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2003 UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture Arrives; Treatment
Centers Face Ongoing Harassment
Victoria Baxter
SHR Program Associate
June 26 marks the observance of the United Nations International Day in Support
of Victims of Torture. On this day in 1987, the Convention against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) entered into
force. Ten years later, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution
52/149, which proclaimed the day as the official observance in support for victims
of torture around the world. The day is intended to raise awareness about the
issue of state-sponsored torture and to highlight the work of non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) around the world who are working to eradicate torture and
provide rehabilitation treatment for individual victims.
According to the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT),
torture is the “intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering for
a specific purpose. Torture is used to obtain information or a confession, to
punish, to take revenge, or to create terror and fear within a population. The
aim of torture is not to kill the victim, but to break down the victim’s
personality.” Torture victims can be those individuals active in a community,
such as politicians, union leaders, journalists, and human rights defenders.
However, torture can also be inflicted on ordinary citizens in an attempt by
the government to instill a climate of fear in the population.
The effects of torture are far reaching and impact the individual’s physical
and mental health. Torture victims can suffer from anxiety, insomnia, depression,
and memory lapses. Victims may also experience extreme guilt and shame as a
result of the humiliation they were forced to endure or because they were forced
to betray information about themselves of their friends and family. The symptoms
of torture can be addressed by comprehensive rehabilitation services provided
by a torture treatment center.
IRCT works with over 200 torture treatment centers around the world, literally
from Albania to Zimbabwe. These centers offer a wide variety of assistance,
including psychological counseling, medical treatment, legal services, as well
as social assistance programs to help torture victims secure jobs, housing,
and meet other daily needs. The combination of medical and social services can
empower the torture victim to regain the capacity to resume as full a life as
possible.
The centers also play an important role in addressing the political dynamics
of torture. Torture is a political act and as a result, rehabilitation programs
must also address the political landscape that allows torture to occur. Independent
reports from the centers to NGOs and international organizations often serve
as the best indication about the true level of repression and violence in a
given country. The centers operate awareness campaigns, documentation programs,
training, and education programs.
Unfortunately, much of this work is severely compromised when torture treatment
centers operating in a context of political repression and violence, become
victims of human rights abuses themselves. Torture treatment center staff have
been subject to physical attacks, arbitrary arrest and detention, spurious legal
proceedings, and constant threats to their security. Many torture treatment
center staff have been the subject of AAAS Human Rights Action Network alerts.
Since it opened in 1998, medical and administrative staff working at the Diyarbakir
Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture, one of the five regional torture
treatment centers run by the Ankara-based Human Rights Foundation of Turkey,
have faced repeated human rights violations and attempts by the government to
shut down the center. (AAASHRAN Case Number: tu9432_one) The Diyarbakir Center
faces particular risk because it is located in southeast Turkey, where much
of the armed conflict between Kurdish militants and the state occurs. Government
officials are sensitive to any reports implicating them in the use of torture
of the Kurdish population. The police have raided the center on separate occasions
and have taken confidential doctor-patient files, which they have used to locate
torture survivors to harass and intimidate them from seeking further treatment
or reporting incidents of torture.
Government raids of torture treatment centers to obtain patient records have
also occurred in Sudan against the Amal Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims
of Torture and Violence. (AAASHRAN Case Number su0101_nag) The Amal Center is
located in Khartoum and provides free medical treatment and counseling for victims
of human rights abuses. It is the first rehabilitation center to be established
in Sudan. In early 2001, authorities arrested the center’s director Dr.
Nagib Nagmeldin, a well respected medical doctor and human rights advocate.
Authorities arrested him only two days before he was scheduled to meet with
the UN Special Human Rights Investigator for Sudan who was visiting on a fact-finding
mission. Dr. Nagmeldin was never officially charged and was released 18 days
later. Center staff also faced arrest and intimidation for trying to organize
events to observe the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
The most recent attacks against a torture treatment center occurred in May
2003 when there was a break-in at the offices of the Center for the Prevention
of Torture Victims and their Relatives (CPTRT) in Tegucigalpa. (AAASHRAN case
number ho0306_cpt) CPTRT offers psychological support to victims of torture
and institutional violence and their family members. The center also conducts
trainings with prison personnel, police officers, and administrators in the
judicial system on culturally sensitive treatment models and documents cases
of torture in Honduras. During the early morning break-in, the main office door
was kicked in and computer and paper files containing confidential patient information
appeared to have been thoroughly searched. Staff at the CPTRT believe that the
break-in had political motives as no office equipment was stolen and may have
been intended to intimidate the organization from pursuing their documentation
work. Staff members had been researching several high profile cases of police
abuse and human rights violations in Honduras.
The UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is a day to focus
on the serious issue of state-sponsored torture and its effect on individuals
and communities around the world. It also offers a moment to support the work
of courageous medical professionals and human rights advocates in their struggle
to eradicate the use of torture and to treat survivors. If you are interested
in taking action, please consider sending an appeal letter on behalf of the
CPTRT. Visit the AAASHRAN site for more information, http://shr.aaas.org/aaashran
¨
Resources:
Facts About Torture
Justin VanFleet
SHR Project Coordinator
Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “No
one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment
or punishment.”
The UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment defines torture as:
“any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental,
is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from
him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act
he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or
intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on
discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or
at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official
or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or
suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.”
Quick Facts
- Human rights organizations have cited 125 countries where individuals and
families have been detained and then tortured or ill-treated.
- Among the refugees from countries of state-sponsored torture, up to 35%
have been tortured and 90% have seen the effects of torture.
- There are 500,000 torture survivors in the United States from foreign countries.
The UN Voluntary Fund for the Victims of Torture
Established in 1981 to receive voluntary contributions from governments,
non-governmental organizations and individuals for distribution to non-governmental
organizations providing humanitarian assistance to victims of torture and
members of their family
- Minumum amount needed for 2003: US$13 Million
- Fund Amount (as of April 2003): US$1.2 Million
- In 2002 more than 80,000 victims were assisted through the UN Voluntary
Fund.
The Torture Victims Relief Act (TVRA), first passed in 1998, is the major source
of government funds for torture treatment centers in the United States. The
bill now authorizes a total of $25 million - $10 million for U.S. treatment
centers, $10 million for treatment centers abroad and $5 million for the UN
Voluntary Fund
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