Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act of 2003

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1813) to amend the Torture Victims Relief Act of 1998 to authorize appropriations to provide assistance for domestic and foreign centers and programs for the treatment of victims of torture, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill that is under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, torture remains a cruel weapon of choice for antidemocratic, dictatorial regimes around the globe. It is used to silence opposition leaders and to suffocate political dissent.

Today, torture is commonplace and, sadly, systematic. In many countries around the globe, including the People's Republic of China, Cuba, and many countries in Africa, the Middle East, it is used to extract confessions. It is used to humiliate, to punish. It is used to crush people's souls and hearts and their bodies and to break them while they are in captivity. Torturers themselves, it turns out and is no surprise to any of us, are sadistic and cruel beyond imagination.

Mr. Speaker, even torturing a single, carefully targeted individual can have a multiplier effect, sending a message of fear throughout the entire community and even across generations. For example, the paralyzing effect of torture is painfully clear in Turkmenistan where countless people have been tortured, killed and disappeared in the wake of last year's November 25 attack on President Niyazov's motorcade.

We see it throughout China, especially regarding people who are part of the Falun Gong. Hundreds of them have been tortured to death simply because of their expression of their conscience in that religious expression. We see it with the Buddhists and others. We see it with the Catholics in the underground church in China where, again, these individuals are routinely and through incredible harshness tortured.

I point out to my colleagues that even after a dictatorial regime has fallen, as it has in Iraq, the impact of torture can be felt for years. Leaders are broken and lost. There is a profound lack of trust in public institutions, in the police and in courts. Unless we find a way to understand and to heal the legacy of torture people will be unable to work with each other to rebuild their nation. Individuals who are tortured, who carry around both psychologically and in their person that legacy, very often suffer post-traumatic stress disorder, one of the worst expressions or manifestations or legacies of that torture. Unless we are able to heal or provide or facilitate that healing, these people are literally walking time bombs, and we will find it hard both in these countries and the emigre community to build institutions that will not fail.

I think many Members will be surprised to learn that in the United States there are an estimated 500,000 torture survivors, most of whom came to the United States as refugees. Worldwide, while it is impossible to count the actual number, Amnesty International has documented torture in 150 countries. So we know the number is in the millions.

The Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act before the body today provides $20 million to the Department of Health and Human Services to assist

treatment programs in the United States for fiscal 2004 and $25 million for fiscal year 2005.

Mr. Speaker, in spite of these numbers, and this is an increase over the previous year's, the number of survivors seeking treatment in U.S. centers funded through this legislation has steadily increased. The word is getting out that one can go to these centers and get treatment, and the process, very often a lifelong process of healing, can begin.

We found, or there has been a finding I should say, that when the centers first opened there were about 935 people who were helped in 1999 as a result of the legislation we passed then. That jumped to 1,550 clients served in 2000 to 2,579 in 2001. We now know that there are some 3,664 clients that have gotten services at a cost of about $3,500 per client in fiscal year 2002. With the additional funding that we contemplate that this bill would authorize, it is estimated that U.S. centers would have the capacity and the ability to serve an additional 2,800 survivors per year.

Torture treatment centers provide a range of services, Mr. Speaker, including medical exams, lab tests, psychological and psychiatric screening evaluations, psychiatric medication, individual, group and family therapy, and crisis counseling.

In addition, the network of treatment centers already in the U.S., and we know this, needs to be expanded; and I would point out to my colleagues there are a number of large cities with large emigre communities with torture victims who are not being served in places like Miami, New Orleans, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Cleveland, St. Louis, Kansas City, Salt Lake City, and Seattle. Hopefully, as a result of this reauthorization and the subsequent appropriations, money will be made available to craft or to establish those centers that are so vitally needed in those cities.

The Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act also authorizes $11 million in U.S. funds for the Agency for International Development to support foreign treatment centers in 2004 and $12 million in fiscal year 2005. This is a modest increase from the $10 million we first authorized in 1999; and, of course, the need is much more than that, but at least this is an attempt to try to meet some of that need.

USAID's Victims of Torture Fund, I would point out to my colleagues, administers treatment programs in 26 countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia, the Near East, and in Europe. Last year, the fund supported approximately 45 treatment programs. Nongovernmental organizations that receive this funding provide a direct service to survivors, to their families and communities. They strengthen the capacity of country-based institutions to deliver services to survivors and increase the level of knowledge and understanding about the needs of torture victims. These treatment centers can also gather forensic evidence that can be used to improve the capability of those documenting and seeking redress from the practice of torture.

To help meet the needs of victims around the globe, I would remind my colleagues that the U.N. established a fund back in 1981, and before we passed our first act, the United States' contribution to that fund was only in the hundreds of thousands. We have now pushed that number to $5 million, and this legislation would increase it to $7 million; and hopefully that, too, will be part of the fix to help mitigate the suffering endured by torture victims.

This is a good bill. I hope my colleagues will support it. I want to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), my good friend and colleague and the ranking member of the committee, who is the chief cosponsor and has worked with us hand in glove in crafting this legislation. I especially want to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), our good friend and colleague, the chairman of our committee, for his leadership on this very unrecognized and very below- most-people's-radar-screens issue. They often say torture victims, what are we talking about, and yet they are in our midst. They are suffering. They need help. This legislation provides at least some help.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute to thank my friends and colleagues for their very strong statements and their passion on this issue.

The gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin), who is the ranking Democrat on the Helsinki Commission, we work together. There is no division. There is no air between our shoulders as we promote human rights in general and the elimination, or a zero tolerance policy towards torture within the OSCE.

There are 55 countries that make up the OSCE. At the parliamentary assemblies and with bilateral meetings and with country visits, we bring this issue up. We bring it up with the heads of state, we go to gulags, like the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf), who is also a member of our commission, and we do all that we can to stop torture in the first place.

But as this bill seeks to do, there are victims, they number in the millions, and their needs are not being cared for in many instances, especially overseas. The lucky ones make it here as emigres and as asylum seekers, and we have to make sure that both domestically and internationally, we try to mitigate that enormous pain and the nightmares they carry with them. As we know from our hearings and from our site visits from talking to these victims, maybe they cannot be cured fully and completely, but the pain can be eliminated to a great extent, and they can develop coping mechanisms and the like in order to deal with it and live a more normal life despite the fact that they have suffered so horrifically.

So I want to thank my friends and colleagues. And again, the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), who knows this personally, who is a Holocaust survivor and is always out front on human rights. It is always great to work as a teammate with him. And, again, I thank the gentleman from Maryland for his kinds words, as well as my friend and colleague from Minnesota, I want to thank her as well.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to call to the attention of my colleagues the leadership shown by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation for focusing attention on the widespread use of torture by some outlaw regimes by awarding this year's Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize of $1 million to the International Rehabilitation Center for Torture Victims (IRCT). I also want to take this opportunity to congratulate and pay tribute to the ICRT.

Mr. Speaker, as Co-Chairman of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus I have had the privilege of working with ICRT and its network of affiliates around the world. Every year, the Caucus organizes a public briefing to mark the United Nations ``International Day in support of Survivors of Torture,'' during which we bring together survivors of torture from all over the world, healthcare personnel who assist in their treatment and rehabilitation, Members of Congress, congressional staff and the general public. These briefings are designed to educate our colleagues and their staff, on the practice of torture and the devastating physical and emotional complications that revisit torture victims, and to encourage appropriate Congressional action to address this important issue.

This Hilton Award will be presented to ICRT today at a luncheon in New York City, at which the Dalai Lama will speak. The awarding of this prestigious prize comes at a very appropriate moment, as this Congress is about to re-authorize the Torture Victims Relief Act of 1998 by our adoption of H.R. 1813, which has already been approved by the House Committee on International Relations.

The United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment establishes the basic human right of freedom from torture. Thus far, 134 States have recognized this right by becoming state parties to this important convention. Yet torture continues to take place in more than 117 countries. It is estimated that one-third of the world's 12 million refugees are victims of torture.

Mr. Speaker, torture is a brutal form of social and political control designed to stifle dissent through terror and it violates the basic rights of human beings and is contrary to the principles of the U.S. Constitution and fundamental nature of our Republic. Politicians, journalists, teachers, students, religious leaders, trade union and human rights activists are special targets. The aim of torture is not to kill the victim, but to break down the victim's personality. Crippled, traumatized, and humiliated, the victims are returned to their communities as a warning to others.

I will not elaborate on the methods and consequences of torture, which my colleagues know well from previous debates here on the House floor. But I would like to emphasize again that there are an estimated 500,000 torture survivors in the United States alone--refugees and asylum-seekers who have fled repressive regimes. In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of victims of torture seeking help at U.S. rehabilitation centers, and many centers now have long waiting lists. In the United States there are 25 rehabilitation centers and programs joined together under the National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs. The passage of the Torture Victims Relief Act in 1998 positioned the United States as a leading donor to the work against torture. The re-authorization of this legislation, which the Committee on International Relations reported to the House on July 23rd, will continue and expand American leadership to assist those who have been subject to this terrible human rights abuse. I urge the House leadership to schedule this bill for floor action as soon as possible.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to briefly summarize for my colleagues the global efforts that IRCT has undertaken to eliminate torture and to explain the extraordinary work they are accomplishing now. The medical response to torture began in 1973 with an Amnesty International campaign calling for help to diagnose torture victims. At that time, very little was known about torture methods or the physical or psycho- social consequences for torture victims. An Amnesty group of four doctors in Denmark was the first to respond and was soon joined by a network of some 4,000 medical doctors from 34 countries worldwide. It quickly became evident that, in addition to documenting cases of torture for use in potential legal proceedings, it was also critical to identify methods to help treat and rehabilitate victims of torture.

In 1982, the first rehabilitation center was founded and established by medical humanitarian my dear friend Dr. Inge Genefke and the Rehabilitation and Research Center for Torture Victims (RCT) in Copenhagen, Denmark. As the global movement developed, and the need for global support increased, the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) was founded in 1985, initially as the international arm of the RCT, until 1987 when it became a fully independent organization. IRCT's mission, with Dr. Genefke as its Ambassador, is to support and promote the rehabilitation of victims of torture, to advocate for the prevention and eradication of torture worldwide, and to provide documentation and research that will ultimately bring perpetrators to justice.

Mr. Speaker, from a handful of rehabilitation centers in the mid- 1980s, a global network of 200 rehabilitation centers and programs is now operating in 80 countries. These efforts, however, are just a beginning in the global fight against torture. To keep a spotlight on the issue, IRCT's global campaign, ``Together against Torture,'' involves more than 10,000 people and 300 organizations in some 100 countries every year to commemorate the United Nations International Day in Support of Torture Victims, which takes place annually on June 26.

In recent years, IRCT has developed successful models in post- conflict interventions in support of torture victims in East Timor, Kosova, and in Pakistan for Afghan refugees. The IRCT Documentation Center is the world's largest library on torture-related research and IRCT is initiating the first comprehensive monitoring and documentation system on torture at the global, regional, and national levels.

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, let me mention to my colleagues statements from global leaders in support of IRCT.

Dr. Bertrand Ramcharan, Acting U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said: ``Torture is a violation of basic human rights. Through extensive documentation and research, IRCT has become an essential source for governments and legal authorities in their efforts to expose atrocities and to bring perpetrators to justice.''

Mary Robinson, former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and former President of Ireland, said: ``Through its support for victims and its global campaigning for the universal ratification and implementation of the U.N. Convention Against Torture and its Optional Protocol, the IRCT reminds us of our shared responsibility for ending torture throughout the world.''

Former United States President Jimmy Carter said, ``Freedom from torture is one of the most fundamental of all human rights principles, enshrined in the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) and other international agreements. This year, it is particularly fitting that the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation has chosen to bestow its Humanitarian Prize on the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, an organization that has done so much to end torture and to support its victims worldwide.''

Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Per Stig Miller said, ``There is no doubt that IRCT has had a determining role in placing torture and organized violence onto the international agenda and that the organization has achieved a special recognized status and voice that is listened to worldwide. The prize underlines the need for continued international support towards the work of the IRCT.''

Dr. Reiner Brettenhaler, President of the Standing Committee of European Physicians, said: ``We are proud to nominate the IRCT for this year's Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize. A unique strength of the IRCT is its approach to the work against torture: focusing on the medical aspects of torture, thereby focusing on the individual recovery of those subjected to this act of inhumanity.''

Mr. Speaker, I again want to express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to the ICRT and its global network of treatment and support centers for their continued invaluable service to humanity. I also want to commend the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation for recognizing and supporting the ICRT's efforts by awarding it the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I rise in strong support of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, the Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act of 2003 ensures that our Nation continues to play a leadership role in combatting one of the most despicable of all human rights violations, the use of torture around the globe.

I was very pleased to join with the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), my good friend and distinguished colleague, in sponsoring this measure. I would like to commend the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) for his long-standing leadership on this issue, and I want to congratulate him for all of his work to support the heroic endeavors of all clinics around the world in the treatment of victims of torture. He is in the forefront of every single issue relating to human rights, and he has carried the ball on this issue as well.

On June 26, 1945, Mr. Speaker, the United Nations charter was signed, inaugurating the global fight for human rights. On the same day, 42 years later, the United Nations convention against torture came into force, declaring the depravity of torture and affirming the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family. In 1998, the United Nations declared June 26 an international day in support of torture victims.

Mr. Speaker, despite the work that has been done on the international front to prevent torture, it is a grim truth that governments worldwide continue to torture their citizens with impunity. Exact figures are difficult to come by, but Amnesty International estimates that some 117 countries, more than half of the countries on the face of this planet, still practice torture on their own citizens.

Pakistan, Guatemala, Zimbabwe, and China consistently rank high on this grim and despicable list. In some nations, the governments themselves carry out the torture. In some, they condone its use by the nation's political machinery.

The ramifications of torture practices are beyond the realm of the comprehension of normal human beings. Torture leaves no victim unscarred. It effectively shapes the remainder of his or her life. Torture survivors need psychological and physical therapy to cope with the post-traumatic stress that afflicts them every single day.

Recovering from torture, Mr. Speaker, is a long-term process. It can take years before torture survivors can once again feel emotionally stable and comfortable in their own society.

Mr. Speaker, it sometimes just takes one individual to stand strong against the darkness of human rights violations. The torture victims treatment center community is fortunate to have such a person in my wife's and my good friend, Dr. Inge Genefke, of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Dr. Genefke started her work for torture victims as cofounder of the Danish Medical Group of Amnesty International 30 years ago. She observed during the treatment of torture victims that the physical wounds of those lucky enough to survive torture heal with time, but the trauma of her clients lingered on much longer.

In 1982, Dr. Genefke started a multidisciplinarian treatment approach integrating physical and psychological treatment. Her work has been utilized by torture victim treatment centers across the globe, dramatically improving the treatment of torture victims in scores of countries.

An estimated half a million foreign torture survivors reside in the United States, and we estimate that about 100 million live worldwide. There are now 250 treatment centers for torture victims internationally, with the sole purpose of providing crucial services to survivors of torture. In our own country, the Center for Victims of Torture in Minnesota was the first of its kind in the United States and the third torture victims center in the world, and I want to pay tribute to my friend and colleague, the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum), for her leadership role in connection with this important center.

These centers are among those funded through the Torture Victims Relief Act, and their work is the only hope for people who have endured torture. I urge all of my colleagues to support our legislation, H.R. 1813.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum), my good friend and distinguished colleague, who has been a leader on all human rights issues, including the plight of torture victims.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to thank my friend from Minnesota for her eloquent and powerful statement.

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin), a fighter for human rights and the distinguished ranking member of the Helsinki Commission, the most successful international entity working for human rights.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to thank my friend for his powerful and significant statement.

Mr. Speaker, I have no additional requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1813, the Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act of 2003.

Torture is a horrible tool used in more than 150 countries to silence, intimidate and oppress people around the world. Many survivors of torture arrive in the United States every year. This legislation provides vital funding of support for victims of torture.

Mr. Speaker, more than 500,000 survivors of torture live in the United States today. A significant number of these survivors live in New York City. These survivors need vital support in terms of rehabilitation, medical care and psychological care. Fleeing from their persecutors, most often leaving their families behind, they arrive with no documentary evidence to prove their persecution. All they have are their scarred bodies and their stories of horror.

Once they arrive, the survivors are forced to face a culture and a system different from what they have known. They face numerous challenges in their effort to integrate into our society and become fully participating members. They have difficulty telling their stories to the immigration officers and even to their own attorneys because of the abuse they have endured by those in power in the past and thus are wary of authorities. Among the few they can turn to are the torture treatment programs. These programs, armed with experience and dedication, are instrumental in helping survivors document their stories of torture, providing them with clinical care and psychosocial support, and enabling them to embark on a new life.

The life-saving work done by these torture treatment programs should be commended and appreciated by all Americans, for they open their doors, extend their hands, and offer shoulders to the most severely wounded new Americans. It is my pleasure today to commend the indispensable work of the Safe Horizon/Solace Program for Survivors of Torture and Refugee Trauma in my district. Solace is a program of Safe Horizon, which is the nation's leading victim assistance and advocacy organization. Solace is a decentralized, citywide program, with its main offices in Jackson Heights, Queens. Since 1997, Solace has provided an array of services on behalf of torture survivors from over 70 different countries, including intensive case management, clinical, referral for medical and legal, social adjustment counseling, accompaniment, interpretation, information and referral, medical and psychological evaluations, expressive therapies such as visual and dramatic arts, dance, and somatic therapies such as massage, for survivors of torture seeking safe haven in the United States.

Furthermore, Solace has pioneered a community development approach that involves creating social healing interventions at the familial and communal levels, particularly important since torture seeks to destroy the fabric of communities, as much as it seeks to destroy individuals.

The Safe Horizon/Solace approach is also extremely cost effective, since Solace is the managing partner of the Metro Area Support for Survivors of Torture (MASST) Consortium, which includes Doctors of the World/USA, Refuge, Inc., and the International Institute of New Jersey as partners. This New York City and Northern New Jersey effort is all done on one grant from the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Refugee Resettlement, and is the only such configuration in the United States. This past year, the MASST Consortium has reached thousands of people with a dizzying array of services.

The funds provided by the Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act of 2003 will enable torture treatment programs like Safe Horizon/Solace and its MASST partners to continue to provide the crucial services needed by those who have been subjected to cruel and inhuman treatment in their own countries.

Mr. Speaker, we may not have the opportunity to know when we meet the survivors of torture, to listen to first hand and understand their stories, or to appreciate the courage they exhibit in overcoming the consequences of the traumatic events they have experienced. But we do have the opportunity to assist them today. By supporting this important legislation, we can play an important part in providing care for this resilient group of people. We can give them hope for a better future. We will be instrumental in helping them break down the barriers that keep them from fully integrating into our society.

I strongly encourage all my colleagues to join me in supporting this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the valuable work that is being done to aid victims of torture and in strong support of the Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act of 2003. I commend my colleagues, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), the ranking member, the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) for this important piece of legislation, and I commend the leadership of the House for bringing this bill to the floor today.

Mr. Speaker, Minnesota is the home for the Center for the Victims of Torture, a world renowned treatment center for the healing of torture victims. When the center opened in 1985, it became the first of its kind in the United States and the third treatment center in the entire world. And right now the center is putting the final touches on a second clinic in St. Paul, Minnesota. In fact, this new clinic is only a few blocks from my home, and my neighbors and I welcome the center and their tireless commitment to serve torture victims.

Mr. Speaker, the use of torture is a tool of intimidation, and the oppression continues to take place in more than 120 countries worldwide. It is estimated that one-third of the world's 12 million refugees are victims of torture. Many victims of torture are community leaders, those individuals who stand up and speak out for social change, political and religious change. The victims are often teachers, students, journalists, trade union organizers, human rights activists, or elected leaders, and they represent people of all ages, social classes, and religious beliefs.

Groups that sanction and sponsor and commit torture focus on these leaders because they want to inflict terror, intimidation and fear on entire communities because torture is about control. Frequently, the aim of this brutality is not to kill the victim, but to break their will. In many instances, doctors and medical personnel participate during the torture sessions to ensure that the victim will not die. The victims are humiliated, crippled, traumatized and then returned to their communities as a brutal message of intimidation to others.

Once a person has been tortured, their life has been fundamentally changed. But there is hope. Through this bill, thousands of torture victims living in the United States will receive the care that they need to heal and reenter society and lead positive, productive lives. The U.S. can be proud of the leadership we have shown in working to heal the victims of torture. Our country is a leader in the rehabilitation programs and continues to work to prevent torture around the globe.

The world community should continue to look to the United States for leadership because in the struggle of torture, the American people have answered the call. Torture relief is providing hope and opportunity for victims and families. The treatment is working, but there is more that can be done. This legislation will double the current support for our Nation's treatment centers, ensuring hope and opportunity for victims to receive the care that they need.

This legislation also creates a partnership by increasing funding for foreign treatment centers and strengthening our commitment to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture. This bill sends a strong message to the international community that treating victims of torture is a priority and that we welcome the support of our like- minded friends around the globe.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I would like to say that torture is a crime against humanity, unacceptable at any time by any nation, and any nation that tortures or tolerates torture is not truly free. Any government that silently witnesses the horrors of torture or hears the screams of the victims but does not act contributes to this oppressive, inhumane crime that extinguishes the essence of our human dignity.

Today, this Congress has an opportunity to speak with one voice for those who have suffered the unimaginable and continue to suffer. The message is clear and simple: Support this bill. And I encourage my colleagues to not only support the legislation, but to help fund this legislation.