It’s a story you may not want to read, but it’s important to understand because it represents the experiences of an estimated 20,000 or more immigrants in Colorado.
It’s the story of a 40-year-old woman who came to the U.S. from French-speaking West Africa, bloodied in body but miraculously unbroken in spirit. In West Africa, “Mariama” – whose name we’ve changed to protect her identity – had been detained multiple times because she spoke out against government abuses. While in custody, she was sexually molested, raped, severely beaten, underwent sensory deprivation and was psychologically tortured.
Luckily for her, she connected with Rocky Mountain Survivors Center. There, she found medical and mental health treatment, referral to social services, and free legal assistance that helped her obtain political asylum. Today she is a permanent resident, and is working to bring her children to Colorado after many years of separation.
Despite international recognition that torture is a crime against humanity, it is a fact of life in an estimated 130 countries, according to Ernest Duff, executive director of the center. Torture is defined as extreme physical and/or mental cruelty supported by the government, police or guerilla fighters who are a de facto government in the territory they control. It includes beatings, hangings, near-suffocation, electric shock (often to the genitals) and other abuses almost too terrible to contemplate.
Since 1996, the center has served approximately 200 survivors of torture each year. The survivors, Duff says, come from more than 30 countries and are scattered across the metro area.
More than 80 percent of those who come to the center apply for asylum to avoid being returned to the country where they were tortured, Duff says. Last year, 50 lawyers donated $1 million worth of services to the center’s low-income clients. “They have a near-100 percent success rate in the immigration courts,” Duff adds. “It’s a remarkable rate of success.”
As the only torture rehabilitation program in Colorado, the center provides a variety of services. Nurses from the University of Colorado assess survivors’ multiple health needs. “They suffer not only from the physical scars of torture,” Duff says, “but also from a constellation of complaints” including severe headaches, gastrointestinal disorders, insomnia and sometimes a profound change in personality. The person who was social and outgoing before being tortured might become frightened and unable to establish relationships or hold down a job, for example.
The majority of the center’s clients come from communal cultures, Duff points out, so most mental health counseling is done in group settings. Translators trained in more than 35 languages “accompany” survivors in the counseling sessions, which are designed to “give back survivors’ dignity and help them live in security and peace.”
The center, which receives the majority of its support from the federal government under the Torture Victims Relief Act and from the United Nations’ Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, is seeking increased financial participation from foundations, corporations and individuals. Future plans include reaching out to a greater diversity of survivors, involving ethnic communities in planning for the needs of survivors, and increasing training and outreach to help health providers and community leaders understand those needs.
Duff, who has master’s degrees in psychology and divinity, says some call his work a “grim specialty” because it involves so much human pain and suffering. But it’s much more, he insists. It is a way to make a difference in the lives of people who have been tortured for their religious or political beliefs, or simply because they are members of an ethnic group.
The remarkable thing, he notes, is the “core of resilience” many torture survivors demonstrate. Some report becoming more compassionate. Some want to educate others about torture. Some want to work to end torture around the world.
If those who have withstood unthinkable assaults can resolve to make things better for others, shouldn’t we reach out as well? Federal support for survivor programs across the U.S. will soon be up for renewal. Let’s hope that Colorado’s congressional delegation supports the work being done to restore dignity and humanity to some of the most vulnerable among us.
Susan Thornton (smthornton@ aol.com) served 16 years on the Littleton City Council, including eight years as mayor. She writes on suburban issues on alternate Thursdays. For more information about the Center, visit www.rmscdenver.org.
