CVT News Archives

2004 and earlier

U.S. Must Invite Independent Investigation

By Douglas A. Johnson
Published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune May 9, 2004.

Mistreatment, abuse, prison scandal—let’s be perfectly clear—the images and descriptions we see and hear coming out of Iraq are torture. Defining the acts as anything less than that is wrong.

Yet the recent disclosure of abuses committed in Iraq by U.S. and British military and private contractors gives Americans another opportunity to better understand the reality behind torture – and how to prevent it.

The torture committed by U.S. and British personnel in Iraq does not compare to the scale of the brutality committed by Saddam Hussein, but sadly, the stories coming from Abu Gharaib prison and elsewhere fit the pattern well known by those of us who work closely with victims of torture. Torture is routinely practiced in the middle of the night—because this is the scariest time for the victims. Sexual rape, exploitation and humiliation are common forms of torture because they so quickly accomplish torture’s goal—to destroy the victims’ sense of self, to leave them broken, battered and ashamed.

Often there is calculated research that determines how to most quickly and permanently humiliate a person through torture. A priest is forced to kill a colleague, a father is forced to facilitate the rape of his daughter—an Arab man is forced to perform oral sex and be degraded by women in power.

The Bush administration has stated that the torture in Iraq is an aberration and the fault of a few rogue individuals. This may turn out to be true. But given how common torture is throughout the world and how the torture perpetrated in Iraq is so typical of the torture we see, and that has been experienced by millions of other individuals around the world, to the world it looks like an intentional strategy to break and humiliate Iraqi men.

For these reasons the U.S. must allow—and in fact invite—the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture to conduct an independent investigation. Any investigation performed by the US government will not be believed by the rest of the world. If indeed this was the fault of a few individuals, the UN Special Rapporteur will find this and report it with credibility. If the torture is a more systemic problem with how our military intelligence officials handle investigations and interrogations, the Special Rapporteur will find this and we will have the information we need to break the cycle and stop the torture.

In December 2002, the Washington Post reported on the torturous death of two Afghani men at the hands of CIA interrogators at Bagram airbase. At that time CVT and others called on Congress and the Bush administration to launch an independent investigation into the US government’s interrogation practices during the war on terror. That request was rejected. An investigation at that time could have prevented the recent torture in Iraq and would have gone a long way toward enhancing our credibility in both Iraq and worldwide. It is imperative that the US take swift and decisive action now to both punish the perpetrators and their superiors and to invite the UN to conduct an independent investigation into US practices in Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo and elsewhere if we hope to restore our credibility around the world.
Congress, the Administration, and civil society must now understand how widely the practice of torture has infected the war against terrorism, and will debate what measures are needed for systemic change, including the culpability and appropriate punishment of perpetrators and planners. While this is going on, we must not forget the specific needs of the victims and our obligations as a nation to them.

The Convention Against Torture calls for ratifying states, such as the United States, to provide victims with legal remedies and “as full a rehabilitation as possible.” Much is possible and should be organized immediately, in order to offset the depression, nightmares, and suicidality that affect so many victims of torture and their families.

Torture creates a culture of intimidation and fear and has been called ‘the most effective weapon against democracy.’ Fortunately, democracy is also the most effective weapon against torture. We can already be encouraged that courageous individuals within the military have reported and investigated these allegations, and refused to cover them up. We have congressional oversight and independent human rights groups with the capacity to identify institutional sources of torture; we can also make appropriate use of international resources such as the UN.

But they must be given the access, and authority, to make the changes needed. Prosecution of a few scapegoats will only mean that the abuses will continue, and we will continue to do more damage to innocent detainees and the hope for democracy in Iraq.

Democracy can not and will not flourish in Iraq if we continue to abandon the moral authority which drives most coalition troops to do the right thing. This is the lynchpin of a true democracy and a legacy we as a nation have a duty to uphold. It’s really that simple.

CVT Director Asks Congress to Fully Fund TVRA

CVT’s executive director, Douglas A. Johnson, testified before Congress in April, asking for full funding of the Torture Victims Relief Act of 2003. The TVRA authorizes a total of $81 million over two years in assistance to torture survivors. He told lawmakers, "My message to you today is simple, the work of healing individual survivors of torture is critically important and beneficial to the individual and their families. But from my more than 15 years working in this field, I can tell you that healing survivors of torture is also vital to the success of our communities. Torturers most often target leaders and emerging leaders: journalists, teachers, lawyers, doctors, religious leaders, students in local universities. So the work of helping them take back their lives is also the work of helping the community recover its leadership."

Read the full text of his testimony here.

CVT Director Receives Leadership Award

CVT’s executive director, Douglas A. Johnson will receive the 2003 David W. Preus Leadership Award at a ceremony on October 13.

The annual award honors and encourages outstanding leadership that expresses itself in service to others, as embodied by the Rev. Dr. David W. Preuss, Bishop Emeritus of the American Lutheran Church. The award is managed by Luther Seminary. Previous recipients have included the chancellor of New York City Schools, the founder of the teenage medical services programs at Minneapolis Children’s Hospital, missionaries in Tanzania and a rabbi and a priest who work together for Jewish-Christian harmony. Johnson will be honored for his 15 years of service at CVT, which, under his leadership,has become an international organization helping heal thousands of torture survivors.

In conjunction with the award ceremony, Johnson will give a public lecture at 10:00 a.m. on October 13 at Luther Seminary’s Chapel of the Incarnation in St. Paul. All are welcome. The event is part of Luther Seminary’s Word and World lecture series.

The award program takes place later in the day at the Olson Campus Center at Luther Seminary. The reception will begin at 4:30 p.m., followed by a presentation ceremony and a light supper.

The evening meal is complimentary, but participation is only guaranteed with advance reservations. If you would like to attend the supper, please make your reservation no later than Monday, October 6, by e-mail to Lynne Moratzka at lmoratzk@luthersem.edu or call her at 651-641-3419.

Human Rights Caucus Hears Testimony from Torture Survivors

CVT’s executive director, Douglas A. Johnson, joined several torture survivors in giving testimony before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus on June 25.

In his testimony Johnson stressed that the United States must take clear leadership on issues of torture and torture treatment, citing events in the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe.

“The things we speak of today are surely of enormous humanitarian significance,” he said. “But just as surely, they are domestic and foreign policy issues of the greatest significance.”

The briefing was co-hosted by the Congressional Human Rights Caucus (CHRC) and the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition (TASSC). Representatives Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) and Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) co-chaired the event, which was held to mark UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.

Five survivors of torture first addressed the caucus, followed by testimony from this year’s Eclipse Award honoree, Dr. Inge Genefke, of the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, and Johnson.

Download the full text of his testimony here.

Sen. Norm Coleman Speaks at TVRA Press Conference

At a June 9 press conference to discuss reauthorization of the Torture Victims Relief Act (TVRA), Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., described the effort as a Minnesota tradition. The TVRA, which provides funding for torture treatment programs throughout the United States – including CVT – will run out in September 2003 without reauthorization and renewed appropriations.

CVT Executive Director Doug Johnson cited the need for a response from society that encompasses healing and politics. CVT and the National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs (NCTTP) are driving reauthorization with the help of Coleman and Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minn., in the U.S. Senate and Christopher Smith, R-NJ, and Tom Lantos, D-CA in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Coleman described the TVRA as both essential and within our collective ability to do even in difficult economic times. “This is something that needs to be done. This something we can do,” Coleman said. CVT board member Richard Oketch spoke of the necessity of torture treatment as a former client. “This center has given us our lives back,” he noted. Oketch, who went on to become a teacher in the St. Paul public schools after receiving services from the Center for Victims of Torture, pointed out that helping torture survivors benefits the entire community.

Coleman Urges More Money for Torture Treatment

By Frederic J. Frommer, Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman is pushing for a dramatic increase in funding for torture treatment centers, arguing that human rights abuses in Iraq show the need is great.

Coleman made a pitch for the bill Monday in Minneapolis, at the nation's first such center, which opened in 1985.

"The people here at the Center for Victims of Torture are liberators," said Coleman, a freshman Republican. "Just as the Iraqi people were liberated from the cruelty of an evil dictator, those involved in treating torture survivors liberate people" from desperation.

The center provides counseling to about 240 refugees living in Minnesota, including about a dozen from Iraq.

The state's other senator, Democrat Mark Dayton, is co-sponsoring the bill.

"The number of victims tragically increases all the time," he said in a telephone interview.

"There's no shortage of places and victims, so there's never enough space and outreach."

The original Torture Victims Relief Act, which expires in September, was sponsored by the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., and former Sen. Rod Grams, R-Minn.

The current funding level is $25 million a year; Coleman's bill would increase that to about $44 million a year.

Centers like the Minneapolis-based Center for Victims of Torture, a nonprofit group, provide medical and psychological treatment and social services to torture victims of foreign governments.

The center also runs programs overseas to help torture victims, such as one in Sierra Leone.

Douglas Johnson, the center's executive director, said the increased funding was needed because of the proliferation of torture treatment centers in the United States — from just a few in 1998 to 33 today.

"We can see how the funding has caused a blossoming of new centers," Johnson said. "We know that the funds can be used well." Johnson said there are about 500,000 victims of torture living in the United States, many from Africa and the Middle East.

"Torture victims are most often targeted because they're leaders in their communities," he said. "Torturers are weapons against democracy, against the opposition. It's an attempt to reshape cultures through fear, so that people are apathetic and uninvolved in public life."

Johnson said he was confident Congress would approve the money despite a federal budget deficit and the cost to rebuild Iraq.

"In our view, treatment of victims of torture is one of the key essential elements in reconstructing Iraq," he said.

St. Paul Healing Center Takes Off

At a groundbreaking on Tuesday for the new Center for Victims of Torture Saint Paul Healing Center, Executive Director Doug Johnson pointed out what would be a common refrain among speakers at the event: “This is a very important place for [CVT], but also for the community.” Among those who spoke at the event were Congresswoman Betty McCollum, D-Minn., City Council members Jay Benanav and Jerry Blakey, and Barbara Johnson of Sen. Mark Dayton’s office as well as CVT’s Rosa Garcia-Peltoniemi and Kathy McCullough-Zander.

Congresswoman McCollum pointed out that the new St. Paul Healing Center represents an opportunity for the whole community saying, “I couldn’t think of a better asset to have in my neighborhood than a house that heals.” Councilman Benanav broadened the sentiment by including the city and state in the role of healing community. “It makes me proud to be a Minnesotan in times like this. … Minnesota and St. Paul are leading the nation to help people rebuild their lives.”

Construction began May 12. The design of the new healing center adheres closely to that of the Minneapolis Healing Center with angled corners, skylights and other features that distinguish CVT as a clinical facility. The Saint Paul Healing Center will also include an exam room and physical therapy room under one roof. Construction will last six to eight months.

Designer Touts Healing Power of Gardening

By Dean Fosdick, For The Associated Press

NEW MARKET, Va. -- Ask landscape designer Nicole Kistler, of Seattle, about the power of gardening and she'll tell you how it can give new hope and purpose to cancer patients and others dealing with stress.

Rachel Tschida believes healing gardens play a major role in erasing the psychological scars from torture victims, particularly those coming to Minneapolis and St. Paul for treatment.

Author Eva Shaw crusades for what she calls "nature's health plan" after seeing its salutary effects on seriously ill children, grieving families and emotionally battered caregivers in the San Diego area.

Little wonder then, that National Garden Month, observed in April, has taken "Celebrate the power of gardening" as this year's theme.

Aside from providing sustenance and beauty, gardens are restorative -- they can transform lives, says Valerie Kelsey, president of the National Gardening Association, organizer of the month-long event.

"You see it the most with inner-city kids," Kelsey says. "They can experience it by growing a single strawberry. It's forceful.

"You see it in prison gardening. It's probably the first time in their (inmates) lives they've learned how to nurture something. It teaches responsibility.

"You see it in community gardens," she says. "There you have some inter-generational things happening; a number of interactions taking place: a sharing of tools, a sharing of gardening ideas, a sharing of cultures."

Kistler formed most of her impressions about horticultural healing several years ago while a graduate student at the University of Washington. She wrote her master's degree thesis around the design methods used for creating some rooftop gardens at the Cancer Lifeline Center in Seattle.

"Patients were working with students," she says. "They were closely connected."

"The patients talked about the relationship of struggle. How their lives were out of control. The students listened. That made the scene organized and tangible and provided space everyone could use later.

"Patients were able to soothe their tensions. In the end, many were able to tell their stories. There was this huge metaphor for healing. They didn't know what they were doing in many cases (with the gardening), but they overcame it."

Tschida, communications director for The Center for Victims of Torture, says its Minneapolis healing garden helps clients feel safe and comfortable while sending a message to a wider audience in the Twin Cities area.

"It provides a means of talking with the community about the unspeakable horrors of torture, which can be pretty off-putting to outsiders," she says. "It's good outreach, a way of bringing new volunteers in. Their first access to the center can be through gardening. Once they know something about our work, they graduate from the garden to working directly with our clients."

Shaw believes gardeners have a responsibility for getting people back to the soil as a means of coping with pressure.

"People grew Victory Gardens during World War II," says Shaw, the author of more than 60 books about managing grief and recovery. "Our new gardens will be Victory Gardens over stress."

Shaw says she has seen how gardening helps people who are grieving, especially the elderly. "Getting into gardening doesn't take away any of the pain, but it helps them get through the pain faster."

Sanctuary gardens are being designed around hospices, churches, schools and jails, among other places. The catharsis provided by these often vest-pocket sanctuaries impact the healers as well as the afflicted, Shaw says.

"As you know, many children who enter hospitals never go home again," she says. "But their families aren't the only ones who grieve.

"Most of the staff at the Children's Hospital and Health Center-San Diego turn to their therapy garden for healing and solace."

Kistler, the Seattle landscape architect, believes "any space and every space can be a healing place.

"It should be coordinated into everything we design," she says. "It should be a part of everyday life."

Kelsey puts it another way: "Gardens ignore the rest of what's going on in the world. You put a seed in the ground and you know what to expect."

Victims' Center Comforts Refugees

Published Monday, March 31, 2003 on CNN.com

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (AP) -- The war with Iraq is saturating the nation's airwaves, but the Center for Victims of Torture is urging some refugees not to watch.

Center officials know Iraqis in the United States are desperate for news about events back home, but they are concerned that the media coverage could traumatize some.

The Minneapolis center stepped up counseling efforts this week to meet the increased demand from clients who worry about relatives in Iraq, said center spokeswoman Rachel Tschida.

The center provides mental health counseling to about 240 refugees living in Minnesota, including about a dozen from Iraq.

Many refugees cannot reach relatives because phone and e-mail systems in Iraq have been running poorly, Tschida said.

"We've got many people who just don't even know the status of their family in terms of are they still at home, have they left. They just have no idea how people are doing," Tschida said.

Sadiq Alnabi, an Iraqi native now living here, acknowledged the irresistible pull of television news. He has been unable to reach a cousin in Iraq.

"It's hard for us to see our people get killed," said Alnabi, who lives in the Twin Cities suburb of Spring Lake Park with his wife and five daughters. "It's a bad situation but I think we are happy that we are going to be free from this dictator."

Victims who suffered at the hands of Saddam Hussein need to limit how much news coverage they read and watch, Tschida said. "Images on TV trigger flashbacks," she said.

Tschida said center counselors also addressed some refugees' fears of the kind of harassment that occurred after the September 11 attacks.

"Many of our clients are Muslim and there's kind of an anti-immigrant backlash in the United States," Tschida said. "The whole idea that somebody looks at you and says 'Go home.' Well, this is home, and they are home."

U.S. House Unanimously Passes McCollum Resolution Condemning Execution by Stoning

Washington, DC- Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed by a vote of 416 to 0 H.Con.Res. 26, the first piece of legislation passed by Congresswoman Betty McCollum (MN-04). The resolution condemns the brutal punishment of death by stoning as a gross violation of international human rights.

Betty McCollum, a member of the influential Committee on International Relations, said “This resolution puts Congress on record condemning the heinous, inhumane sentence of death by stoning, which most frequently targets women and is still practiced in parts of the world."

On the House floor, McCollum thanked her Republican and Democratic colleagues for their support and said, “I do not know the women who have been sentenced to death by stoning and I will likely never visit their villages in Africa or the Middle East. But I will stand with them as my sisters, as fellow citizens of this world, and I will work to defend their rights and the most basic human rights we all deserve to enjoy.”

McCollum introduced the resolution in response to a sentence of death by stoning imposed upon a Nigerian woman convicted of adultery. The stoning sentence of Safiya Hussaini has since been overturned after a worldwide outcry. Another Nigerian mother, Amina Lawal, has similarly been sentenced. Her most recent appeal has failed. In addition to Nigeria, stoning remains a punishment imposed in countries such as Iran, Pakistan, and Sudan.

Mentioning the contributions of former-Congressman Don Fraser (D-Minneapolis) and Sen. Paul and Sheila Wellstone, Congresswoman McCollum said she was proud to continue the strong Minnesota tradition of defending basic human rights. Minnesota is also home of internationally renowned organizations such as the Center for Victims of Torture, the American Refugee Committee, and the Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights.

“As a free and just society, the U.S. has an obligation to condemn human rights abuses no matter who commits them, no matter were they are committed and no matter when they are committed. The world needs to hear this message from our elected leaders - with one clear voice," said Congresswoman McCollum.

Some Already Gave

CVT’s Director of Communications Rachel Tschida calls on Minn. Governor Tim Pawlenty to oppose cuts to health-care services for legal non-citizens, refugees and new immigrants in a letter to the editor, which appeared in the Feb. 12, 2003 edition of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

The call for service and sacrifice in Gov. Tim Pawlenty's State of the State address was eloquent and timely. I appreciated hearing him honor local survivors of torture during the infamous World War II Bataan Death March. But we don't have to go back 50 years to find local heroes of war and survivors of torture. We have many Hmong, Laotian and Vietnamese elders who are veterans of the U.S. war in Southeast Asia. They fought for America, democracy and freedom.

More recent arrivals from Liberia, Cameroon and Iraq have stood up to despots and spoken out for democracy and freedom at great cost. These Minnesotans have already answered Pawlenty's request that we all respond to our own call to arms, service, sacrifice and leadership. They have shown enormous resiliency and want nothing more than to be healthy, working, contributing members of society.

This is why the proposed house legislative cuts to health-care services for legal non-citizens, refugees and new immigrants that has the governor's support is so surprising and inconsistent with his rhetoric and stated values.

Pawlenty is right — freedom is not free. And there are tens of thousands of Minnesotans who have proven that through their great courage and sacrifice. Have courage. Don't balance the budget on the backs of refugees and legal immigrants.

Rachel Tschida, CVT Director of Communications

A Sense of Belonging

Volunteers at the Center for Victims of Torture do almost everything: massage therapy, gardening, office work. Of these many roles, community guides stand out as a tangible link between clients and the larger community. They bring the community to the client and the client to the community in an exchange integral to the healing process. Community guides, formerly known as befrienders, form supportive relationships with CVT clients and, in the process, address one of the more insidious effects of torture – isolation from the community.

Depending on the needs of the client, a guide may help locate resources such as food or clothing, provide conversation and companionship, cook, shop or just walk around a neighborhood. Currently, about 50 volunteer community guides work with clients.

The idea for community guides dates to 1994. It was conceived as a way to support the work of clinicians by providing help with practical matters that are often sources of anxiety and stress for refugees. “It’s about restoring dignity and letting people get beyond damage and give back,” says Ben Kohler, a community guide coordinator. Being able to give back starts with a relationship, a connection to others.Community guides open a door to relationships on a communal level.

Community guides Anne Knauff and Mary Courtier point to similar experiences working with clients. Both began working with individuals, but quickly formed a relationship with an entire family that has spanned years. Both women note the reciprocal nature of the relationship over time, manifest through simple exchanges and expressions of support.

Courtier, who works with an African family, found that reciprocity through a shared interest. “Both my clients and I really like to cook. I have a chance to show off some traditional American food, and I have a chance to taste traditional African food,” she notes. The family also offered to assist Courtier in her effort to learn French, one of the several languages spoken in this family of educated professionals. Knauff experienced a similar dynamic. “From the beginning, they always insisted on feeding me,” she says in describing the graciousness she encountered. Establishing a connection through food, conversation and mutual support have all contributed to the healing process.

But the connection can be much simpler, too. Kohler tells of a time when he was late to pick up a client for an appointment, and when he did arrive she was not ready and had a baby with no babysitter in sight. The client spoke no English. The woman brought the baby over to Kohler and placed the child in his arms – a profound expression of trust – while she finished getting ready, and the babysitter arrived soon after.

Language can be a challenge, but as Knauff points out, it can also be a part of connecting. In her experience, the person with the best language skills in the family translates for others, reinforcing language learning. At the same time, younger family members learn the story as well as gain familiarity with the sound of the English language. This exchange of language and stories helps create a bridge between cultures. The family also asks Knauff questions about perplexing elements of American culture, allowing her to share her stories and insights as well.

Often, regaining confidence and finding a place in their new culture are foremost in clients’ minds. “The people I'm dealing with were professionals … who used to be people of some importance in their home countries,” notes Courtier. “They come here and no one knows that.” CVT clients, already suffering from the isolation of torture, must reinvent themselves in a community where they have few peers and their previous stature means little, making the community guide an essential link between past and present; someone who knows who they are and is helping them form a relationship to their new community.

A good volunteer knows how to initiate and sustain a relationship, points out Jean Andrews, also a community guide coordinator. Though helping is often the motive for becoming a community guide, the potential for mutual enrichment is also a draw – as is the clear need. Volunteering as a community guide takes more than a desire to help though, notes Kohler. “People who gravitate to volunteering at a place like CVT have a stronger ability to deal with people who are hurting.” He is quick to add that even though the experience involves dealing with suffering, healing is the point. “CVT’s is a hopeful message.”

Indeed, the relationships formed by community guides and clients represent that seed of hope that in many cases takes root and leads to a firmer sense of belonging for torture survivors and a greater acceptance and understanding by the community – a benefit to all.

Ruth Barrett Rendler: No Excuse for Complicity in Torture

Published Jan. 5, 2003 in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Fighting terrorism is a dirty business, but using torture is always wrong. There can be no justification for its use by any person, group or government. It was wrong when Daniel Pearl was tortured and murdered in Pakistan, it is wrong when Iraq tortures athletes and dissidents, and it is wrong when the U.S. government uses torture on suspected Al-Qaida and Taliban members.

For almost 20 years at the Center for Victims of Torture we have been treating survivors of some of the worst human rights violations this world has seen. Our clients are men, women and children from all corners of the world. And although the facts and circumstances surrounding each individual we care for may vary, two aspects of their torture are frighteningly consistent: the secrecy of the act and the silence of the greater public.

Congress has repeatedly passed resolutions and ratified international accords that decry the use of torture, but we have learned that behind layers of razor wire within our borders and in other countries to whom we have "rendered" terrorism suspects, these protections do not apply. With a wink and a nod and a great deal of secrecy, human rights violations reportedly have been confirmed by top U.S. military and intelligence officials.

The premise behind these atrocities is that the American people will smile when served a well-cooked chicken as long as they don't have to witness the distasteful plucking of feathers and necessary bloodletting. But as recent letters to the editor demonstrate, public response to these unsavory actions is overwhelmingly negative.

By not only tolerating torture but facilitating it through selective deportation of suspects, we begin to mirror the very enemies we are trying to overcome. From China to the Taliban, the United States has repeatedly spoken with moral authority against very real human rights abuses. These abuses are planned acts whose aim is the undermining of democratic thoughts and activities. They often involve torture and work to silence opposition by creating an environment of fear and reprisal. That we should employ such practices in the name of fighting terrorism is both ironic and heartbreaking.

In the past 50 years the United States has helped develop human rights standards and protocols that we are now violating. We have statutes that prohibit torture, a constitutional amendment that prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, and international treaties that forbid it. In spite of this strong heritage of opposition to torture, we hear from national security officials, "If you don't violate someone's human rights some of the time, you probably aren't doing your job."

War is not pretty, but the combination of frustration, anger and fear now brewing around the nation does not justify any form of torture. We must be thoughtful and deliberate in our response to these emotions, not look for interrogation shortcuts that historically have produced admittedly unreliable information.

"When one individual is tortured, the scars inflicted by such horrific treatment are not only found in the victim but in the global system, as the use of torture undermines, debilitates, and erodes the very essence of that system." So said the U.S. Congress in a resolution adopted on June 20, 2001. While much has changed since Sept. 11 of that year, the truth of this statement has not. We must not be silent. We must speak out and insist that human rights are protected both in public and behind the layers of razor wire. Any official or unofficial use of torture by the United States will fundamentally erode not only international support for our campaign against terrorism, but the bedrock principles of our civil society. That's a recipe for disaster that no American should have to stomach.

Torture and Cyanide: A Response to "Is Torture Ever Justified"

The following letter, dated Jan. 14, 2003, was written to the Economist by Basil Fernando, head of the Asian Human Rights Commission and a member of CVT’s New Tactics Working Group, in reply to its January 11 cover story, "Is torture ever justified?"

In response to your Jan. 11 cover story, "Is Torture Ever Justified?", we need only look to the situation in numerous modern states for the answer. As director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, I can say unequivocally that the argument favouring limited use of torture is contradicted by all of our experience.

For people of most countries in Asia, the prospective use of torture by state agents long ceased to be a matter for conjecture. It is no theoretical idea at all, but a widely practiced one. There is no Asian country known to us where its use, once admitted, has been limited. In fact, the very concept of limited torture is dangerously naïve.

When torture is no longer absolutely prohibited, law enforcement attitudes change. Over time, the mentality that torture is acceptable comes to infect the entire system, and even persons accused of normal crimes get the same treatment as suspected terrorists. Years of great effort spent in training effective law enforcement officers are undermined. Habits of transparency diminish; falsification increases. Terrorists do not suffer in such an environment: rather, they thrive in it. As the system of law enforcement collapses, they obtain many practical advantages, and are also prepared for any consequences.

Some twenty years ago in my country, Sri Lanka, the use of torture by law enforcement agencies became accepted. Terrorists expected to be tortured if captured, and each carried a cyanide capsule to take as a last resort. The real targets of the practice evaded it, but meantime it has so permeated and decayed the law enforcement system that today children have been tortured by police officers on suspicion of theft from a school canteen. While easy to begin, the routine practice of torture has not been easy to stop. Those who advocate 'limited' torture would do well to study the consequences in countries such as my own, that advocated this view earlier.

The absolute prohibition of torture is the very core of all rational forms of criminal investigation. Today, many countries are trying hard to improve their law enforcement systems accordingly. If the West waivers on this principle the message will be devastating, not only for itself but also for the entire world. When the progress of the rule of law is set back, the result is not further security, but rather new breeding grounds for terrorism. The use of torture by state agencies reduces criminal investigation to mere farce, and society to sheer barbarism. From the standpoint of one who knows from personal experience, I urge the West to utterly reject the proposition that limited torture is ever possible: its consequences are vast and uncontrollable.

Your Sincerely,
Basil Fernando
Executive Director
Asian Human Rights Commission

U.S. State Dept. Supports New Tactics Project

The U.S. State Department has pledged nearly $1 million in support to CVT's New Tactics in Human Rights project. The funds will be used to support an international symposium for innovative human rights practitioners and the production of training materials.

Download a fact sheet on the New Tactics project.

Download the final report from the Regional Training Workshop in Romania.

U.N. General Assembly Approves Optional Protocol to Convention Against Torture

The U.N. General Assembly voted 127-4 with 43 abstentions to adopt the optional protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The optional protocol creates a system of regular visits by independent national and international bodies to evaluate prisons and other places of detention, and to make recommendations for governments to improve conditions and prevent future incidents of torture. It will open for signature on January 1, 2003 and will go into effect after ratification by 20 member states.

The protocol will operate in a fashion similar to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, which established a prisons inspection program that allows committee members to visit any prison or police station anywhere and anytime they chose within ratifying states. The prison inspections have proven an effective means of preventing torture in Europe for more than ten years.

More than 100 members of the U.N. General Assembly's Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee voted in favor of the draft version of the optional protocol to the 1987 Convention Against Torture.

Measuring Pain and Healing

CVT has been treating refugees in West Africa for about three years. Over that time we know that we have helped thousands of torture and war trauma survivors begin to rebuild their lives. Personal observations tell us that we are making a difference.

But how do we quantify that difference? How do we measure the trauma that the Sierra Leonean and Liberian refugees have suffered and how do we measure the steps they are making toward healing?

CVT’s research team – Director Jon Hubbard and Associate Kristen Boelcke – have made important progress toward answering those questions. They have completed preliminary analysis of their Criteria of Competence and Characterization of War Problems interviews, conducted earlier this year in West Africa.

Both projects are based on the premise that if you want to understand how badly someone has been injured or how well they are healing, you need to understand how their culture defines what it means to be functioning well in society. Hubbard and Boelcke used an interviewing methodology first used by anthropologists and developmental psychologists.

Interviewers in the camps asked 500 people to describe someone in their community – a child, adolescent or adult – who they thought was coping well with life. They were also asked to describe someone who had changed or developed problems because of the war.

These descriptions were sorted into age and gender categories and analyzed. The results were lists of factors that could be used to describe how well or how poorly someone in this particular community is functioning.

For example, a “competent” or well-functioning woman might be someone who takes good care of her children, is kind and generous and runs a business to take care of her family. A woman experiencing war problems might be someone who is in poor health, who is angry or has difficulty sleeping and is unable to support her children. Similar lists were developed for adult men, adolescent males, male children, adolescent females and female children.

The data from this study, which are still being analyzed, will be used to shape treatment practices in CVT’s West Africa camps and to refine the measures we use to evaluate our progress.

Healing Survivors Through Touch

“This is the first time that someone has touched my pain,” a torture survivor told Ellen Zimmerman, a volunteer massage therapist at CVT.The man was one of many CVT clients who suffer chronic pain – often severe headaches, backaches or localized pain in the shoulders or legs – because of the injuries inflicted by their torturers. Often the physical pain is coupled with crippling anxiety; it may be so intrusive that living a full life becomes nearly impossible. For these survivors, the best treatment is often deep, therapeutic massage, also known as “bodywork.”

"Massage is about re-educating the muscles how to relax,” Zimmerman says.” They've been in this contracted state for so long. You have to get in there and work that out. It takes persistence and consistency.” Clients at CVT can talk about their pain with their therapists, psychologists or social workers. They have access to doctors and medical treatment. But some pain needs direct touch to heal. “Massage therapy is one more way to help with the physical healing, which then helps the psychological healing,” says Sharyn Larson, a nurse and clinic manager at CVT.

Zimmerman is one of five volunteer massage therapists who donate their time to CVT’s clients. Sarah Greenfield, Bonnie Gibson, Mary Jo Lohn and Sarah Gannett also volunteer.They all are professionals with private practices of their own who have become an essential part of the healing services CVT offers. Together they see about eight to ten clients a week. And there is always a waiting list.

The therapy can be intense. Clients meet with their massage therapist once a week, usually for six months to a year. When their pain begins to subside or their work or school schedules become too full, their massage appointments will taper off and there will be room for another client in the schedule. This long-term relationship can also be rewarding for the therapists, Zimmerman says. “It keeps me energized,” she says, “to see the change in people over a year or so of therapy.”

Zimmerman says that most of her clients are already familiar with the concept of massage and the healing power of touch. “People from other cultures may be more comfortable with touch than we are here. In some cultures, touch is very integrated into family life,” she says. “It is passed down within families.”

From the very beginning, Zimmerman speaks with confidence when she tells torture survivors that they will start to feel better and will be able to heal. For many clients, the pain they suffer has been causing them anxiety for a long time. “They think they’re going to be in pain forever,” she says. “When they start to feel changes, some of their anxiety eases up.”

When the chronic pain and the anxiety ease up, that can lead to remarkable changes in a torture survivor’s life. Zimmerman tells the story of a man who came to CVT shortly after arriving in the United States. This man was experiencing severe pain in his shoulder. Zimmerman says he was withdrawn and seemed depressed. His English was very limited and he communicated through an interpreter. Zimmerman worked with him for almost a year. His English quickly became fluent. He finished computer classes, applied for his work permit and got his first job. “He went from being very withdrawn and depressive to animated and engaging, to lead a very productive life,” she says. “I actually see that a lot.” This man, like so many of the clients who receive massage therapy at CVT, relearned the healing power of touch. And Zimmerman is proud to be a part of that.

“A person’s hands are what caused his pain,” she says. “Now a person’s hands – my hands – are taking away his pain.”

Bush Cuts Refugee Admissions for 2003

President Bush announced Sept. 20 that 5,000 to 25,000 fewer refugees will be admitted in 2003 than earlier indicated. This means that thousands more people will be trapped in situations of torture, war and oppression and that families will continue to be separated from their loved ones.

The Bush administration has said that it will rescue 70,000 refugees in 2003. Among those refugees approved for admission in 2003, however, 45,000 still have not arrived in the U.S. due to bureaucratic delays.

Immigration and Refugee Services of America, among other groups, has decried the announcement.

Regional Training Connects Centers in Africa, Europe

CVT's International Capacity-Building Project brought together representatives from African, Bulgarian and Romanian torture treatment programs for a regional training workshop in Sierra Leone Nov. 10-15. The training covered topics ranging from fundraising to technology.

According to Pam Kriege, the international logistics coordinator, the workshop gave many of the participants a rare opportunity to get together with their peers in the torture treatment movement since many of the treatment centers are the only such resource in their home countries. It was also a chance for some self-care and a break from often intense and overwhelming professional demands.

The group included both representatives from African torture treatment centers and centers in Romania and Bulgaria, which provided a more global perspective by allowing the groups to compare models and gain a sense of being part of an international movement. The workshop also included discussion of how to cultivate a nascent regional network of torture treatment centers in Africa.

Atlantic Monthly Cites Tony Reeler on Torture in Zimbabwe

An excerpt from the United States Institute of Peace report "Zimbabwe and the Politics of Torture" appears in the 'Primary Sources" section of the December issue of the Atlantic Monthly. The report is based on a current issues briefing sponsored by CVT and USIP, and quotes Amani Trust founder Tony Reeler, discusses the increasing prevalence of torture by the current government in Zimbabwe. Reeler, who was forced to flee the country along with other members of Amani Trust, indicates in the report that some 20 percent of the country's population has had intimate experience with torture. Reeler attributes the rise in incidents of torture to what he calls a "culture of impunity" based on the use of clemency to resolve human rights violations starting in the 1970s during Zimbabwe's war of independence.

International Capacity-Building Project Adds Three New Centers to Program

The International Capacity-Building Project has approved three new centers for inclusion in the program: the Centre for Rehabilitation of Torture Survivors, Bangladesh (CRTS.B), the Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU) in Kenya, and the Forum des Activistes Contre la Torture (FACT) in Rwanda.

According to International Project Manager Scott Charlesworth, who conducted assessments of the Kenya and Rwanda facilities in late October, the organizations were chosen both for their vitality and their role as bridges between related regional organizations. "They're staffed by young, committed types … which I see as being positive," says Scott, who also visited centers in Uganda and Ethiopia already involved in the project.

Each of the three new centers work on aspects of torture treatment and education. CRTS.B offers physical and psychiatric treatment for victims of police torture and those who suffer lingering affects of torture from Bangladesh's war of liberation.

IMLU works to document cases of torture, rehabilitate torture survivors, and train medical and legal professionals about torture. One of the key strengths of the program is that IMLU is well-positioned to take on a leadership role among centers in the Great Lakes region of Africa.

FACT educates field workers, community health workers, teachers, police, military doctors, and others to identify and address the effects of torture. The organization was chosen because it is in a high-need area and can benefit from CVT grants, training, and technical assistance.

We will miss you Senator

Senator Paul Wellstone was one of the original sponsors of the 1998 Torture Victims Relief Act (TVRA). The TVRA authorized millions of dollars to assist torture victims through the Office of Refugee Resettlement, the U.S. Agency for International Development and donations to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture. Passage and authorization of the TVRA is one of the many examples of where Senator Wellstone worked to create strong bipartisan support for a bill by partnering with others. For the TVRA Wellstone partnered with his fellow Minnesota Senator at the time, Rod Grams (R) among others.

While seeking his congressional colleagues support for the legislation he said, “The practice of torture is one of the most serious human rights issues of our time. This legislation provides a focus and framework for the debate about where torture survivors, and our response to the practice of torture by other countries, fit within our foreign policy priorities. Providing treatment for torture survivors is one of the best ways we can show our commitment to fighting human rights abuses around the world."

The Long Road From Torture to Healing

The first thing Sister Dianna Ortiz does when she speaks about her ordeal as a survivor of torture is light a candle. The ritual started out as a memorial to those tortured alongside her and whose screams she heard as she was led blindfolded through a secret Guatemalan prison. But now, Sister Ortiz explains, the light shines for victims of torture in countries around the world.

Sister Ortiz's pain is palpable. At the reading Nov. 7, sponsored by CVT and held at the University of Minnesota Law School, an audience of almost 100 people sit quietly as Sister Ortiz, who was abducted and tortured as an American nun in Guatemala in 1989, tells the audience in her opening remarks that the day she was tortured is the day she died; a point reinforced in her in her book when she writes: "No one ever recovers – not the one who was tortured, and not the one who tortures."

She asks the audience to close their eyes as she reads a passage from her memoir The Blindfold’s Eyes, about an awful confession made to her by one of her guards. The story leaves many in tears and underlies the central message of Sister Ortiz's presentation; that we must collectively remove our blindfold's to the realities of torture.

As Sister Ortiz concluded her reading, she left the podium unable to continue for some minutes. Returning to the platform, Sister Ortiz urged those in the audience to advocate for torture victims by supporting Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition (TASSC), an organization she helped start with other survivors of torture.

The evening ended with blindfolds printed with names of countries as disparate as Guatemala and Austria printed on them. These, Sister Ortiz explained, represented countries that employ torture. All were urged to learn more about the people of the country and the use of torture as a means of making what can seem a distant reality, a personal one.

Sister Ortiz is the 2001 recipient of CVT's Eclipse Award. Sister Ortiz was given the award – the first annual Eclipse Award -- for her work supporting torture survivors and advocating for an end to torture. Sister Ortiz also works on behalf of torture victims as a member of the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/U.S.A.

Torture in Zimbabwe Increasing and Becoming More Systematic, Report Finds

Zimbabwe’s ruling party not only continues to torture the political opposition, it has also become more systematic in using torture to advance its political goals, according to a report released June 25 by a human rights organization operating in the country.

A study of 750 people tortured during the run-up to the 2002 elections strongly suggests that members of the 'youth militia' are being trained in torture techniques and are setting up bases, to which they abduct their victims.

The report, titled "Beating Your Opposition: Torture during the 2002 presidential campaign in Zimbabwe," also details a long history of torture in the country, including what it calls "epidemics" during the Liberation War in the 1970s, the Food Riots in 1998, and the 2000 parliamentary elections. It was released by the Amani Trust, a nongovernmental organization that documents cases of torture and treats survivors.

"Organized violence and torture have been a common feature of the Zimbabwe political landscape of the past three decades," the report states.

By January 2002, when the presidential election campaign began, however, the torture had been elevated to an almost professional level. Of the torture survivors studied, "nearly 50 percent of victims gave a story of abduction to a specific 'base,' where they were detained for up to ten days and then systematically torture using well-known methods of torture such as whipping, beating, slapping across the ears to rupture the ear drums, falanga [beating on the soles of the feet], burning, attempted drownings, and sexual assault.”

In the March poll, President Robert Mugabe, of the ruling ZANU-PF party, defeated challenger Morgan Tsvangirai in a landslide victory that has been roundly denounced as undemocratic by international observers.

The largest opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, has also been implicated in acts of violence, but not in the systematic or widespread use of torture. Read the entire report.

Is Torture an Option? CVT Responds to 60 Minutes

Author and law professor Alan Dershowitz told the TV news program 60 Minutes on Sept. 24 that torture should be an option for U.S. law enforcement officials when innocent lives are at stake.

But torture, in a country where we respect both laws and human dignity is never acceptable under any circumstances.

Our constitution guarantees due process beforepunishment is inflicted and prohibits "cruel and unusual punishment."

We are a signatory to the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

What's more, torture does not work. In Dershowitz's 'ticking bomb' scenario, torturing suspects would not yield the information we would need to save innocent lives.

Salvadoran Torture Victims Win Case in U.S.

The Center for Justice and Accountability won an important victory for torture survivors on July 23, when it won a civil suit against two Salvadoran generals.

A Florida jury awarded three civilians from El Salvador $54 million in damages in the case against Jose Guillermo Garcia and Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova, who served as the minister of defense and the head of the National Guard, respectively, during El Salvador’s civil war. The two men were held responsible for the torture committed by their troops.

CJA, based in San Francisco, is an associate member of the National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs, which is headed by CVT's executive director, Doug Johnson.

The case was brought under the 1789 Alien Tort Claims Act and the 1992 Torture Victims Protection Act, which, together, allow torture survivors who are living in the United States to seek redress against their abusers.

CJA currently has five other ongoing civil cases against torturers and human rights abusers who are visiting, living in, or holding assets in the United States. The abusers are accused of crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chile, China, East Timor and Honduras.

In the past year, CJA has spurred investigations into more than 40 cases involving the presence of human rights violators in the United States.

The cases that CJA handles are civil cases – meaning that monetary damages can be awarded, but neither jail terms nor deportations can be imposed. Under a law passed in 1994, the U.S. Department of Justice has the authority to criminally prosecute people who committed torture anywhere in the world, as long as they are physically present within the United States. According to CJA, the DOJ has yet to complete a single prosecution.

Amnesty International has estimated that hundreds of torturers live in the United States and that hundreds more receive visas each year. CJA is working to right the horrendous wrong that allows torturers to live with impunity in our country, sometimes even in the same community with the people whom they have tortured.

UN Council Passes Addendum to Torture Treaty

On July 24, the United Nations Economic and Social Council passed an optional protocol to be added to the UN Convention Against Torture. The protocol would allow UN inspection teams to access jails and detention centers of signatory countries to check for torture and other human rights abuses. The U.S. abstained from the final vote. The protocol must next be passed by a majority of the General Assembly and then ratified by 20 countries before it will go into force.

Mike Hatch: Torture is "Never to Be Accepted"

"Torture of any human being by another is wrong. It is never to be accepted," Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch told a crowd of CVT supporters.

Hatch was speaking at CVT's celebration of UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture in Minneapolis on June 26.

Since Sept. 11, Hatch went on to say, the United States has been struggling with the balance between liberty and safety. The possibility that the U.S. government might sanction torture in some cases has even come into the public discourse – unthinkable just one year ago.

Torture, even if regulated by law, he says, is not the answer. "Regulated or not, torture gives unreliable information.... If we tolerate regulated torture, we begin to mirror the very enemies we are attempting to overcome."

Hatch concluded, "Given the events in recent history, there has never been a more important time for [CVT] to carry out its vision."

The UN Convention Against Torture went into effect on June 26, 1987. CVT and other torture treatment centers and human rights groups around the world have celebrated that anniversary since 1997. Read the entire speech.

Dear Abby Urges Readers to Learn More About Torture

"Those who wish to add their voices in protest of man's inhumanity to man and hasten the end of [the] barbaric practice [of torture] should visit the Center for Victims of Torture web site," Main | Newsroom | News Archives |

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