There is much to celebrate as the Center for Victims of Torture recognizes our 40th anniversary. From our humble beginnings in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to clinics in six countries, CVT has brought healing and hope to thousands of survivors of torture. Read more below about the many years of expansion and global work.
CVT Expands Internationally
CVT’s global expansion allowed us to extend care to survivors in six countries, and the teams built these programs over two decades. The U.S. government was a partner in this effort, funding the majority of the operations. “Our training director received a call from the State Department in 1999,” said Pete Dross, “asking if we could develop a model that allowed us to work on a larger scale and serve survivors of torture committed during the civil conflicts in Liberia and Sierra Leone.” This phone call started CVT’s work in countries beyond the United States, bringing an interdisciplinary model of care to locations where it was needed most.
CVT’s first global program was in Guinea, where we extended care to refugees who had escaped violent conflicts in Sierra Leone and Liberia. The program ran from 2000 to 2005 and earned the American Psychological Association 2006 International Humanitarian Award.
The program ran from 2000 to 2005 and earned the American Psychological Association 2006 International Humanitarian Award.”
Projects followed in Sierra Leone and Liberia, once those regions had stabilized and healing work was suitable to the context. Over the next decade, programs were opened in Democratic Republic of Congo, followed by Jordan, Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia. While DRC closed, numerous country programs saw growth for many years, with expansion to Iraq as well.
In addition, CVT took its U.S.-based work developing the capacity of torture treatment centers to the international community of clinical professionals providing care in multiple countries where human rights violations are routine. This work came to be called Partnerships in Trauma Healing (PATH), followed by Helping Survivors Heal (HSH), which ran from 2001 until the 2025 U.S. foreign aid cuts ended the projects mid-stream.
These capacity development services benefited individuals and organizations in over 35 countries. In 2024 alone, CVT provided capacity development support to over 160 organizations and 550 individuals.
Shown in photo: The CVT Jordan team with Curt Goering, 2012
Curt Goering, who served as CVT executive director from 2012-2021, oversaw a period of growth in programming. “It wasn’t just an organization of highly competent and committed professional staff, but CVT created an extraordinary model of a community-based enterprise in which supporters and donors, staff, board and volunteers were all active and direct partners in advancing CVT’s mission,” he said. “Each played indispensable and complementary roles—all grounded in an ironclad commitment—inspired and motivated by the irrepressible courage and strength of torture survivors who were rebuilding their lives.”
The Importance of Policy Advocacy to Support Survivors
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, were followed by a dark period in the United States’ history. The CIA implemented a torture program that spanned years and included torture, rendition and detainees held without charge or trial at the Guantánamo detention facility.
As word emerged of these illegal actions, CVT pushed back. In an initial anti-torture campaign in 2005, CVT called on President George W. Bush to issue an executive order to provide detailed guidance on interrogation procedures and stop the illegal practice of sending prisoners to countries that use torture. By 2008, CVT expanded these efforts to work with partners on the Campaign to Ban Torture, a national effort that resulted in an executive order signed by President Barack Obama in early 2009, ending torture of prisoners captured in counterterrorism operations. This was a bipartisan effort, endorsed by hundreds of retired military leaders, foreign policy and national security experts and religious leaders.
Ultimately, by late 2014, the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released the executive summary, findings and conclusions of its bipartisan report on the CIA post-9/11 torture program.
Policy advocacy became a core pillar in CVT’s portfolio because of the important relationship between healing and justice. Survivors of torture speak of the need for accountability and understand very well that healing can be incomplete when torturers are given immunity.
More Healing Centers, More Ways to Reach Survivors
CVT’s healing work also expanded within the United States with a center opening in Clarkston, Georgia, to reach the refugee community living there, as well as a new center in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The Healing Hearts project, which began as a randomized control trial for ethnic Karen clients from Myanmar in primary care, expanded to new locations in the Twin Cities, Minnesota.
Shown in photo: the CVT Kenya team with Dr. Simon Adams and Neal Porter
When the 2020 COVID-10 pandemic hit, CVT clinicians moved quickly to begin using remote technologies for care. This required innovation and great care, as access to wifi or mobile phones is limited in many of the locations where CVT was working. For example, the physiotherapy team in the Kalobeyei settlements in Kenya found a way to provide a space for a client to connect virtually with the physiotherapist on Zoom, while a colleague who was skilled in using the needed technology was nearby, ready to help with connections but keep risks low.
It was during the pandemic that CVT opened Proyecto Mariposa in Tucson, Arizona, where we began extending destination case management to asylum seeking families. A global pandemic didn’t stop people from seeking refuge from torture, and CVT was there to help ease their journey to their destination.
In 2024, CVT opened new programs dedicated to Afghan refugees living in Georgia and Minnesota. With local partners, the teams provide culturally competent support as the community adjusts to life in the United States.
Looking Ahead to a Strong Future
Throughout its history, CVT has benefited from a dedicated and passionate group of supporters and donors who continue to this day to bring their energy and commitment to the organization. “CVT friends, supporters and sustainers have been CVT clients’ lifelines,” said Ruth Barrett, former vice president of global operations. She expressed hope that those supporters remain strong and engaged “so that we can get back to the strength where we found ourselves in previous years and continue to provide these life-saving services around the world.”
CVT friends, supporters and sustainers have been CVT clients’ lifelines.”
-Ruth Barrett, former CVT vice president of global operations
“I have seen the fierce advocacy that our staff, and that our providers, that our board members and our supporters continue to make on behalf of the center,” Ruth said. “I have no doubt that the power of those individuals is going to move CVT into the future.”
The question of funding is always important, and Pete Dross said he hopes the U.S. government will again step up to be “the world’s largest donor for rehabilitative care for survivors of torture, other gross human rights violations, and severe conflict-related trauma, as well as capacity development for human rights defenders and organizations.” He added that rebuilding CVT’s global programming is critical for survivors around the world.
. . . at a time of resurgent denial of torture and its impacts, and increasingly, its justification, the role of CVT has never been more critical or needed.”
-Curt Goering, former CVT executive director
These are difficult and unprecedented days for foreign aid and for human rights much more broadly. At CVT, we appreciate that our clients and supporters care so deeply about the rights and the humanity of people who have survived torture. Curt Goering said that during these times, “. . . when many governments have abandoned or undermined the global struggle for human rights, or even become participants or accomplices in their violation, at a time of resurgent denial of torture and its impacts, and increasingly, its justification, the role of CVT has never been more critical or needed.”
Shown in photo: Dr. Simon Adams with the CVT Gambella team, 2024.
As CVT looks ahead to the next 40 years, we are proud of our legacy of healing and ready to meet our future. Dr. Simon Adams, president and CEO, said, “It is clear from CVT’s 40-year history that the challenges we face today are real, but they are surmountable. We will persevere. We and our clients know this well: regimes and presidents come and go. But CVT will keep working towards healing and hope until the last torturer is behind bars and the last refugee camp is empty.”
