Each year, the Center for Victims of Torture invites the public to join us in a celebration of hope and healing to honor June 26, UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. 

We will gather again to commemorate this day on Thursday, June 26 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on the front lawn of our Minneapolis Healing Center, 717 E. River Parkway. There will be food, music by Hospitality House African Drum and Dance group and a short play written by Kira Obolensky of the Playwright’s Center. Birhan Abede will make the keynote address.

As in past years, we will plant a tree with your messages of hope and healing so they may grow with it.

Washington D.C.

On Wednesday, June 25, CVT will host a reception in WashingtonD.C. to present the 2008 Eclipse Award to Dr. Allen S. Keller.  Dr. Keller, founder and co-director of the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture, is being recognized for his outstanding work for the protection and healing of torture survivors.

The reception will be held June 25 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Sonoma Restaurant &Wine Bar, 223 Pennsylvania Avenue, S.E., Washington D.C. Keynote address will be made by Alberto Mora, former general counsel for the U.S. Navy and 2007 Eclipse Award recipient.

Freetown, Sierra Leone

On June 26th CVT will commemorate, for the first time, the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture in Freetown. The event is organized in collaboration with the Human Rights Commission, the Human Rights section of UNIOSIL (United Nations Integrated Office in Sierra Leone) and a number of other human rights organizations.

CVT staff will host two open events in Freetown, one in each community that CVT works in. At 9 am staff and community members will gather in Calaba Town for a peaceful march through the town, followed by an indoor event. This will include the screening of a video of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Sierra Leone, the announcement of the results of a CVT school competition, some sketches by students and the sharing of food. A similar program will take place at 2:30 p.m. in Aberdeen community hall.

About June 26

“No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification for torture.”
Article 2, United Nations Convention Against Torture

June 26, 1987 is the day the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment went into effect. Since 1998, June 26 has been honored worldwide as United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.