Benjamin Gilman: “Mr. Speaker, this important measure addresses a critical area of our efforts to combat human rights abuses, treatment of…”

“Mr. Speaker, this important measure addresses a critical area of our efforts to combat human rights abuses, treatment of those individuals who have suffered the effects of torture at the hands of governments as a means of destroying dissent and opposition. I commend the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), our distinguished chairman of the Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights, for introducing this resolution. The resolution rightly recognizes the importance of treating victims of torture in order to combat the long-term devastating effects that torture has on the physical and psychological well-being of those who have undergone this pernicious form of abuse. Torture is an extremely effective method to suppress political dissidence, and for those governments which lack the legitimacy of democratic institutions to justify their power, torture can provide a bulwark against popular opposition. It has been pointed out that for political leaders of undemocratic societies, torture is useful because it aims at destruction of the personality, to rob those individuals who would actively involve themselves in opposition to oppression of self-confidence and other characteristics that produce leadership. Fortunately, there are now able treatment regimes for the types of disorders that torture may induce.”