Let me summarize some of our specific activities around the world. Our funding of justice and rule of law programs in Latin America began more than fifteen years ago. These programs work in a variety of ways to overcome the long history of police abuse that exists in some countries. 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. 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. 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.