105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4309
AN ACT
To provide a comprehensive program of support for
victims of torture.
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4309
AN ACT
To provide a comprehensive program of support for victims
of torture.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives 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 cre-
ates a climate of fear and international insecurity
that affects all people.
(2) Torture is the deliberate mental and phys-
ical 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 oppo-
sition and frightening the general public, repressive
governments often use torture as a weapon against
democracy.
(4) Torture survivors remain under physical
and psychological threats, especially in communities
where the perpetrators 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 re-
pression.
(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 asy-
lum to minimize their insecurity and sense of dan-
ger. Many torture survivors now live in the United
States. They should be provided with the rehabilita-
tion 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 strat-
egy to protect and support torture victims and their
treatment providers, together with overall efforts to
eliminate torture.
(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 mean-
ing 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 tor-
ture.
‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY
FOR GRANTS.—Such assistance
shall be provided in the form of grants to treatment cen-
ters and programs in foreign countries that are carrying
out projects or activities specifically designed to treat vic-
tims of torture for the physical and psychological effects
of the torture.
‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—Such assistance shall be avail-
able—
‘‘(1) for direct services to victims of torture;
and
‘‘(2) to provide research and training to health
care providers outside of treatment centers or pro-
grams described in subsection (b), for the purpose of
enabling such providers to provide the services de-
scribed 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 For-
eign Assistance Act, as added by subsection (a).
(2) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts appro-
priated 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 VIC-
TIMS.—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 psy-
chological effects of torture.
(2) Social and legal services for victims of tor-
ture.
(3) Research and training for health care pro-
viders outside of treatment centers, or programs 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 the
Department of Health and Human Services for each
fiscal year, 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) such sums as may be necessary
for each fiscal year.
(2) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts appro-
priated pursuant to this subsection shall remain
available until expended.
SEC. 6. MULTILATERAL ASSISTANCE.
(a) FUNDING.—Of the amounts authorized to be ap-
propriated 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 Na-
tions Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture (in this sec-
tion 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 appro-
priated 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 pro-
tect 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 Committee Against Torture estab-
lished 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 proce-
dural mechanism to investigate human rights viola-
tions 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 OF-
FICERS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall pro-
vide training for foreign service officers with respect to—
(1) the identification of torture;
(2) the identification of the surrounding cir-
cumstances in which torture is most often practiced;
(3) the long-term effects of torture upon a vic-
tim;
(4) the identification of the physical, cognitive,
and emotional effects of torture, and the manner in
which these effects can affect the interview or hear-
ing process; and
(5) the manner of interviewing victims of tor-
ture so as not to retraumatize them, eliciting the
necessary information to document the torture expe-
rience, and understanding the difficulties victims
often have in recounting their torture experience.
(b) GENDER-RELATED CONSIDERATIONS.—In con-
ducting training under subsection (a)(4) or (5), gender-
specific training shall be provided on the subject of inter-
acting with women and men who are victims of torture
by rape or any other form of sexual violence.
Passed the House of Representatives September 14,
1998.
Attest:
Clerk.