Bill Text: CA SJR6 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Survivors of torture.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 29-10)
Status: (Passed) 2011-07-07 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Res. Chapter 45, Statutes of 2011. [SJR6 Detail]
Download: California-2011-SJR6-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: SJR 6 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
RESOLUTION CHAPTER 45
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE JULY 7, 2011
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR JULY 7, 2011
ADOPTED IN SENATE JULY 5, 2011
ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 27, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 22, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 13, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 9, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Kehoe
(Principal coauthor: Senator Anderson)
(Coauthors: Senators Alquist, Corbett, DeSaulnier, Hancock,
Harman, Hernandez, Huff, Lieu, Liu, Rubio, Runner, Vargas, Wright,
Wyland, and Yee)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Achadjian, Atkins, Beall, Block,
Blumenfield, Cedillo, Cook, Dickinson, Eng, Fletcher, Fong, Galgiani,
Halderman, Hall, Hueso, Huffman, Jones, Logue, Monning, John A.
Pérez, Portantino, and Williams)
APRIL 28, 2011
Relative to survivors of torture.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SJR 6, Kehoe. Survivors of torture.
This measure would declare June 26, 2011, a Day in Support of
Victims of Torture in California, and would urge the Office of
Refugee Resettlement to direct torture treatment funding through the
Torture Victims Relief Act of 1998 so as to reflect California's role
as the nation's largest resettlement destination for torture
survivors.
WHEREAS, Approximately 100,000 residents of the State of
California have found refuge here after enduring politically
motivated torture in their home countries; and
WHEREAS, These survivors of torture bring their remarkable
fortitude, resiliency, and powerful personal histories to their new
state; and
WHEREAS, Many of these survivors have contributed greatly to
California's communities, economy, cultural vibrancy, and
understanding of the importance of human rights through opening
businesses, performing professional services, founding charitable
organizations, speaking out about their experiences, and volunteering
on behalf of others; and
WHEREAS, These contributions come in spite of the lingering
physical, emotional, and social impacts of enduring torture; and
WHEREAS, Studies and clinical reports on the consequences of
torture have been found to include, but are not limited to, scarring,
disfiguration, chronic pain, nightmares, insomnia, flashbacks,
hypervigilance, difficulty forming relationships of trust,
depression, panic attacks, and startle responses; and
WHEREAS, Absent access to appropriate care, these ongoing effects
of torture can prevent or undermine the ability and desire of torture
survivors to restore their dignity and thrive as productive members
of their new California communities; and
WHEREAS, Treating the unique impact of torture on survivors
requires highly specialized, holistic treatment; and
WHEREAS, California played a key role in the development of the
torture treatment field in the late 1970s and early 1980s under the
leadership of Dr. Jose Quiroga and Ana Deutsch, themselves refugees
who fled from incidents of torture in Chile and Argentina,
respectively, came to Los Angeles, and there went on to found the
Program for Torture Victims (PTV) in order to attend to the unique
panoply of physical, emotional, and legal challenges faced by their
fellow survivors; and
WHEREAS, California today is home to the largest number of torture
treatment centers in the United States, including, but not limited
to, the affiliates of the California Consortium of Torture Treatment
Centers--the Center for Justice and Accountability in San Francisco;
the Center for Survivors of Torture, Asian Americans for Community
Involvement in San Jose; the Institute for Redress and Recovery at
Santa Clara University; the Institute for the Study of Psychosocial
Trauma in Palo Alto; Program for Torture Victims in Los Angeles; the
Torture Survivors Project at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles;
Survivors International in San Francisco; and Survivors of Torture,
International in San Diego; and
WHEREAS, These centers collectively serve around 1,000 torture
survivors annually; and
WHEREAS, These torture treatment programs rely heavily on the
volunteerism of local professionals--among them doctors,
psychologists, psychiatrists, dentists, physical therapists,
interpreters, lawyers, masseurs, plastic surgeons, and others--to
provide holistic treatment far beyond the capacities of the centers'
limited staffs and budgets; and
WHEREAS, Each year hundreds of California professionals donate
thousands of hours of their time to acquire the necessary specialized
training and assist torture survivors to heal; and
WHEREAS, Each year hundreds of Californians make charitable
financial contributions to help make the services of these nonprofit
centers possible at no charge to the survivors; and
WHEREAS, The Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability
Commission (MHSOAC) could use state-level public sector avenues to
improve regional services for torture survivors by working with
counties to include torture treatment in county mental health plans;
and
WHEREAS, Data from the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement
(ORR) demonstrates that California has been the top destination in
the country for humanitarian immigrants (25 percent of all refugees
since 1975, and 28 percent of all asylees in the federal fiscal year
2009, according to ORR and the California Refugee Programs Bureau),
many of whom are torture survivors, but funding to provide adequate
services for those refugees has been insufficient because the federal
Torture Victims Relief Act of 1998 has not been fully funded by
Congress and ORR has not distributed domestic torture treatment under
the Torture Victims Relief Act of 1998 formulas to provide adequate
funding to areas that serve disproportionate populations of formerly
tortured refugees; and
WHEREAS, On June 26, 1997, the United Nations General Assembly
marked the 10th anniversary of its adoption of the United Nations
Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment by establishing that date, annually, as
International Day in Support of Victims of Torture; and
WHEREAS, The Legislature hereby acknowledges the widespread
presence of survivors of torture residing throughout the State of
California; and
WHEREAS, The Legislature welcomes and commends the contributions
survivors of torture make to California's communities, economy, and
cultural vibrancy; and
WHEREAS, The Legislature expresses its pride in California's
emerging legacy as a place of refuge and healing for those who have
endured torture; and
WHEREAS, The Legislature undertakes to encourage the further
development of torture treatment services throughout the state by
honoring professionals and volunteers who have dedicated their time
to the treatment of torture survivors; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature urges ORR to direct torture
treatment funding through the Torture Victims Relief Act of 1998 so
as to reflect California's role as the nation's largest resettlement
destination for torture survivors; and be it further
Resolved, That June 26, 2011, be declared a Day in Support of
Victims of Torture in California; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States,
to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to each Senator and
Representative from California in the Congress of the United States,
and to the author for appropriate distribution.
