[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 132 (Wednesday, September 24, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S11906]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               COMMENDING WORK TO AID VICTIMS OF TORTURE

 Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, I wish to acknowledge the 
important work that is being done to aid victims of torture, in 
particular the work of the International Rehabilitation Council for 
Torture Victims, IRCT. IRCT will be honored in a ceremony today, in New 
York City, where the Dalai Lama will present them with the Conrad N. 
Hilton Humanitarian Prize.
  Torture is a sophisticated form of social and political control 
designed to stifle dissent through terror. It violates the basic rights 
of human beings and is contrary to the principles of the U.S. 
Constitution and the fundamental nature of our republic.
  Freedom from torture is a universal and fundamental human right. Yet 
torture continues to take place in more than 120 countries. It is 
estimated that one-third of the world's 12 million refugees are victims 
of torture. Politicians, journalists, teachers, students, religious 
leaders, trade union and human rights activists are all 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.
  That are an estimated 500,000 torture survivors in the United States 
alone--refugees and asylum-seekers who have fled repressive regimes. 
And in recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number 
of victims of torture seeking help at U.S. rehabilitation centers.
  The IRCT has been a vital part of the global effort to aid torture 
victims. The Council began with a group of four doctors in Denmark who 
responded to a call by Amnesty International in 1973 to help diagnose 
torture victims. Today the IRCT is a global network of 200 
rehabilitation centers operating in 80 countries to meet the needs of 
some 100,000 victims of torture each year. IRCT's mission 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.
  Minnesota is home to the Center for Victims of Torture, CVT, the 
first comprehensive torture treatment center in this country--and third 
such facility in the world. The CVT helped establish National 
Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs, under which the 34 torture 
rehabilitation centers and programs in the United States operate. As 
mayor of St. Paul I worked together with the CVT to build a torture 
treatment center on the east side of the metro area.
  The work of IRCT and the U.S. torture treatment programs is all the 
more relevant given pending legislation. I am proud to be the chief 
Senate author of the Torture Victims Relief Act, TVRA, of 2003, which 
will enable the U.S. to continue its leadership in caring for victims 
of torture. This reauthorization of the TVRA is included as an 
amendment to the fiscal year 2004 Foreign Relations authorization bill, 
and I look forward to the passage of this bill.
  Once again, I commend the IRCT for their tireless work on behalf of 
torture victims in the U.S. and around the world.

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