HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 4-c - Resolution In Support of Campaign to Make North Carolina a No-Torture State 1
ORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: December 11, 2018
Action Agenda
Item No. 4-c
SUBJECT: Resolution In Support of Campaign to Make North Carolina a No-Torture State
DEPARTMENT: Board of County
Commissioners
ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT:
Donna Baker, Clerk to the Board, (919)
Draft Resolution 245-2130
Margaret (Peggy) Misch
PURPOSE: To consider a Resolution In Support of Campaign to Make North Carolina a No-
Torture State.
BACKGROUND: Peggy Misch, a member Orange County Bill of Rights Defense Committee
and the NC Commission of Inquiry on Torture, has requested that the Board of Commissioners
consider the attached Resolution In Support of Campaign to Make North Carolina a No-Torture
State. The resolution was proposed by the North Carolina Commission of Inquiry on Torture
(NCCIT), a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization described at www.nccit.org. The organization was
created to address the issue of North Carolina's role in secret detention and torture, and to craft
a model of accountability that can inspire similar efforts elsewhere.
A copy of NCCIT's recent 84-page North Carolina Commission of Inquiry on Torture Report is
available at .NCTortureReport.org.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with this item.
SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: The following Orange County Social Justice Goal is applicable to
this item:
• GOAL: FOSTER A COMMUNITY CULTURE THAT REJECTS OPPRESSION AND
INEQUITY
The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race or color;
religious or philosophical beliefs; sex, gender or sexual orientation; national origin or
ethnic background; age; military service; disability; and familial, residential or economic
status.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board consider approving and
authorizing the Chair to sign the resolution.
RES-2018-082 2
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF
CAMPAIGN TO MAKE NORTH CAROLINA A NO-TORTURE STATE
WHEREAS, the non-governmental North Carolina Commission of Inquiry on Torture (NCCIT,
www.nccit.org) was established to examine the role of North Carolina in the United States' secret,
global torture program launched soon after September 11, 2001; and
WHEREAS, the volunteer led NCCIT has conducted an inquiry into the use of public airports by the CIA
to facilitate torture and learned that Aero Contractors, a CIA affiliated company, transported at least
49 people for torture, many of them innocent of any terrorist ties; and
WHEREAS, Aero Contractors is headquartered at the Johnston County Airport in Smithfield, NC , and
also used the state-run Global TransPark in Kinston for "torture taxi" flights; and
WHEREAS, North Carolina residents have been calling since 2005 for investigation of Aero Contractors,
and support has come from people of faith, veterans, elected officials, civic groups, labor, various
political parties, and members of different racial and ethnic groups; and
WHEREAS. 10 NCCIT Commissioners — a diverse, blue-ribbon panel of distinguished individuals — heard
testimony from 20 witnesses (survivors, journalists, human rights experts) on November 30 and
December 1, 2017, in Raleigh; and
WHEREAS, Governor Roy Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein are expected to respond to the 84-
page NCCIT Report (NCTorture Report.org) since its release on September 27, 2018; and
WHEREAS, the Orange County Board of Commissioners adopted the RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE
NORTH CAROLINA COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON TORTURE (RES-2016-08) in December 2016;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the Orange County Board of Commissioners, do hereby
urge Governor Cooper and Attorney General Stein to hold private contractors such as Aero Contractors
accountable for involvement in the torture program; to enforce state, federal, and international law;
and to stop hosting Aero at public airports to prevent North Carolina from being the home to "torture
taxis."
This the 11th day of December 2018.
Penny Rich, Chair
Orange County Board of Commissioners