[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4309 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.4309

                       One Hundred Fifth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the twenty-seventh day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-
                                  eight


                                 An Act


 
  To provide a comprehensive program of support for victims of torture.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Torture Victims Relief Act of 
1998''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
        (1) The American people abhor torture by any government or 
    person. The existence of torture creates a climate of fear and 
    international insecurity that affects all people.
        (2) Torture is the deliberate mental and physical damage caused 
    by governments to individuals to destroy individual personality and 
    terrorize society. The effects of torture are long term. Those 
    effects can last a lifetime for the survivors and affect future 
    generations.
        (3) By eliminating the leadership of their opposition and 
    frightening the general public, repressive governments often use 
    torture as a weapon against democracy.
        (4) Torture survivors remain under physical and psychological 
    threats, especially in communities where the perpetrators are not 
    brought to justice. In many nations, even those who treat torture 
    survivors are threatened with reprisals, including torture, for 
    carrying out their ethical duty to provide care. Both the survivors 
    of torture and their treatment providers should be accorded 
    protection from further repression.
        (5) A significant number of refugees and asylees entering the 
    United States have been victims of torture. Those claiming asylum 
    deserve prompt consideration of their applications for political 
    asylum to minimize their insecurity and sense of danger. Many 
    torture survivors now live in the United States. They should be 
    provided with the rehabilitation services which would enable them 
    to become productive members of our communities.
        (6) The development of a treatment movement for torture 
    survivors has created new opportunities for action by the United 
    States and other nations to oppose state-sponsored and other acts 
    of torture.
        (7) There is a need for a comprehensive strategy to protect and 
    support torture victims and their treatment providers, together 
    with overall efforts to eliminate torture.
        (8) By acting to heal the survivors of torture and protect 
    their families, the United States can help to heal the effects of 
    torture and prevent its use around the world.

SEC. 3. DEFINITION.

    As used in this Act, the term ``torture'' has the meaning given the 
term in section 2340(1) of title 18, United States Code, and includes 
the use of rape and other forms of sexual violence by a person acting 
under the color of law upon another person under his custody or 
physical control.

SEC. 4. FOREIGN TREATMENT CENTERS.

    (a) Amendments to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.--Part I of 
the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) is amended 
by adding at the end of chapter 1 the following new section:

``SEC. 129. ASSISTANCE FOR VICTIMS OF TORTURE.

    ``(a) In General.--The President is authorized to provide 
assistance for the rehabilitation of victims of torture.
    ``(b) Eligibility for Grants.--Such assistance shall be provided in 
the form of grants to treatment centers and programs in foreign 
countries that are carrying out projects or activities specifically 
designed to treat victims of torture for the physical and psychological 
effects of the torture.
    ``(c) Use of Funds.--Such assistance shall be available--
        ``(1) for direct services to victims of torture; and
        ``(2) to provide research and training to health care providers 
    outside of treatment centers or programs described in subsection 
    (b), for the purpose of enabling such providers to provide the 
    services described in paragraph (1).''.
    (b) Funding.--
        (1) Authorization of appropriations.--Of the amounts authorized 
    to be appropriated for fiscal years 1999 and 2000 pursuant to 
    chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, there 
    are authorized to be appropriated to the President $5,000,000 for 
    fiscal year 1999 and $7,500,000 for fiscal year 2000 to carry out 
    section 129 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as added by 
    subsection (a).
        (2) Availability of funds.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to 
    this subsection shall remain available until expended.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect October 1, 1998.

SEC. 5. DOMESTIC TREATMENT CENTERS.

    (a) Assistance for Treatment of Torture Victims.--The Secretary of 
Health and Human Services may provide grants to programs in the United 
States to cover the cost of the following services:
        (1) Services for the rehabilitation of victims of torture, 
    including treatment of the physical and psychological effects of 
    torture.
        (2) Social and legal services for victims of torture.
        (3) Research and training for health care providers outside of 
    treatment centers, or programs for the purpose of enabling such 
    providers to provide the services described in para- graph (1).
    (b) Funding.--
        (1) Authorization of appropriations.--Of the amounts authorized 
    to be appropriated for the Department of Health and Human Services 
    for fiscal years 1999 and 2000, there are authorized to be 
    appropriated to carry out subsection (a) (relating to assistance 
    for domestic centers and programs for the treatment of victims of 
    torture) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 1999, and $7,500,000 for fiscal 
    year 2000.
        (2) Availability of funds.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to 
    this subsection shall remain available until expended.

SEC. 6. MULTILATERAL ASSISTANCE.

    (a) Funding.--Of the amounts authorized to be appropriated for 
fiscal years 1999 and 2000 pursuant to chapter 3 of part I of the 
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, there are authorized to be appropriated 
to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture (in this 
section referred to as the ``Fund'') the following amounts for the 
following fiscal years:
        (1) Fiscal year 1999.--For fiscal year 1999, $3,000,000.
        (2) Fiscal year 2000.--For fiscal year 2000, $3,000,000.
    (b) Availability of Funds.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to 
subsection (a) shall remain available until expended.
    (c) Sense of the Congress.--It is the sense of the Congress that 
the President, acting through the United States Permanent 
Representative to the United Nations, should--
        (1) request the Fund--
            (A) to find new ways to support and protect treatment 
        centers and programs that are carrying out rehabilitative 
        services for victims of torture; and
            (B) to encourage the development of new such centers and 
        programs;
        (2) use the voice and vote of the United States to support the 
    work of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and the Committee Against 
    Torture established under the Convention Against Torture and Other 
    Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; and
        (3) use the voice and vote of the United States to establish a 
    country rapporteur or similar procedural mechanism to investigate 
    human rights violations in a country if either the Special 
    Rapporteur or the Committee Against Torture indicates that a 
    systematic practice of torture is prevalent in that country.

SEC. 7. SPECIALIZED TRAINING FOR FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall provide training for 
foreign service officers with respect to--
        (1) the identification of torture;
        (2) the identification of the surrounding circumstances in 
    which torture is most often practiced;
        (3) the long-term effects of torture upon a victim;
        (4) the identification of the physical, cognitive, and 
    emotional effects of torture, and the manner in which these effects 
    can affect the interview or hearing process; and
        (5) the manner of interviewing victims of torture so as not to 
    retraumatize them, eliciting the necessary information to document 
    the torture experience, and understanding the difficulties victims 
    often have in recounting their torture experience.
    (b) Gender-Related Considerations.--In conducting training under 
subsection (a)(4) or (5), gender-specific training shall be provided on 
the subject of interacting with women and men who are victims of 
torture by rape or any other form of sexual violence.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.