“Already, the undermining of the absolute prohibition against torture under the Bush administration had a very negative effect on many other countries in the world fighting terrorism, who said if even the United States of America is practicing these torture methods, why should we not be allowed, and why are you criticizing us? I have heard that on many of my fact-finding missions in different countries of the world."

- Manfred Nowak, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture

President Obama’s failure to call for a broad investigation of torture or to hold anyone accountable for violations of U.S. law and the Convention against Torture have created a climate of impunity, and emboldened those very same government officials and media commentators who justifiedtorture in the first place to publicly call for a continuation of such policies and to redefine torture in such a way as to cover-up these shameful practices and violations of law.

Now, one year later, Guantanamo remains open, despite the fact that more than half of the 200 detainees have been cleared by the government for release. A United Nations report states thattorture continues to be practiced in black sites in Afghanistan. And the U.S. Department of Justice has to date refused to hold anyone accountable for either advocating or practicing torture. As a February 25 New York Times editorial stated, this failure on that part of the Obama administration to sanction government lawyers for justifying torture opens the way for further abuse and sanction of torture in the future.

A huge task lies ahead for everyone who cares about human rights, where Congress, President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, public opinion, and the media will play adetermining role. Educating the American people why torture is always wrong, and establishing mechanisms of justice and accountability are crucial if we are not to justify and institutionalize practices that are not only immoral, but “crimes against humanity” under international law.

As a movement of torture survivors, TASSC’s contribution is to issue a clear call to “Break the Cycle of Torture,” and to support all the efforts to disclose the truth, hold accountable government officials responsible for policies and actions that legalized and practiced torture, and to implement policies that guarantee security based on a respect for the rule of law, justice, and a vigorous defense of human rights.

Accordingly, the focus of the 2010 TASSC June Survivors’ Week is “Breaking the Cycle ofTorture.” The public is invited to participate with us in an Advocacy Day on Congress (Thursday, June 24), a keynote speaker on “Breaking the Cycle of Torture” Thursday evening, followed by an all-day conference with panels and workshops (Friday, June 25) and ending with a 12-hour vigil commemorating the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture (Saturday, 9am – 9pm, in Lafayette Park across from the White House)to remember the survivors and victims of torture, and to call for the abolition of torture everywhere. All TASSC survivor-members thank you for your support and for your on-going commitment to rid our world of torture.

Schedule of Activities for 20010 TASSC Survivors Week

The 2010 TASSC campaign calls for an end to torture, wherever it occurs. This includes a fullinvestigation into actions under the previous administration that justified and constituted torture, and establishing mechanisms of justice and accountability. TASSC will work with the legal and health professions, religious leaders, human rights groups, survivors of torture, and torture treatment centers to end torture, to uphold the UN treaties against torture and enforced disappearance, and to call for justice and accountability.

In addition, TASSC is working with the National Religious Campaign against Torture (NRCAT) to call on Congress to condition U.S. aid to countries that torture. This conditionality will focus on military spending and training, a torture watch list of perpetrators, and ratification of the Convention against Torture, the Optional Protocol (OPCAT) to enable third parties to investigate allegations of torture in countries that refuse to take action, and the Convention against Enforced Disappearances. Unless the United States sets the example, no other countries will be compelled tofollow.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, June 21-22-23:

12 - 15 survivors representing ICOHs in different regions come together in Washington DC to train, strategize and develop a work plan over a two to three day period, followed by three days of activities open to the public (Congress, Forum, Vigil). Local ICOHs would be encouraged now to plan activities for June Survivor Week in their local communities, and TASSC would provide resources and ideas.

Thursday, June 24:

Morning: Arrival

Afternoon: Human Rights Training

Evening: Dinner, Welcome and Agenda

Friday, June 25:

Morning: Day of Action in Congress

TASSC will again request the opportunity to testify before the Congressional Human Rights Commission and urge Members of Congress to support legislation to call both for accountability and condition US aid to countries that torture.

Afternoon: Survivor Gathering at TASSC

Evening: Public Event: “Breaking the Cycle of Torture”

Saturday, June 26:

7 am – 7pm: 12-Hour Vigil across from the White House

Evening: Cultural Event and Gathering

Sunday, June 27: Departure

His quiet demeanor conveys a sense of calm and resolve, but it betrays the unimaginable horrors that Teddy had to endure before he could even come close to reclaiming his identity.

The 29-year-old academic spent over six months in the most depraved conditions at the hands of the Ethiopian government. And his torment did not end with his escape; the next two years were spent "between the earth and the sky" as he struggled to relay his experience to those he thought would help him in the US while he was accused by immigration officials of fabricating his suffering.

For Teddy(not his real name), a geologistand human rights activist, his torture not only showed a complete disregard for human sensitivities but also led to a total desecration of a person's basic right to be believed. That need for validation, for someone to acknowledge his truth, is a theme that resonates throughout his moving story.

The day of his arrest was just another day at the university where he taught. He arrived at work to lecture his students on the principles of democracy in the Western world. A key part of the university's teachings focused on the Green Book, the philosophical musings of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, which, like his speeches, claim to promote "direct, popular democracy". But like any military state that condones an excessive use of force to control political dissidents, the reality is far different.

Teddy and a fellow university lecturer refused on principle to teach the students the Green Book's ideas of a utopia, based on governance by the people, because they knew the truth behind its claimed support for human rights - imprisonment for dissidents and routine torture. Instead, they sought to hold the government to account for its abuses and would regularly discuss such ideas with their students.

As a staunch believer in human rights Teddy was an easy target of Meles's regime, with an informer from the university, he believes, eventually leading security officials to his door.

On the day of his arrest a leaflet distributed to the students about a human rights talk was stolen from Teddy's bag, then at lunch time, a group of plain clothes security officials arrived at his university office and escorted his off the campus.

He was driven to a building where he was held in a cell for two days. On the first day, he was subjected to six hours of interrogation, death threats and verbal abuse.

On the second day, a black plastic bag over his head, with his hands cuffed behind him, he was driven to another prison on the outskirts of town. It was here that Teddy was repeatedly tortured.

Imprisoned in a cell which the small-framed man could barely stretch out his legs or stand, Teddy lost complete track of time and was only able to measure out the days by how frequently he was abused.

For the next six months, Teddy was repeatedly taken from his cell every few nights and tortured by up to six securities officers at their drink-fuelled gatherings. Any attempts to resist resulted in beatings and burns to his body.

In December, the security officials levied the charge of attempting to bring down the government with his subversive teachings against him. "Everything they said wasn't true," he says. "All we were calling for was modern freedom, real freedom, not just fake freedom for the sake of the media." When the securities officers threatened him with death, Teddy signed a false confession but it had no effect - he was sentenced to life impressments.

It was only then, after six months, that Teddy was allowed a visit from his mother, who ultimately engineered Teddy's escape by bribing a prison guard with Ethiopian 10,000 Birr. "The guard told me that it was now my responsibility if I lived or died, I could be shot leaving the prison," says Teddy. "I took that responsibility because I told myself it was like a game, death was the only end, there was no chance - if I got out I would be shot, if I stayed I would be stayed hear for the rest of my life."

Teddy escaped by donning a disguise the guard provided and mingling with a crowd of men heading for the gate at the end of visitors' time. Outside the prison, he was met by an agent employed by his family, who took his to the airport, stopping en route so he could say a brief farewell to his mother and four sisters. "I was advised by my mother to do whatever he told me," says Teddy. "He told me, he is the only person who can save your life'." It was the last time Teddy was to see his family.

On his arrival in the US four years ago, Teddy experienced at first hand the difficulties of being an asylum seeker. Abandoned by the agent in Washington, DC, with only $20 in his pocket, alone and unable to speak English, he spent the night in U Street, NW.

After registering his claim with the USCIS he spent the next fourteen months destitute, seeking refuge in churches and TASSC office while his application was scrutinized and challenged by officials.

Thanks to his own persistence, aided by the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition and the efforts of his pro-bono attorney, the government's initial refusal to grant his asylum was finally overturned and in 2008 he at last gained asylum status.

Yet it is not necessarily a happy ending for someone who first had to endure accusations that he had invented his story, that he was feigning his injuries and that he had duped human rights campaigners into supporting his.

"That is absolutely hurtful to me," he says. "People don't know my background. They don't realize that we asylum seekers are professional people who are not here to damage this county economy, or to be a burden to this nation. But, we, all have suffered and believe deserve a fair and just trial to be a good citizen of this nation.

"It did not make me so happy to get asylum status, it was like somebody you have begged for food giving you that food but they humiliate you as well.

It is a testament to his strength of character that Teddy is able to recount his story, in the hope that it will make people understand the genuine plight of people who come here to escape persecution from unlawful police states. "Even now, I would go back to Ethiopia if I could and fight for my country again," he says.

Four years on Teddy has managed to rebuild a life for himself in US. "Thank you TASSC International", Teddy said he found temporary accommodation and work. He has since helping TASSC by contributing for the newsletter about the realities of life in Ethiopia and also supporting other torture survivors who had the same experience.