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A multifaith coalition of more than 200 religious organizations is calling on President-elect Barack Obama to sign an executive order banning torture as one of his first acts in office.

“This is an opportunity where one individual could with one stroke of the pen really change U.S. history,” Linda Gustitus, president of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, told reporters in a conference call November 12. She said an executive order by Obama “could turn the page on a very, very dark chapter and end U.S.-sponsored torture.”