BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SJR 6|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SJR 6
Author: Kehoe (D), et al.
Amended: 6/22/11
Vote: 21
SENATE FLOOR : 39-0, 5/9/11
AYES: Alquist, Anderson, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Calderon,
Cannella, Corbett, Correa, DeSaulnier, Dutton, Emmerson,
Evans, Fuller, Gaines, Hancock, Harman, Hernandez, Huff,
Kehoe, La Malfa, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Lowenthal, Negrete
McLeod, Padilla, Pavley, Price, Rubio, Runner, Simitian,
Steinberg, Strickland, Vargas, Walters, Wolk, Wright,
Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: De Le�n
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 6/27/11 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Survivors of torture
SOURCE : Survivors International (San Francisco)
DIGEST : This resolution declares June 26, 2011, as Day
in Support of Victims of Torture in California, and urges
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.
Assembly Amendments make clarifying and technical changes,
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as well as add co-authors.
ANALYSIS :
Resolution findings:
1. Approximately 100,000 residents of the State of
California have found refuge here after enduring
politically motivated torture in their home countries.
2. These survivors of torture bring their remarkable
fortitude, resiliency, and powerful personal histories
to their new state.
3. 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.
4. These contributions come in spite of the lingering
physical, emotional, and social impacts of enduring
torture.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. Treating the unique impact of torture on survivors
requires highly specialized, holistic treatment.
8. California played a key role in the development of the
torture treatment field in the late 1970s and early
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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 in order to attend to the unique panoply
of physical, emotional, and legal challenges faced by
their fellow survivors.
9. 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.
10.These centers collectively serve around 1,000 torture
survivors annually.
11.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.
12.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.
13.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.
14.The Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability
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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.
15.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.
16.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.
17.The Legislature hereby acknowledges the widespread
presence of survivors of torture residing throughout the
State of California.
18.The Legislature welcomes and commends the contributions
survivors of torture make to California's communities,
economy, and cultural vibrancy.
19.The Legislature expresses its pride in California's
emerging legacy as a place of refuge and healing for
those who have endured torture.
20.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
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survivors.
This resolution declares June 26, 2011, a Day in Support of
Victims of Torture in California, and urges 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.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/27/11)
Survivors International (San Francisco) (source)
California Church Impact
International Rescue Committee
Involvement (San Jose)
Survivors International (San Francisco)
The Center for Justice & Accountability (San Francisco)
The Institute for the Study of Psychosocial Trauma (Palo
Alto)
The Institute for Redress & Recovery (Santa Clara)
The Center for Survivors of Torture at Asian-Americans for
Community
The Program for Torture Victims (Los Angeles)
World Relief
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Grove, Hagman,
Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hern�ndez, Hill,
Huber, Hueso, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell,
Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan,
Perea, V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner,
Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner,
Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gordon, Gorell, Huffman
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CTW:do 6/28/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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