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2009 TASSC Survivor Gathering Calls Out: "Torture Never Again!"
For
the 12th consecutive year, the Torture Abolition and Survivor Support
Coalition (TASSC International) gathered in the halls of Congress and
the streets of Washington DC to call out to the U.S. government and
governments of the world: "Torture Never Again!" the theme of this
year's gathering.
More than 75 survivors of torture from 27
different countries - including the United States - gathered from June
24-28 to act together for an end to torture throughout the world.
Survivors called for truth, justice and accountability in their
testimony before the Congressional Human Rights Commission, just days
before Attorney General Eric Holder announced his intention to name a
special prosecutor to investigate the use of torture during the Bush
Administration. |
| TASSC Testifies Before the Congressional Human Rights Commission |
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On June 25, TASSC joined
human rights advocates from a dozen organizations at a noon rally to
call on Attorney General Eric Holder to name a special prosecutor to
investigate the justification and practice of torture by the United
States during the Bush administration.
Later that day, Demissie
Abebe, from Ethiopia, and Sr. Dianna Ortiz, OSU, from the United States
- current and past Executive Directors of TASSC - joined two other
survivors to testify before the Congressional Human Rights Commission,
chaired by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA). Mr. Abebe declared:
"Only when the most powerful
are prosecuted for torture will those coming after be dissuaded from
practicing this crime against humanity."
Mary Aileen Bacalso, from
the Philippines, represented the Asian Federation Against Involuntary
Disappearances (AFAD), a federation of families of victims of enforced
disappearances, "one of the worst forms of torture both for the direct
victims and the surviving family members. Ms. Bacalso told the
committee: "We are aware that in all nooks and corners of the world,
there are more victims who have no opportunity to share their stories,
to heal their wounds, and to mend their scars. Amidst all these, the
atmosphere of impunity exists. We therefore demand accountability,
redress, reparation, and memory of those who did not live to tell their
stories. Equally important is that we demand prevention measures so
that this crime against humanity will totally be eradicated from the
face of the earth."
Dilkhwaz Ahmed, a survivor
from Kurdistan who suffered under Sadaam Hussein, was the last to
testify. She shared the experience of joy and disillusionment that many
persons seeking political asylum in the United States share: "Eight
years ago, when I came to America, to the land of the free, I thought
that I would experience real freedom and have a break from what I had
been through. I left my country but I did not leave my identity. I left
my children, but I did not leave my passion. I left behind everything
but hopes. However, my dream never came true. I was shocked to hear
that the United States is the main proponent of torture and advocating
the same violence in its ideologies and practices."
That evening, survivors and
friends gathered at Catholic University to hear Shane Kadidal, head of
the Guantanamo Project of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in
New York. Mr. Kadidal offered a compelling story of defending
Guantanamo detainees, and of the on-going struggle of human rights
lawyers to call for justice and accountability for those who
participated in torture - be they lawyers, psychologists, government
officials, military, CIA, or private contractors.
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| UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture |
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On June 26, to commemorate
the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture,
more than 100 people gathered at the Columbus Law School on the
Catholic University of America campus to hear survivors from Africa,
Asia, Latin America and the Middle East testify.
The first panel, "Torture in Our Backyard," set the tone
for the day as human rights lawyers and human rights activists -
including School of the Americas Watch founder Fr. Roy Bourgeois and
TASSC lawyer and activist Jennifer Harbury - called on the Obama
administration to investigate and hold accountable officials of the
Bush administration who ordered, justified, and practiced torture in
clear violation of both U.S. and international law.
A second panel of survivors - Bobbie Garcia from the
Philippines, Mariam Iravanian from Iran, Marvyn Perez from Guatemala,
and David Sanchez from Mexico - shared their very personal experiences
of torture, and the continuation of the practice in their home
countries. Subsequent panels dealt with two very important themes:
truth, justice and accountability, and torture, women and children.
The panel on "Truth, Justice and Accountability" included
Patrick Rice, a torture survivor from Argentina, who shared the
struggle of survivors and human rights activists to bring military
officials responsible for the disappearance, torture and assassination
of 30,000 persons to trial; Martin Musinguzi, who shared the experience
of the post-genocide reality in Rwanda, where village councils
predating colonial times attempt to re-integrate the more than 130,000
perpetrators into society; and Mirna Perla, a survivor - and now a
Supreme Court magistrate - and her daughter Rosa Anaya from El
Salvador, where the memory of the victims and martyrs plays an
important role in the struggle for justice and political participation
of those most affected by more than a decade of war.
The panel on "Torture, Women and Children" offered a moving
testimony to the resilience and courage of women and children - both
victims and survivors - confronting the horrific violence of torture,
rape, and mutilation in countries as diverse as the DR Congo, Uganda,
the Philippines, Colombia, and Guatemala. Survivors testifying included
Martine Songa (DR Congo), Grace Musoke (Uganda), Mary Aileen Bacalso
(Philippines), Dianna Gomez (Colombia), and Marylena Bustamante
(Guatemala). |
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TASSC 24-Hour Vigil in Front of the White House |
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The Survivor Gathering
concluded with the annual 24-hour vigil in Lafayette Park, directly in
front of the White House. Two to three hundred survivors and their
supporters gathered to honor the victims of torture, and to speak the
truth, as survivors and supporters, that torture is a crime against
humanity.
Human rights, solidarity
activists, lawyers, and cultural workers joined survivors of torture
from around the world to celebrate, commemorate, protest and to
challenge the Obama administration to live up to the promise of a break
from the violence and abuse of the past, holding accountable those who
tortured, and offering hope to future generations for a world based on
justice, human dignity, and the eradication of torture.
"We
survivors come from all regions of the world, many of us live as
refugees in the United States, all of us have directly experienced
torture and inhuman treatment in our own countries. We are the
fortunate few to survive.
In their
message to President Obama, survivors said:" We gather annually at the
end of June on the occasion of the UN International Day in Support of
Victims of Torture for a 24-hour vigil of solidarity with our sisters
and brothers who are currently suffering torture in more than 150
countries around the world. We organize this activity at Lafayette Park
across from the White House, although during the Bush administration
this was not always possible.
"We gather here to protest
the military aid US administrations have given to governments involved
in torture. It was most distressing that after 9/11, the Bush
administration, in betrayal of America's most cherished principles,
began to endorse torture as a tool in the war against terrorism." One of your first statements on becoming President was
that your administration would never engage in torture anywhere. We
have welcomed this policy and celebrate it as an answer to our pleas.
Our vigil this year promised to be an occasion for hope.
"We sent you a letter expressing these concerns on March
12th. Now we invite you to come and meet torture survivors in Lafayette
Park. We are confident you will find it worth your time to talk with
people who have been tortured. We want you to know that you have our
support in the struggle to end torture." |
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