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ISSUE
RELATED ORGANIZATIONS
Advocates
for the Survivors of Torture and Trauma:
The Advocates for Survivors of Trauma and Torture (ASTT)
is a group of physicians, psychologists, social workers,
ancillary health care providers, and human rights advocates
who have come together to find ways to help survivors
of torture and trauma.
Association
for the Prevention of Torture:
The Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT), is
a Geneva, Switzerland–based, international non-governmental
organization who’s mandate is to prevent torture
and treatment contrary to human dignity.
Canadian
Center for Victims of Torture :
The Canadian Center for Victims of Torture provides services
to survivors of torture and their families in Canada and
abroad. This site has a collection of impelling stories
by the survivors of torture.
The
Case of Four American Church Women/Lawyers Committee for
Human Rights:
Dedicated to following the case of Maryknoll Sisters Ita
Ford and Maura Clarke, Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel and
lay missionary Jean Donovan were abducted, raped, and
murdered in El Salvador in 1980. The case goes to trial
based on a complaint filed under the Torture Victim Protection
Act,
Center
for the Survivors of Torture:
The mission of the Center for Survivors of Torture
is three-fold: to assist people in recovering from the
trauma of torture and in becoming self-sufficient, to
educate the larger community about torture and the need
for treatment programs, and to collaborate with the world
community in eradicating torture.
The Center
for Victims of Torture (CVT):
CVT is a private, non-profit organization founded in 1985
to provide direct care to survivors of politically motivated
torture and members of their families
The
Crimes of Augusto Pinochet:
A site containing documented accounts of torture in
Chile.
The Committee Against Torture:
The University of Minnesota’s Human Rights Library
houses a collection of documents and links related to
torture
International
Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims:
The IRCT is an independent, international health professional
organization, which promotes and supports the rehabilitation
of torture victims and works for the prevention of torture
worldwide.
Take
A Step To Stamp Out Torture: This Amnesty Internati0nal–related
site registers people who wish to become a part of their
Campaign to Stop Torture, launching in October 2000.
Torture
Survivors Network:
The Torture Survivors Network is a forum for the survivors'
voices, for sharing information between treatment centers
and professionals, for those interested in starting a
program in their own community, and for the general public.
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Torture, as defined by the Advocates for Survivors of Torture and Trauma,
is any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental,
is intentionally inflicted on a person for the purpose of getting information,
punishing, intimidating or coercing, or for any reason based on discrimination
of any kind.
In 1984 the United Nation’s General Assembly adopted the Convention
Against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Under the Convention, torture is further defined as a man-made epidemic
consisting of acts perpetrated by or with the approval of government officials
and which are designed to inflict extreme physical and/or psychological
suffering. The UN Convention is one instrument in place that protects
individuals from torture and allows victims a means of redress. Other
protections are afforded by The Torture Victim Protection Act, an American
federal statute. The legislation provides victims of torture and their
surviving kin the opportunity to confront not only the crimes’ direct
perpetrators, but also those officials who had the authority and responsibility
to prevent such acts.
Torture is perpetrated in all corners of the globe. Frequently, it is
employed as a tool to intimidate and silence opponents who take courageous
stands against circumstances that they consider unjust. Torture victims
often include vocal leaders of ethnic minorities, human rights defenders,
union members and activists, politicians, student leaders, journalists,
as well as individuals (or even entire communities) who protest against
harsh, inhumane, or undemocratic conditions.
Torture constitutes one of the most profound human rights abuses, taking
a terrible toll on its millions of individual victims as well as their
families. Some of the most commonly employed tactics against victims of
torture include rape, blows to the soles of the feet, suffocation in water,
burning, electric shock, sleep deprivation, shaking and beating –
all intended to systematically break the victim in order to make them
conform. As terrible as the physical wounds are, the psychological and
emotional scars are usually the most devastating and the most difficult
to repair.
Many organizations exist which address the consequences of torture. But
can it be prevented? The Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT)
asserts that it can. It will require, among other things, active support
for and implementation of international norms and standards prohibiting
torture, monitoring and review mechanisms, such as visits to places of
detention, and finally, information and training activities for all professionals
in close contact with detainees, including police, judicial authorities
and the staff of penal institutions.
Sources: Torture Survivors Network, Advocates for the Survivors
of Torture and Trauma, and the International Rehabilitation Council for
Torture Victims
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