WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Presidential executive orders to ban torture and close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are just the first steps in an effort to assure that torture never again becomes part of American policy, said religious and human rights workers.

Organizations such as the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, which has partnered with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, planned to work toward getting the restrictions outlined in the Jan. 22 orders signed by President Barack Obama adopted into law.

"Our goal is to make sure this dark chapter never repeats itself in American history," said the Rev. Richard Killmer, the campaign's executive director.

Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany, N.Y., chairman of the bishops' Committee on International Justice and Peace, welcomed the order to ban torture Jan. 22, saying in a statement that the president's action will "help restore the moral and legal standing of the United States in the world."

"A ban on torture says much about us, who we are, what we believe about human life and dignity and how we act as a nation," Bishop Hubbard said.

Obama's action signals a departure from his predecessor, President George W. Bush, who denied ever approving torture, but allowed "enhanced interrogation techniques" to obtain information from detainees at the prison in Guantanamo and in detention facilities around the world.

At one point, the CIA admitted to waterboarding three detainees in 2003. Waterboarding causes the sensation of drowning and is considered torture by humans rights activists and some military and intelligence officials.

In all, Obama signed three orders Jan. 22. The first closes the Guantanamo prison within a year. Detainees have been held at the prison for seven years. About 250 detainees remain at the prison.

The second bans torture and the harshest interrogation methods in place since the first suspected terrorists were captured by American forces in Afghanistan in 2001. All U.S. interrogators will be required to adhere to the Geneva Conventions and follow the U.S. Army Field Manual, which prohibits threats, coercion, physical abuse and waterboarding during questioning.

The third establishes an interagency task force to review detention policies and procedures as well as individual cases of detainees, with a report due 30 days after the signing of the executive order.

Reaction from religious and human rights groups seeking to overturn U.S. policy on Guantanamo and the use of torture was laudatory.

Matt Daloisio, a Catholic Worker and a leader in a faith-based campaign called Witness Against Torture, applauded Obama's action. At the same time he called for a quick review of the cases of the Guantanamo detainees as well as the thousands who are being held at what are known as "black site" facilities worldwide.

"Witness Against Torture has always been focused on people before policy," Daloisio told Catholic News Service. "As far as policy goes, it's very encouraging the new president on his second day in office has begun to address what is a stain on America's character.

"But at the same time for 250 men nothing has changed," he added. "Seventy are on a hunger strike. Those things have to change tomorrow and they can."

London-based Amnesty International called Obama's action "a major step forward" and a "welcome sign that the new administration is willing to right the wrongs of the past."

"By prioritizing the closure of Guantanamo in his first 48 hours in office, President Obama is sending an important message to the rest of the world that the USA is now closing a dark chapter in its history," said Irene Khan, the organization's secretary general.

Rev. Killmer credited the religious community for taking an uncompromising stand on the importance of respecting human dignity in its call to ban torture. Educating people about the dangers of torture will become a necessary next step, he said.

"It's very basic, developing the concept. We say you don't torture, just like you don't rape, you don't commit genocide," he said.

Rev. Killmer also said his organization will push for the establishment of a federal commission to investigate the policies and practices of the Bush administration in its handling of prisoners in Guantanamo, Iraq and elsewhere.

"Once that is completed, the American people can make a decision on whether or not people can be prosecuted for breaking the law and who should be prosecuted," he said.

Copyright (c) 2009 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops