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USAID OFFICIAL ON U.S. INITIATIVES TO COMBAT TORTURE

Washington - A U.S. Agency for International Development official
outlined the agency's initiatives to prevent torture and treat torture
victims, in testimony at a subcommittee hearing of the House
International Relations Committee June 29.

As stories of torture emerging from Kosovo illustrate, "torture is
still very much with us," said Ann VanDusen, USAID deputy assistant
administrator for policy and program coordination.
 
VanDusen said USAID's definition of torture is inclusive: "It includes
the man who is beaten or maimed, the woman who is raped for reasons
that are in part political and psychological -- rape as an instrument
of war -- and the child who is forcibly 'recruited' for a rebel army
by threats and beatings."

She told the Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights
that USAID channels assistance to torture victims through
non-governmental organizations (NGO's) and regional institutions that
protect and promote human rights. USAID supports victim rehabilitation
training for health professionals, and, in a move to prevent torture,
police reform programs and prison guard training.

Citing programs in Europe, VanDusen said USAID supports trauma
counseling and medical assistance programs in Bosnia, and the work of
various human rights groups in Georgia. USAID has been providing
treatment to Kosovar Albanians who are victims of rape, torture and
other forms of brutality; "we have supported treatment for these
victims in the refugee camps and we will continue to assist them as
they return to their homeland.... At this time we are considering new
proposals for services in Kosovo that will include psychosocial
treatment to victims of torture and rape." There are programs for
victims in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Albania also.

In Latin America, where USAID has been funding rule of law and justice
programs for 15 years, the spread of democracy "has dramatically
reduced the incidence of torture and human rights abuses," VanDusen
said. She outlined regional initiatives as well as specific programs
in Colombia, Guatemala, Haiti and Peru.

In Africa, USAID is treating war-traumatized children, landmine
victims, war widows and former child-soldiers in Angola, Liberia,
Sierra Leone, and Uganda.

In Asia, the agency is supporting a project to treat mental illness
and trauma
suffered by victims of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia.


Following is VanDusen's prepared statement:

(begin text)

ANN VANDUSEN, DEPUTY ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR 
BUREAU FOR POLICY AND PROGRAM COORDINATION 
U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
"U.S. POLICY TOWARD VICTIMS OF TORTURE"
Before the House International Relations Committee 
Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights
June 29, 1999


Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: I appreciate this
opportunity to outline the U.S. Agency for International Development's
efforts to prevent and control the worldwide problem of torture.

On June 18, the Washington Post carried a front-page picture and story
about the cellar of the Pristina, Kosovo, police station, where NATO
forces found a bed frame, brass knuckles, knives, wooden batons, heavy
metal chains, black ski masks, bloodstains, and other evidence of mass
torture carried out by Serb forces before they were forced to flee.
Neighbors told of blood curdling screams that arose from the police
station and filled them with horror. These stories were a chilling
reminder that even today, torture is still very much with us.

In December, we celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, which prohibits torture and reaffirms the
rights of all individuals to life, liberty and security. USAID has
recommitted itself to ensuring that U.S. foreign assistance helps to
secure all the rights outlined in that declaration. Certainly the
concern of both Congress and the Administration were embodied in the
Torture Victims Relief Act of 1998, which the President signed last
October.

As the President said at that time, "... assisting torture victims
does not end the curse of torture. The United States will continue its
efforts to shine a spotlight on this horrible practice wherever it
occurs, and we will do all we can to bring it to an end."

This weekend, many people gathered in Washington to commemorate the
2nd annual UN International Day in Support of Torture Victims and
Survivors. We at USAID strongly support their cause. Many of our
programs, especially those in the democracy and human rights area, are
directed at preventing torture from occurring in the first place, and
others are directed at treatment of its victims.

Our definition of torture is an inclusive one. It includes the man who
is beaten or maimed, the woman who is raped for reasons that are in
part political and psychological -- rape as an instrument of war --
and the child who is forcibly "recruited" for a rebel army by threats
and beatings. All of these human beings will need help and
understanding in dealing with trauma that lasts far beyond the initial
act of violence. For years, USAID has provided assistance to
non-governmental organizations (NGO's) and others for programs
directed at torture.

For instance, in 1995, we made a $250,000 grant to the Minnesota-based
Center for the Victims of Torture to provide training and technical
assistance for Turkish doctors and human rights workers. Additional
sums went to the Center to train Bosnian and Croatian torture
treatment volunteers. We also supported the Inter-American Institute
for Human Rights initiated in 1995 a region-wide effort to train
medical personnel to recognize and to treat torture victims. We take
pride in our support of these outstanding programs.

Let me summarize some of our specific activities around the world.

LATIN AMERICA

The spread of democracy in Latin America in recent years has
dramatically reduced the incidence of torture and human rights abuses
in the region, and USAID has encouraged that trend in a number of
ways. We have supported regional institutions that protect and promote
human rights, including the Inter- American Commission on Human
Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (which marks its 20th
anniversary this year), and the Inter-American Institute of Human
Rights.

Our funding of justice and rule of law programs in Latin America began
more than fifteen years ago. In Fiscal Year 1999, our Bureau for Latin
America and the Caribbean designated about $42 million, or 42 percent
of its democracy programs budget, for rule of law programs. About $10
million of that was designated for police reform programs, implemented
by the Department of Justice's International Criminal Investigation
Training Program, with programs in Bolivia, Dominican Republic, El
Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. These
programs work in a variety of ways to overcome the long history of
police abuse that exists in some countries.

USAID also supports, as part of its regional, democracy programming,
the work of the Inter-American Institute for Human Rights. The current
three-year grant of $4.7 million was signed in 1997. As part of its
program, the Institute supports the work of about fourteen ombudsman
offices, through a federation of ombudsmen. The purpose of these
offices is to create a visible mechanism to deal with
government-sponsored abuses of human rights. Torture is an important
focus of their work. The Institute also has created a Program for the
Integrated Prevention of Torture. Initially, the focus was on training
health professionals in the rehabilitation of torture victims. The
current objective is to train prison officials, improve prison
conditions, and otherwise give priority to prevention of torture.

In Colombia, USAID is assisting torture victims through assistance to
human rights training programs, including training of the Human Rights
Units of the Office of Prosecutor General. In Guatemala, USAID has
supported work in two relevant areas. The Historical Clarification or
Truth Commission received $1.5 million in FY 1997 and 1998. Another
$2.7 million has been invested in treating victims of human rights
abuses in the last two fiscal years. Most of this funding was managed
by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which in turn
makes sub-grants to local and community groups best suited to respond
to a variety of human rights abuses, including torture.

In Haiti, since 1994, USAID has supported a Human Rights Fund. The
initial year's funding of $1 million assisted victims of human rights
abuses, including rape, beatings in custody and other forms of
torture. More than $1 million was spent during the next two years,
also exclusively on assisting victims. The most recent extension of
the fund through the end of August 1999 is for $2 million, some
$600,000 of which is for victim assistance and treatment. This funding
is directed where it can do the most good, primarily to individual
physicians running their own treatment programs and who are working to
establish a countrywide network for referral and treatment. The
remainder goes to prevention programs directed at police/community
relations and public human rights education. We are pleased that the
incidence of human rights abuses in Haiti has declined in recent
years, in part because of improved training of the national police.

In Peru, since 1994, USAID has extend assistance to victims of gross
violations of human rights through an umbrella agreement with the
Catholic Relief Services, which in turn provides grants to local NGOs.
These groups provide legal assistance to those wrongly accused of
terrorism, many of whom have been tortured. Other programs document
torture cases. In the last fiscal year about $375,000 was used to
support the Legal Defense Institute and the Legal Coordinator for
Human Rights, and the government's Office of the Ombudsman. This
year's commitment of $125,000 funds studies on human rights abuses
related to torture, to be followed by a public campaign against
torture.

AFRICA

In Africa, USAID has a variety of programs directed at torture and
related forms of trauma. For example, in 1998 the agency's human
rights program in South Africa totaled $1.5 million and placed strong
emphasis oil victims of violence and torture. In Angola, twenty years
of civil war have taken an enormous toll on the emotional,
psychological and physical health of Angola's people. The USAID
program includes treating and rehabilitating war-traumatized children,
landmine victims, and widows and former child-soldiers. USAID supports
several interventions addressing the impact of this violence on
children and other war victims.

In Liberia, the Displaced Children an and Orphans Fund supports a
number of programs that assist children and youth who have been
severely affected by years of conflict in that country. The Patrick
Leahy War Victims Fund supports clinics that, in addition to assisting
landmine victims, also treats people who have been tortured.

In Sierra Leone, USAID is providing $1.3 million through UNICEF to
assist children who have been separated from their families,
involuntarily conscripted into military groups or otherwise severely
affected by violence. Many of these children were physically or
psychologically tortured.

In Uganda, with financing from the Displaced Children and Orphan's
Fund, USAID initiated a $1.5 million program to treat and rehabilitate
demobilized child soldiers and other affected children who were
recruited or impressed into insurgent armies, often by beating,
torture and the rape of young girls. Many of these children and youths
were forced to practice, or were witnesses to, extreme forms of
cruelty.

ASIA/NEAR EAST

In Cambodia, to address the harsh aftermath of the Khmer Rouge reign
of terror, Harvard's School of Public Health's Program of Refugee
Trauma has joined with the Ministry of Health in training primary care
physicians to recognize and treat mental illness and trauma. Target
beneficiaries are refugees, children, landmine victims and widowed
women. We have supported this program.

EUROPE/NEW INDEPENDENT STATES

In Bosnia, USAID has supported programs that provide trauma counseling
and medical assistance for war victims, including those tortured by
rape and other means. Implementing partners have been the
International Human Rights Law Group and Delphi. Other funding to
local NGOs has been provided to offer counseling to victims
of-torture, rape and other atrocities. Fortunately, the incidence of
these crimes has greatly diminished since the signing of the Dayton
Accords.

In Georgia, assistance is provided through the Horizontal Foundation
for organizational development and training to such groups as the
Committee Against Torture, Organization for the Defense of Human
Rights and Social Security of Prisoners, Media (medical experts), and
other human rights NGOs. Also, the Liberty Institute has received
funding to track human rights abuses, particularly by police.

Finally, in Kosovo, as USAID and many other organizations and nations
begin a massive program of humanitarian relief, we are extremely
aware, that many of the Kosovars have suffered rape, torture and other
forms of brutality. We have supported treatment for these victims in
the refugee camps and we will continue to assist them as they return
to their homeland.

Because of the large number of Kosovars traumatized as a result of the
ethnic cleansing, the response from the international community has
not been targeted to any one specific group. The exception has been
assistance to rape victims. In their culture to have been raped places
a terrible stigma on a woman. The community, even her family, may shun
her for an act in which she was the innocent victim.

In general, no matter the cause of the trauma, the symptoms manifested
are the same, and include depression, nervousness and tension. The
more severely traumatized require trained and skilled assistance to
work through the crisis. Already, in the refugee camps, USAID has
supported psychosocial assistance, mostly funded by its Office of
Foreign Disaster Assistance, in the form of training of health
providers, teachers, and parents, and the strengthening of local
service providers.

In Macedonia, we have supported programs by the International Catholic
Migration Committee and Medecine du Monde that include therapeutic
activities for girls and women suffering from rape and other forms of
trauma. In Albania, Catholic Relief Services social workers have
provided trauma counseling to girls and women. At this time we are
considering new proposals for services in Kosovo that will include
psychosocial treatment to victims of torture and rape. Supplemental
funds made available for FY 1999 under the Kosovo Economic and Social
Recovery Program will be in part used for this purpose.

In short, Mr. Chairman, we at USAID share your concern about torture
wherever it exists. In Kosovo and throughout the world, we intend to
use every means at our disposal to prevent these abuses from happening
and to care for their victims.