I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1416

To implement the Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel,

Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment or Punishment and to provide a

program of support for victims of torture.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 5, 1995

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. HYDE, Mr. WOLF,

Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. YATES, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Ms.

PELOSI, Mr. SABO, and Ms. MCKINNEY) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition

to the Committees on International Relations and Commerce, for a period

to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee

concerned

A BILL

To implement the Convention Against Torture and Other

Forms of Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment

or Punishment and to provide a program of support

for victims of torture.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Torture Victims Relief

5 Act of 1995’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress makes the following findings:

3 (1) The American people abhor torture and the

4 use of atrocities by repressive governments. The ex5 istence of torture creates a climate of fear and inter6 national insecurity that affects all people.

7 (2) Torture is the strategic use of pain to de8 stroy both individuals and society. The effects of tor9 ture are long term. Those effects can last a lifetime

10 for the survivors and affect future generations.

11 (3) By eliminating leadership of their opposi12 tion and frightening the general public, repressive

13 governments use torture as a weapon against democ14 racy.

15 (4) Torture victims remain under physical and

16 psychological threats, especially in communities

17 where the perpetrators are not brought to justice. In

18 many nations, even those who treat torture victims

19 are threatened with reprisals, including torture, for

20 carrying out their ethical duties to provide care.

21 Both the survivors of torture and their treatment

22 providers deserve, and often require, protection from

23 further repression.

24 (5) A significant number of refugees and

25 asylees entering the United States have been victims

26 of governmental torture. Those claiming asylum de-
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1 serve prompt consideration of the applications for

2 political asylum to minimize their insecurity and

3 sense of danger. Many torture survivors now live in

4 the United States. They should be provided with the

5 rehabilitation services which would enable them to

6 become productive members of our communities.

7 (6) Building democratic cultures requires not

8 only legal and political institution-building, but also

9 addressing the physical, psychological, and spiritual

10 damage of repression, in order to foster a climate

11 and opportunity of healing for the victims and for

12 society.

13 (7) The development of a treatment movement

14 for torture survivors has created new opportunities

15 for action by the United States and other nations to

16 oppose state-sponsored acts of torture.

17 (8) There is a need for a comprehensive strat18 egy to protect and support torture victims and their

19 treatment providers as part of the overall objective

20 of eliminating torture.

21 (9) By acting to heal the survivors of torture

22 and protect their families, the United States can

23 move to defeat the actions of torturers.

24 (10) The United States has ratified the Con25 vention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman,
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1 or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, but has not

2 implemented all provisions of the convention.

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided the

5 terms used in this Act have the same meaning given such

6 terms in section 101(a) of the Immigration and National7 ity Act.

8 (b) TORTURE.—As used in this Act, the term ‘‘tor9 ture’’ means any act by which severe pain or suffering,

10 whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a

11 person for such purposes as obtaining from the person or

12 a third person information or a confession, punishing the

13 person for an act the person or a third person has commit14 ted or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating

15 or coercing the person or a third person, or for any reason

16 based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or

17 suffering is inflicted by, at the instigation of, or with the

18 consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person

19 acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or

20 suffering arising only from, inherent in, or incidental to

21 lawful sanctions.

22 (c) SUBSTANTIAL GROUNDS FOR BELIEVING.—As

23 used in this Act, the term ‘‘substantial grounds for believ24 ing’’ means substantial evidence.
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1 (d) IN DANGER OF BEING SUBJECTED TO TOR2 TURE.—As used in this Act, the term ‘‘in danger of being

3 subjected to torture’’ means circumstances in which a rea4 sonable person would fear subjection to torture.

5 (e) INVOLUNTARY RETURN.—As used in this Act, the

6 term ‘‘involuntary return’’ means to take action by which

7 it is reasonably foreseeable that a person will be required

8 to return to a country without the person’s consent, re9 gardless of whether such return is induced by physical

10 force and regardless of whether the person is physically

11 present in the United States.

12 SEC. 4. UNITED STATES POLICY WITH RESPECT TO THE IN13 VOLUNTARY RETURN OF PERSONS SUB14 JECTED TO TORTURE.

15 The United States shall not expel, extradite, or other16 wise involuntarily return a person to a country in which

17 there are substantial grounds for believing the person

18 would be in danger of being subjected to torture.

19 SEC. 5. IMMIGRATION PROCEDURES FOR TORTURE VIC20 TIMS.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any alien—

22 (1) who presents a credible claim of having

23 been subjected to torture in the alien’s country of

24 nationality, or, in the case of an alien having no na-
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1 tionality, the country in which the alien last habit2 ually resided, and

3 (2) who applies for—

4 (A) refugee status under section 207 of the

5 Immigration and Nationality Act,

6 (B) asylum under section 208 of that Act,

7 or

8 (C) withholding of deportation under sec9 tion 243(h) of that Act,

10 shall be processed in accordance with this section.

11 (b) CONSIDERATION OF THE EFFECTS OF TOR12 TURE.—In considering applications for refugee status,

13 asylum, or withholding of deportation made by aliens de14 scribed in subsection (a), the appropriate officials shall

15 take into account—

16 (1) the manner in which the effects of torture

17 can affect the applicant’s responses in the applica18 tion and in the interview process or other immigra19 tion proceedings, as the case may be;

20 (2) the difficulties torture victims often have in

21 recounting their suffering under torture; and

22 (3) the fear victims have of returning to their

23 country of nationality where, even if torture is no

24 longer practiced or the incidence of torture is re-
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1 duced, their torturers may have gone unpunished

2 and may remain in positions of authority.

3 (c) EXPEDITED PROCESSING OF REFUGEE ADMIS4 SIONS.—For purposes of section 207(c) of the Immigra5 tion and Nationality Act, a refugee who presents a credible

6 claim of having been subjected to torture shall be consid7 ered to be a refugee of special humanitarian concern to

8 the United States and shall be accorded priority in selec9 tion from the waiting list of such refugees based on com10 pelling humanitarian concerns.

11 (d) EXPEDITED PROCESSING FOR ASYLUM AND

12 WITHHOLDING OF DEPORTATION.—Upon the request of

13 the alien, the alien’s counsel, or a health care professional

14 treating the alien, an asylum officer or special inquiry offi15 cer may expedite the scheduling of an asylum interview

16 or an exclusion or deportation proceeding for an alien de17 scribed in subsection (a), if such officer determines that

18 an undue delay in making a determination regarding asy19 lum or withholding of deportation with respect to the alien

20 would aggravate the physical or psychological effects of

21 torture upon the alien.

22 (e) PAROLE IN LIEU OF DETENTION.—The finding,

23 upon inspection at a port of entry of the United States,

24 that an alien described in subsection (a) suffers from the

25 effects of torture, such as depressive and anxiety dis-
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1 orders, shall be a strong presumptive basis for a grant

2 of parole, under section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and

3 Nationality Act, in lieu of detention.

4 (f) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con5 gress that the Attorney General shall allocate resources

6 sufficient to maintain in the Resource Information Center

7 of the Immigration and Naturalization Service informa8 tion relating to the use of torture in foreign countries.

9 SEC. 6. SPECIALIZED TRAINING FOR CONSULAR, IMMIGRA10 TION, AND ASYLUM PERSONNEL.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall pro12 vide training for immigration inspectors and examiners,

13 immigration officers, asylum officers, special inquiry offi14 cers, and all other relevant officials of the Department of

15 Justice, and the Secretary of State shall provide training

16 for consular officers, with respect to—

17 (1) the identification of the evidence of torture;

18 (2) the identification of the surrounding cir19 cumstances in which torture is practiced;

20 (3) the long-term effects of torture upon the

21 person;

22 (4) the identification of the physical, cognitive,

23 and emotional effects of torture, including depressive

24 and anxiety disorders, and the manner in which
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1 these effects can affect the interview or hearing

2 process; and

3 (5) the manner of interviewing victims of tor4 ture so as not to retraumatize them, eliciting the

5 necessary information to document the torture expe6 rience, and understanding the difficulties victims

7 often have in recounting their torture experience.

8 (b) GENDER-RELATED CONSIDERATIONS.—In con9 ducting training under subsection (a)(4) or subsection

10 (a)(5), gender specific training shall be provided on the

11 subject of interacting with women and men who are vic12 tims of torture by rape or any other form of sexual vio13 lence.

14 SEC. 7. STUDY AND REPORT ON TORTURE VICTIMS IN THE

15 UNITED STATES.

16 (a) STUDY.—The Center for Disease Control shall

17 conduct a study with respect to refugees and asylees ad18 mitted to the United States since October 1, 1987, who

19 were tortured abroad, for the purpose of identifying—

20 (1) the estimated number and geographic dis21 tribution of such persons;

22 (2) the needs of such persons for recovery serv23 ices; and

24 (3) the availability of such services.
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1 (b) REPORT.—Not later than December 31, 1997,

2 the Center for Disease Control shall submit a report to

3 the Judiciary Committees of the House of Representatives

4 and the Senate setting forth the findings of the study con5 ducted under subsection (a), together with any rec6 ommendation for increasing the services available to per7 sons described in subsection (a), including any rec8 ommendation for legislation, if necessary.

9 SEC. 8. DOMESTIC TREATMENT CENTERS.

10 (a) AMENDMENT OF THE IMMIGRATION AND NA11 TIONALITY ACT.—Section 412 of the Immigration and

12 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1522) is amended by adding

13 at the end the following new subsection:

14 ‘‘(g) ASSISTANCE FOR TREATMENT OF TORTURE

15 VICTIMS.—(1) The Director is authorized to provide

16 grants to programs in the United States to cover the cost

17 of the following services:

18 ‘‘(A) Services for the rehabilitation of victims of

19 torture, including treatment of the physical and psy20 chological effects of torture.

21 ‘‘(B) Social services for victims of torture.

22 ‘‘(C) Research and training for health care pro23 viders outside of treatment centers for the purpose

24 of enabling such providers to provide the services de25 scribed in subparagraph (A).
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1 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘tor2 ture’ has the same meaning given to the term in section

3 3 of the Torture Victims Relief Act of 1995.’’.

4 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—(1) Of

5 amounts authorized to be appropriated to carry out sec6 tion 414 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.

7 1524) for fiscal year 1996, there are authorized to be ap8 propriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out

9 section 412(g) of that Act (relating to assistance for do10 mestic centers for the treatment of victims of torture).

11 (2) Amounts appropriated pursuant to this sub12 section are authorized to remain available until expended.

13 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

14 subsection (a) shall take effect on October 1, 1995.

15 SEC. 9. FOREIGN TREATMENT CENTERS.

16 (a) AMENDMENTS OF THE FOREIGN ASSISTANCE

17 ACT OF 1961.—Part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of

18 1961 is amended by adding at the end of chapter 1 the

19 following new section:

20 ‘‘SEC. 129. ASSISTANCE FOR VICTIMS OF TOR21 TURE.—(a) The President is authorized to provide assist22 ance for the rehabilitation of victims of torture.

23 ‘‘(b) Such assistance shall be provided in the form

24 of grants to treatment centers in foreign countries which

25 are carrying out programs specifically designed to treat
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1 victims of torture for the physical and psychological effect

2 of the torture.

3 ‘‘(c) Such assistance shall be available—

4 ‘‘(1) for direct services to victims of torture;

5 and

6 ‘‘(2) to provide research and training to health

7 care providers outside of treatment centers for the

8 purpose of enabling such providers to provide the

9 services described in paragraph (1).

10 ‘‘(d) For purposes of this section, the term ‘torture’

11 has the same meaning given to such term in section 3 of

12 the Torture Victims Relief Act of 1995.’’.

13 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—(1) Of

14 the total amount authorized to be appropriated to carry

15 out chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of

16 1961 for fiscal year 1995, there are authorized to be ap17 propriated to the President such sums as may be nec18 essary to carry out section 129 of that Act.

19 (2) Amounts appropriated pursuant to this sub20 section are authorized to remain available until expended.

21 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

22 subsection (a) shall take effect on October 1, 1995.

23 SEC. 10. MULTILATERAL ASSISTANCE.

24 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Of the

25 amounts authorized to be appropriated to carry out sec-
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1 tion 301 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (relating

2 to international organizations and programs), there are

3 authorized to be appropriated to the United Nations Vol4 untary Fund for Victims of Torture (in this section re5 ferred to as the ‘‘Fund’’) the following amounts for the

6 following fiscal years:

7 (1) For fiscal year 1996, $1,500,000.

8 (2) For fiscal year 1997, $3,000,000.

9 (b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts appro10 priated pursuant to subsection (a) are authorized to re11 main available until expended.

12 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the Con13 gress that the President, acting through the United States

14 Permanent Representative to the United Nations,

15 should—

16 (1) request the Fund—

17 (A) to find new ways to support and pro18 tect treatment centers that are carrying out re19 habilitative services for victims of torture; and

20 (B) to encourage the development of new

21 such centers;

22 (2) use the voice and vote of the United States

23 to support the work of the Special Rapporteur on

24 Torture and the Committee Against Torture estab25 lished under the Convention Against Torture and
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1 Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or

2 Punishment; and

3 (3) use the voice and vote of the United States

4 to establish a country rapporteur or similar proce5 dural mechanism to investigate human rights viola6 tions in a country if either the Special Rapporteur

7 or the Committee Against Torture indicates that a

8 systematic practice of torture is prevalent in that

9 country.

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