UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL DAY IN
SUPPORT OF VICTIMS OF TORTURE

Mr. Wellstone:
"Mr. President, I would like to call the Senate's attention to a
recent initiative that addresses a very important international issue:
the use of torture. At its last session, the United Nations General
Assembly decided to proclaim June 26th as ``United Nations
International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.'' The General
Assembly proclaimed the day ``with a view to the total eradication
of torture and the effective functioning of the Convention against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment, which entered into force on 26 June 1987.''
Governments and non-governmental organizations are developing
plans on how to observe this day in a manner that will recognize
the needs of torture victims and the necessity of preventing torture.

Torture is a most effective weapon against democracy. Torture
victims are often in the forefront of the struggle for human rights
and democracy in their own country. The advocates for these ideals
are tortured in order to disable them and instill fear in anyone who
might aspire for human rights and democracy. As a refuge for the
persecuted, the United States may have as many as 400,000 victims
of torture. They come from all regions of the world. Many come
from Iraq, Iran, China, Ethiopia, Liberia, El Salvador, Guatemala
and many other countries too numerous to mention. Because of
their experience with torture, they often have special difficulties
applying for asylum and adjusting to a new country. They must
overcome the physical and mental effects of torture--the latter often
requiring months or years of therapy. Nightmares, flashbacks,
anxiety attacks, and depression are just some of the mental
consequences of torture. In some cases it may be years before the
victim recognizes that treatment is necessary to overcome these
psychological roadblocks.

Plans are being made around the world to recognize the contribution
of torture victims. In Denmark, the International Rehabilitation
Council for Torture Victims and the Rehabilitation and Research
Centre for Torture Victims are planning a series of event and
activities. In Greece, where torture was prevalent not so many years
ago, the Medical Rehabilitation Center for Torture Victims
(MRCT) will hold an event at what was, during the dictatorship,
the Special Interrogating Unit of the Military Police (a notorious
torture and detention center). The building is now used for historical
memorial purposes, and symbolically the area has been renamed
Park of Freedom. A variety of activities are planned, including
speeches by torture victims and refugees.

I am very proud that the first and most comprehensive treatment
center for victims of torture in the United States, the Center for
Victims of Torture, is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It now
treats an average of 150 clients a year who come from all regions of
the world and are now settled in Minnesota. Many of the Center's
clients and former clients are now making significant contributions
to our communities and we are grateful to have them. The Center is
planning a special event for June 26th.

Mr. President, on February 4th I introduced the Torture Victims
Relief Act (S.1606). My bill is co-sponsored by Senators Tom
Harkin, Edward Kennedy, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Barbara Boxer,
Byron Dorgan, and Richard Durbin. The legislation provides a
focus and a framework of 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.

Mr. President, I strongly urge this administration and this Congress
to undertake activities on June 26th to recognize the important
contributions torture victims have made on behalf of human rights
and democracy and the contributions they have made to our country
as well. I suggest that President Clinton invite some torture
victims to attend a ceremony at the White House where they would
be recognized for their contributions. The invitees should be from
countries representing a wide geographic and political distribution.

On that occasion the President could announce some initiatives the
administration is taking to support torture victims and prevent
torture.I would suggest that the President consider taking the
following initiatives: (1) Increase the U.S. contribution to the
United Nations Voluntary Fund from $1.5 million to $3.0 million,
as recommended in the conference report of the State Department
authorization bill; (2) Direct the Agency for International
Development to set aside $5 million in fiscal year 1998 funds to
assist treatment centers for torture victims abroad; (3) Direct the
Department of Health and Human Services to set aside $5 million
in fiscal year 1998 funds to assist treatment centers for victims of
torture in the United States; and (4) Announce administration
support for the Torture Victims Relief Act (S. 1606).

Finally, Mr. President, I would like to mention the valuable
contribution being made by the United Nations Voluntary Fund for
Victims of Torture. It provides financial assistance to treatment
centers for victims of torture throughout the world. These centers
are providing both an essential humanitarian assistance program as
well as an important strategic instrument for advancing human
rights and democracy around the world. In 1997 the Fund assisted
104 projects in about 70 countries on a budget of little more than
$3 million dollars. An article that appeared in Human Rights, a
publication initiated by the new U.N. High Commissioner for
Human Rights, Mary Robinson, tells why we need to increase our
contribution to the Fund. I ask that the text of the article be printed
in the Record.

The article follows:

        U.N. Support to Victims of Torture
                (by Daniel Premont)

Torture continues to occur on a worldwide basis, despite enhanced
efforts by Governments and organizations in keeping with
provisions contained in domestic law and international human
rights conventions whose objective is its total eradication.

The practice of torture was first prohibited in 1948 by the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and by the International Convention
on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; the
concept was reaffirmed in 1966 by the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights; and more recently, in 1984, by the
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment.

  What is the voluntary fund for victims of torture?

The effects of torture should not be under-estimated. Physical and
mental consequences of torture can endure for several years and may
be irreversible, often affecting not only thousands of victims
themselves, but also their relatives. One of the means of mitigating
the subsequent effects of torture on victims and their families is to
provide them with medical, psychological, social, legal and
economic aid. With this in mind, the General Assembly created the
United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture in 1982.
The purpose of the Fund is to receive voluntary contributions and
distribute them to non-governmental organizations and treatment
centres for assisting victims of torture and their relatives whose
human rights have been severely violated as a result of torture, as
well as for the funding of projects for training healthcare
professionals specialized in the treatment of victims of torture.

The Fund is administered by the United Nations Secretary-General
with a Board of

[[Page S3014]]

Trustees acting in an advisory capacity and comprising five
members with wide experience in the field of human rights. The
members serve in their personal capacity and are appointed by the
Secretary-General for a renewable three-year term of office on the
basis of equitable geographical distribution. Currently, members of
the Board of Trustees are Jaap Walkate, Chairman, from The
Netherlands; Ribot Hatano from Japan; Elisabeth Odio-Benito from
Costa Rica; Ivan Tosevsky from the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia; and Amos Wako from Kenya.

The inadequacy of available resources is a limiting factor in the
field of assistance of victims; as a consequence, programmes of
assistance are subjected to interruptions. For some 100
organisations the support of the United Nations Voluntary Fund
remains essential.

        How does the voluntary fund work?

The Fund receives projects which focus on providing medical,
psychological, economic, social and legal assistance to victims of
torture and to members of their families. A few projects also share
the objective of organizing training seminars for health
professionals specialized in the treatment of torture victims.

Each May, the Board of Trustees makes recommendations on grants
to the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Subsequently, in
the following month, on the basis of those recommendations, the
High Commissioner takes decisions on behalf of the
Secretary-General. As a final step, grants are made available at the
end of July.

From 1983 to July 1997, the Fund has financed 255 projects for
direct assistance to torture victims. From US$ 2.5 to US$ 3
million of voluntary contributions received from about 30
Governments and a few individuals are disbursed every year to
projects in some 60 countries representative of all the regions of
the world. Further information on the activities of the Voluntary
Fund can be found in the latest annual reports of the
Secretary-General to the General Assembly (UN document
A/52/387) and to the Commission on Human Rights (UN
documents E/CN.4/1998/37 and Add.1).

  
        Grants
       requested
        (US$)
                  Grants
                  awarded
                   (US$)
                            Percent
                            granted
                                    Additional
                                     amount
                                   required (US$)
 1997
       6,800,000
                (1) 3,036,054
                            44.64
                                    3,765,946
 1996
       5,618,645
                (1) 2,535,500
                             45.1
                                    3,083,145
 1995
       5,827,645
                (1) 2,719,680
                             46.6
                                    3,107,965
 1994
       5,476,959
                (1) 3,698,080
                             67.5
                                    1,778,879
 1993
       5,289,413
                (1) 2,111,880
                             39.9
                                    3,177,533


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(1) Each year, the grants awarded correspond to the total amounts
which the Board of Trustees is able to recommend to the
Secretary-General for allocation. In view of the insufficient
contributions received, the Board avoids the practice of carrying
forward a reserve from one year to the next. The Secretary-General
follows this recommendation by the Board.

As at 30 November 1997 only US$ 1,174,499 has been paid into
the Fund. Provided that the number of grant requested is maintained
at the 1997 level, the Fund will need an additional amount of US$
5,6 million to meet all requests.

         Some projects recently submitted

Torture involves not only physical but also psychological forms,
sometimes with long-term sequelae: in this regard, the Fund is
supporting a project whose objective is to provide global assistance
to formerly disappeared children of victims of torture in Latin
America. The organization identifies disappeared children as those
born in detention, abducted by security forces and illegally adopted.
Once located by the organization, the children may be returned to
their biological families. The best interests of the child have to be
taken into consideration. This project consists of two main parts:
investigation--some 1,030 interviews were carried out in the past
year in conjunction with blood tests and analyses of genetic
data--and psychological support provided to some 431 persons
during 1996. Most of these persons suffer from sequelae of
post-traumatic stress disorder including anxiety, nightmares,
depression, as well as affective and intellectual inhibitions and
benefit from individual psychotherapy. The number of youths
seeking assistance remains high while many children have yet to be
found: to date, 172 children still need to be located and 6 who were
found have yet to be returned to their biological families.

Another project which was being implemented in Asia in 1996
focused on providing physical and mental relief to torture survivors
and their families. Firstly, fact-finding missions on the incidence of
torture were carried out establishing that people had been subjected
to torture by the police and other law enforcement agencies: this
involved methods such as beatings all over the body, kicking them
with police boots, applying electric shocks, scalding them with hot
water, suspending them by the legs from roofs and inflicting them
with bullet injuries. Long- term consequences, apart from obvious
physical complaints, were psychological and included phobia,
depression, sexual problems and mental disorders. The more
commonly occurring complaints were social maladjustments at
work, in the family and society in general, through the overall loss
of social dignity and a departure from social values. In 1995, 263
victims between 15 and 45 years of age received treatment. The
drug therapy included prescription of antipsychotics, physiotherapy
as well as psychotherapeutic assistance. Parallel to the main
objective of providing physical and mental relief to the victims, the
Care Center organized other activities such as seminars on torture
for health professionals, missions in collaboration with the
national Human Rights Commission in order to establish contact
with victims, encourage them to visit the Car Center and prepare a
report for submission to governmental authorities asking for
justice. The organization also established a legal division which has
already successfully assisted in five cases.

In North America, a treatment centre is currently providing clinical
services to victims of torture who are now refugees, mainly from
Africa and the Caribbean. 167 persons were assisted who had been
subjected to rape, electric shocks, deprivation of human needs, as
well as being obliged to eat excrement or perform acts of violence
or murder often targeting their own family members. The treatment
provided ranges from psychiatric and medical examination, to
treatment in the form of crisis intervention and support
counselling, psychotherapy, physiotherapy, social service,
education, medical referrals, social support interpreters and legal
assistance. In 1996, the center also established a children's art
therapy branch as a medium for treating anxiety and dysfunctions
related to traumatic experiences which children were unable to
express verbally in the family setting.

The Commission on Human Rights, by its resolution 1997/38 of
11 April 1997, requested that the General Assembly proclaim 26
June a United Nations international day in support of the victims of
torture and appealed to all Governments, organizations and
individuals in a position to do so to contribute annually to the
Fund.