and Fr. Steve Kelly, S.J. were sentenced today by Magistrate Hector Estrada to five months in federal prison for nonviolent action they engaged in last year at Ft. Huachuca, Arizona. Training in torture techniques have been documented at this US Army base.

They began their sentences immediately.

Major General Antonio M. Taguba, who served in Iraq and wrote a report critical of torture carried out at Abu Ghraib prison, phoned the Franciscan and Jesuit priests the night before to convey his support and to express his belief that “history will honor your actions.” Their lawyer, Bill Quigley, shared General Taguba’s words of support with the court.

The judge, who confessed that the case had put him in “an uncomfortable position,” meted out to both men three months in prison for trespass and two months for disobeying an officer. They will be incarcerated at a federal prison in Florence, Arizona.

The case stems from a November 19, 2006 witnessagaintorture that the two priests engaged in at the southern Arizona army base. The two attempted to speak with enlisted personnel and deliver a letter denouncing torture and the Military Commissions Act of 2006 to Major General Barbara Fast, commander at Fort Huachuca, who had headed the Abu Ghraib prison when revelations on torture at the facility broke.

In a statement read to supporters who gathered outside the courthouse Frs. Vitale & Kelly declared:

“The real crime here has always been the teaching of torture at Fort Huachuca and the practice of torture around the world. We sought to deliver a letter asking that the teaching of torture be stopped and were arrested.

We tried to put the evidence of torture on full and honest display in the courthouse and were denied. We were prepared to put on evidence about the widespread use of torture and human rights abuses committed during interrogations at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This evidence was gathered by the military itself and by governmental and human rights investigations. Because the court will not allow the truth of torture to be a part of our trial, we plead no contest.

We are uninterested in a court hearing limited to who was walking where and how many steps it was to the gate. History will judge whether silencing the facts of torture is just or not. Far too many people have died because of our national silence about torture. Far too many of our young people in the military have been permanently damaged after following orders to torture and violate the human rights of other humans.

We will keep trying to stop the teaching and practice of torture whether we are sent to jail or out. We have done our part. Now it is up to every woman and man of conscience to do their part to stop the injustice of torture.”

This account draws on reporting from The Nuclear Resister.

For more information, visit Torture on Trial.