[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 86 (Friday, June 26, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S7292]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     INTERNATIONAL DAY IN SUPPORT OF TORTURE VICTIMS AND SURVIVORS

 Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I rise today to mark the first 
observance of International Day in Support of Torture Victims and 
Survivors. This day, which was designated last year by the United 
Nations General Assembly, serves as a reminder to all of us that, 
sadly, at this very moment, somewhere in the world a prisoner is being 
beaten, a woman is being raped, or a child is witnessing the torture or 
murder of a loved one at the hands of a hostile force.
  Along with guns and bombs, torture unfortunately has become just 
another weapon in the arsenal of war. In generations past, we like to 
believe that wars were fought between combatants according to an 
unwritten code. In some conflicts of the past, fighting was suspended 
after dark and during the winter months so as not to give one side an 
advantage over the other. But the rules of contemporary wars are much 
less clear. Combatants fight, not merely against each other, but 
against civilians, including women and children, on the opposing side. 
War is no longer just a means to acquire territory or settle long-
running disputes, but often it is used as a means to attempt to 
obliterate entire ethnic or religious groups.
  In this past decade alone, the world has been witness to 
inconceivable acts of horror committed against specific populations in 
such places as Rwanda, Sudan, Iraq, the former Yugoslavia, and Kosovo. 
The terms ``ethnic cleansing'' and ``genocide'' have become all too 
common in describing events around the world. And the stories of those 
torture victims who live to tell of their experiences continue to shock 
and horrify the international community.
  Earlier this month, during the National Day of Action for Tibet rally 
which took place on the Capitol steps, I was privileged to hear the 
comments of Palden Gyatso, a Buddhist monk who was imprisoned for 33 
years by the Chinese force which unlawfully occupies his homeland. He 
told of unspeakable acts of torture that are routinely committed 
against the Tibetan people by the Chinese military. The myriad forms of 
torture he was forced to endure included being hung upside down while 
his naked body was repeatedly stung with an electric cattle prod and 
having boiling water poured over his body. That he was able to survive 
this brutal treatment is a testament to his faith, which his captors 
attempted to squelch through these and other inhuman acts.
  But for every person like Palden Gyatso, who somehow managed to 
survive such brutal treatment, there are countless others, whose names 
we may never know, who did not. These people endured their fate with a 
quiet courage that inspires hundreds of thousands worldwide to fight 
against the practice of torture as a weapon of war.
  I find it particularly ironic that the President is spending the 
first International Day in Support of Torture Victims and Survivors in 
the People's Republic of China as the guest of a government that has 
sanctioned the torture of its own citizens. I hope the President will 
mark this day by calling on Chinese leaders to open a meaningful 
dialogue with the Dalai Lama regarding Tibet and to gain assurances 
that the basic human rights of all Chinese citizens will become a top 
priority.
  Since coming to the Senate in 1993, I have been contacted by numerous 
Wisconsin residents who share the concern of the international 
community about the prevalence of torture in our world. As a member of 
the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, I will continue to speak out 
against such reprehensible acts at every available opportunity. I look 
forward to the day when the use of torture as a weapon of war is 
consigned to history books instead of daily news reports from around 
the world.

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