PUBLIC LAW 106-87 NOVEMBER 3, 1999
TORTURE VICTIMS RELIEF
REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 1999
Prime Sponsor: Mr. Christopher H. Smith (NJ) H.R. 2367, Signed by the President on November 3, 1999 |
Summary: Authorizes appropriations for FY 2001 through 2003 to: (1) the President to provide assistance in the form of grants to treatment centers and programs in foreign countries that are carrying out projects or activities specifically designed to treat victims of torture for the physical and psychological effects of such torture; (2) the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide grants to programs in the United States to cover the costs of services provided by domestic treatment centers in the rehabilitation of victims of torture (including treatment of the physical and psychological effects of torture); and (3) the President for the U.S. contribution to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture.
Expresses the sense of Congress that the President, through the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, should: (1) request the Fund to find new ways to support, and to encourage the development of new, treatment centers and programs that are carrying out rehabilitative services for victims of torture; (2) use the vote of the United States to support the work of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and the Committee Against Torture established under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; and (3) use the U.S. vote to establish a country rapporteur or similar mechanism to investigate human rights violations in a country if either the Special Rapporteur or the Committee Against Torture indicates that a systematic practice of torture is prevalent there.
Directs the Secretary of State to report to specified congressional committees on certain required specialized training with regard to victims of torture for Foreign Service officers.
Makes technical amendments to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Torture Victims Relief Act of 1998.
Text of the Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act of 1999 (P.L. 106-87) [.pdf]
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