Press Release (#2)June 23, 1998Contact: John Salzburg202.270.9008Torture Survivors Gather to Observe Their First International Day Last December, the United Nations recognized torture as an enduring problem that besets humanity and declared June 26 to be International Day in support of Torture Victims and Survivors. Last week, Amnesty International declared that torture is practiced in 117 countries against political dissidents worldwide. Some governments even go so far as to prosecute organizations which provide medical and psychological help to torture victims. Recently Turkish police raided and shut down a newly established center for victims of torture in Diyarbakir, a major city in Turkish Kurdistan, with an extensive history of victims. Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Committee (TASSC), a Washington, DC, based group, a coalition of human rights organizations and survivors of political violence, condemns this cruel and inhuman act of the Turkish government and urges world governments to do the same. In order to pay homage to the memory of torture victims and to recognize the resilience of torture survivors, TASSC has scheduled a number of activities on and off Capitol hill throughout this week for the observance of the first International Day for Torture Victims and Survivors. On Wednesday, June 24, 1998, TASSC will hold a press conference at the House Triangle at 9:30 a.m. In the afternoon of the same day, at 2:00 p.m., there will be a Congressional Human Rights Caucus briefing at 2358 Rayburn House Office Building. On Friday, June 26, there will be a dusk to dawn vigil with on the hour programs by various groups at the Lafayette Park across from the White House starting at 6 p.m. Torture survivors from as far away as Tibet, Kurdistan and Nigeria and as close to home as Washington, DC, will take part in these activities. 141 Non-Governmental Organizations, 25 Senators and 65 Representatives have already urged our government to do more for the survivors. The speakers include several torture survivors: the former mayor of Diyarbakir, Mehdi Zana; former diocesan priest from Philippines, Orlando Tizon; a nurse from Somalia, Kifah Coleman; Sister Dianna Ortiz from Washington, DC, as well as Senator Wellstone and Representatives Morella, Pelosi, Furse, Filner and Horn.Partial list of Sponsors*Advocates for Survivors of Trauma and Torture*American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee*American Kurdish Information Network *American Psychological Association*Amnesty International/USA*Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture*Bosnian Support Committee*Center for Victims of Torture*Centro Para La Rehabilitacion de Victimas de Tortura*Colombia Human Rights Committee*Conference of Major Superiors of Men*Ecumenical Program on Central America and the Caribbean*East Timor Action Network*Federation of American Scientists*Franciscan Mission Service of N. A.*Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA*Human Rights Access*Human Rights Alliance*International Campaign for Tibet*Khmer Health Advocates *Latin American Task Force of Metropolitan Washington Lutheran Synod*Leadership Conference for Women Religious*Maryknoll Office for Global Concern*Marjorie Kovler Center for Treatment of Survivors of Torture*Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate*Panama Democratico*Physicians for Human Rights*Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights*Rocky Mountain Survivors Center*Science & Human Rights Program of AAAS*SOA Watch*Uganda Democratic Coalition, Inc.*Washington Kurdish Institute*World Organization Against Torture*World Sindhi Institute
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Fax: (202) 526-4611
E-mail: dianna@igc.apc.org
Home Page: http://www.kurdistan.org/you-can-end-it