[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 96 (Thursday, June 24, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5432-S5433]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, this week, we commemorate the United 
Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. June 26, 
2010, marks the 23rd anniversary of the day on which the Convention 
Against Torture--CAT--took effect. I am proud that the United States is 
a signatory to this important Convention and defends human dignity by 
criminalizing acts of torture. Along with the other 75 nations that 
have ratified the Convention, we affirm our commitment to hold those 
responsible for torture accountable for their actions.
  I have worked hard for many years to improve the investigation and 
prosecution of international human rights abusers. I worked for several 
years to develop and secure passage of the Anti-Atrocity Alien 
Deportation Act. This act, which became law in 2004, expanded the 
mission of the Office of Special Investigations at the Department of 
Justice from denaturalizing Nazi war criminals, to investigating, 
extraditing, or denaturalizing any alien who participated in genocide, 
torture, or extrajudicial killing abroad. It has prompted, among other 
accomplishments, the deportation of a former Ethiopian official, 
Kelbessa Negewo. Negewo was accused of abuse and torture during the 
period of the Red Terror in Ethiopia in the mid-1970s. He is now 
serving a life sentence for torture and multiple killings in Ethiopia. 
This case proves that those who have committed reprehensible acts of 
torture and seek safe haven in the United States will not find refuge 
here.
  In order to further improve our ability to identify and prosecute 
human rights abusers, I am proud to have cosponsored the Human Rights 
Enforcement Act of 2009. Signed into law at the end of last year, this 
legislation created a new section within the criminal division of the 
Department of Justice with responsibility for prosecuting serious human 
rights offenses. Additionally, it amends a section of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act to prevent those who have ordered, incited, 
assisted, or otherwise participated in genocide from obtaining 
eligibility for protection under our asylum laws.
  In addition to strengthening our ability to investigate and hold 
human rights violators accountable, I have worked hard to ensure that 
victims of atrocity can find protection here in the United States. In 
March of this year, I introduced S.3113, the Refugee Protection Act. 
This law will renew America's commitment to the ideals embodied in the 
Refugee Convention and eliminate cumbersome procedural delays currently 
faced by refugees who flee persecution or torture.
  For those who have suffered mental, physical, and emotional harm as a 
result of torture, I have consistently supported funding for 
rehabilitation and treatment. In my work on the State and Foreign 
Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, we secured $7,100,000 in the 
fiscal year 2010 Omnibus Appropriations Act for the United Nations 
Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture and an additional $13,000,000 for 
Victims of Torture programs and activities at U.S. Agency for 
International Development. In order to help these victims heal, we must 
continue to provide resources to aid physical and psychological 
recovery.
  Vermont has also become home to many resettled refugees who have been 
victims of torture. A group called New England Survivors of Torture and 
Trauma--NESTT--has been established by the Department of Psychology at 
the University of Vermont and the Vermont Immigration and Asylum 
Advocates to offer medical, psychological, legal and social services in 
an effort to help address the needs of this community.
  As we mark this year's United Nations International Day in Support of 
Victims of Torture, we must acknowledge that the United States has not 
always lived up to its ideals. Under the previous administration, 
abhorrent acts were authorized by a series of Office of Legal Counsel, 
OLC, memoranda, and a dark chapter in American history was written. 
Under questionable legal guidance that failed to meet ethical 
standards, acts occurred in the interrogation of terrorist suspects 
that failed to reflect the fundamental American ideals of justice, 
dignity, and human equality. Nothing has done more to damage our world 
standing and moral authority than this revelation. It is vital that the 
United States reclaim its historic role as a world leader on issues of 
human rights.
  The claim by some that there is a necessary choice between ensuring 
security and upholding liberty is a falsehood. Until we understand what 
led to the production of the OLC memos and the acts that followed, we 
cannot move forward with a clear moral conscience. The imperative to 
discover what led to these events is stronger than ever. I remain a 
committed advocate of the establishment of an independent, nonpartisan 
Commission of Inquiry to gather facts about how we arrived at this 
place. We must understand the mistakes of the previous administration 
to ensure that they never happen again. We cannot, and we must not 
ignore this chapter in the history of our Nation.
  As we mark the Day in Support of Victims of Torture, we can begin to 
right these wrongs by renewing our commitment to recognize those who 
have suffered atrocities but fight on with enormous courage. To those 
around the world who have endured the unspeakable, we remember you. To 
those who have survived torture, inhuman, or degrading treatment at the

[[Page S5433]]

hands of their government, we call upon your voices to help end these 
reprehensible acts. And as the United States, we call upon every nation 
to join us in the fight to eradicate torture in all of its forms.

                          ____________________