H. R. 4309
One Hundred Fifth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the twenty-seventh day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight
An Act
To provide a comprehensive program of support for victims of torture.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Torture Victims Relief Act of
1998’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The American people abhor torture by any government
or person. The existence of torture creates a climate of fear
and international insecurity that affects all people.
(2) Torture is the deliberate mental and physical damage
caused by governments to individuals to destroy individual
personality and terrorize society. The effects of torture are
long term. Those effects can last a lifetime for the survivors
and affect future generations.
(3) By eliminating the leadership of their opposition and
frightening the general public, repressive governments often
use torture as a weapon against democracy.
(4) Torture survivors remain under physical and psycho-
logical threats, especially in communities where the perpetra-
tors are not brought to justice. In many nations, even those
who treat torture survivors are threatened with reprisals,
including torture, for carrying out their ethical duty to provide
care. Both the survivors of torture and their treatment provid-
ers should be accorded protection from further repression.
(5) A significant number of refugees and asylees entering
the United States have been victims of torture. Those claiming
asylum deserve prompt consideration of their applications for
political asylum to minimize their insecurity and sense of dan-
ger. Many torture survivors now live in the United States.
They should be provided with the rehabilitation services which
would enable them to become productive members of our
communities.
(6) The development of a treatment movement for torture
survivors has created new opportunities for action by the United
States and other nations to oppose state-sponsored and other
acts of torture.
(7) There is a need for a comprehensive strategy to protect
and support torture victims and their treatment providers,
together with overall efforts to eliminate torture.
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(8) By acting to heal the survivors of torture and protect
their families, the United States can help to heal the effects
of torture and prevent its use around the world.
SEC. 3. DEFINITION.
As used in this Act, the term ‘‘torture’’ has the meaning given
the term in section 2340(1) of title 18, United States Code, and
includes the use of rape and other forms of sexual violence by
a person acting under the color of law upon another person under
his custody or physical control.
SEC. 4. FOREIGN TREATMENT CENTERS.
(a) AMENDMENTS TO THE FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ACT OF 1961.—
Part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end of chapter 1 the following
new section:
‘‘SEC. 129. ASSISTANCE FOR VICTIMS OF TORTURE.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The President is authorized to provide
assistance for the rehabilitation of victims of torture.
‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY
FOR
GRANTS.—Such assistance shall be
provided in the form of grants to treatment centers and programs
in foreign countries that are carrying out projects or activities
specifically designed to treat victims of torture for the physical
and psychological effects of the torture.
‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—Such assistance shall be available—
‘‘(1) for direct services to victims of torture; and
‘‘(2) to provide research and training to health care
providers outside of treatment centers or programs described
in subsection (b), for the purpose of enabling such providers
to provide the services described in paragraph (1).’’.
(b) FUNDING.—
(1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Of the amounts
authorized to be appropriated for fiscal years 1999 and 2000
pursuant to chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance
Act of 1961, there are authorized to be appropriated to the
President $5,000,000 for fiscal year 1999 and $7,500,000 for
fiscal year 2000 to carry out section 129 of the Foreign Assist-
ance Act of 1961, as added by subsection (a).
(2) 
AVAILABILITY
OF
FUNDS.—Amounts 
appropriated
pursuant to this subsection shall remain available until
expended.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by subsection (a)
shall take effect October 1, 1998.
SEC. 5. DOMESTIC TREATMENT CENTERS.
(a) ASSISTANCE
FOR TREATMENT
OF TORTURE VICTIMS.—The
Secretary of Health and Human Services may provide grants to
programs in the United States to cover the cost of the following
services:
(1) Services for the rehabilitation of victims of torture,
including treatment of the physical and psychological effects
of torture.
(2) Social and legal services for victims of torture.
(3) Research and training for health care providers outside
of treatment centers, or programs for the purpose of enabling
such providers to provide the services described in para-
graph (1).
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(b) FUNDING.—
(1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Of the amounts
authorized to be appropriated for the Department of Health
and Human Services for fiscal years 1999 and 2000, there
are authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection (a)
(relating to assistance for domestic centers and programs for
the treatment of victims of torture) $5,000,000 for fiscal year
1999, and $7,500,000 for fiscal year 2000.
(2) 
AVAILABILITY
OF
FUNDS.—Amounts 
appropriated
pursuant to this subsection shall remain available until
expended.
SEC. 6. MULTILATERAL ASSISTANCE.
(a) FUNDING.—Of the amounts authorized to be appropriated
for fiscal years 1999 and 2000 pursuant to chapter 3 of part I
of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, there are authorized to
be appropriated to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims
of Torture (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Fund’’) the following
amounts for the following fiscal years:
(1) FISCAL YEAR 1999.—For fiscal year 1999, $3,000,000.
(2) FISCAL YEAR 2000.—For fiscal year 2000, $3,000,000.
(b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts appropriated pursuant
to subsection (a) shall remain available until expended.
(c) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the Congress
that the President, acting through the United States Permanent
Representative to the United Nations, should—
(1) request the Fund—
(A) to find new ways to support and protect treatment
centers and programs that are carrying out rehabilitative
services for victims of torture; and
(B) to encourage the development of new such centers
and programs;
(2) use the voice and vote of the United States to support
the work of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and the Commit-
tee Against Torture established under the Convention Against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment; and
(3) use the voice and vote of the United States to establish
a country rapporteur or similar procedural mechanism to inves-
tigate human rights violations in a country if either the Special
Rapporteur or the Committee Against Torture indicates that
a systematic practice of torture is prevalent in that country.
SEC. 7. SPECIALIZED TRAINING FOR FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall provide training
for foreign service officers with respect to—
(1) the identification of torture;
(2) the identification of the surrounding circumstances in
which torture is most often practiced;
(3) the long-term effects of torture upon a victim;
(4) the identification of the physical, cognitive, and
emotional effects of torture, and the manner in which these
effects can affect the interview or hearing process; and
(5) the manner of interviewing victims of torture so as
not to retraumatize them, eliciting the necessary information
to document the torture experience, and understanding the
difficulties victims often have in recounting their torture experi-
ence.
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(b) GENDER-RELATED CONSIDERATIONS.—In conducting training
under subsection (a)(4) or (5), gender-specific training shall be pro-
vided on the subject of interacting with women and men who
are victims of torture by rape or any other form of sexual violence.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.