In Gbarnga, the day was observed through a Parade; Indoor Program with a keynote address; and a movie about torture screened. The parade started at 9:30 am with student and teachers participants from about 8 schools. Other participants included: Youth leaders, community zonal leaders, some former and present CVT clients etc.etc. It was a colorful occasion that attracted people from all works of life living in, and around the principal streets of Gbarnga –including the Bassa community where cvt office is located. During the indoor program in Gbarnga, Seidu Swaray the PSCs Peer Supervisor presented the keynote address. In his address, the following information was presented: v     the history of how the 26 of June came into being;v     what is meant by torture;v      how is/was torture perpetrated in the context of Liberia ‘s past and present situation;v       some possible impacts if Liberians are not healed from torturev     The rationale of commemorating the day in support of victims of torturev     A call for everybody to play a part in making the world free of torture starting from their villages, communities, Country and, region  Following the Key note address, a movie titled “Sarafina” which has some scenes of torture acts, was screened. This was followed by a Questioning period in which participants views were solicited with respect to their impressions, way of thinking; attitudinal changes and other impacts that has been noticed as a result of their participation in the program. Their responses reflected on the parade, the keynote address and then, the movie.   

Additionally, a journalist who is both a correspondent of Star Radio Station in Monrovia and, a staff of Radio Gbarnga, (Clarence Jackson) was present and covered the entire program. As a result, CVT’s program was on the news headlines of the of the Gbarnga radio station for 2 days. CVT”s program was also featured in one of the radio’s morning programs called “INFO BOX” presented on the 27th of June.

The key note address is provided below:

World Torture Day Commemoration 2007 Location: Gbarnga City Bong County, LIBERIASpeech Delivered by: Seidu Swaray PSCs Peer Supervisor, CVT- Liberia v    Displays of tortured victims photosv    The UN Convention against Torture was adopted by the General Assembly in 1984 and became more functional on the 26th June 1987. June 26 has since been regarded as World Torture Day and today mark’s the 10th commemoration in support of victims of torture. With respect to this day, the former UN Secretary General Dr. Koffi Annan once said “Each year on this day we reaffirm our unbroken will and spirit to stamp out this vile practice, bring the torturer to justice and care for his innocent victims’ What is TortureAccording to the U.N Convention Against torture, Torture is any act by which severe physical or mental pain or suffering is intentionally inflicted by, at the instigation of or, with the acquiescence of someone acting in an official capacity on a person in order to obtain information or a confession or intimidate or coerce him or a third person for any reason based on discrimination of any kind. To understand more of what torture means, think about a time in Liberia when some of you:v    Were forced to witness public humiliations of other peoplev    Were publicly humiliated for the reason of either setting example; wanting property(ies); accused of being enemy collaborator; or, for no reasonv    Were forced to witness beatings and killings of relativesv    Were forced to harm your own relatives (laugh when they were been tortured, insulting your mother, having sex etc.)v    Were threaten of attack expectation thru written or oral communicationv    Were forced to go to bed with a soldier or rapedv    Were forced to look at the sun and, or drink large quantity of alcohol Torture is fundamentally a political weapon, employed by repressive regimes to shape cultures through fear. Some of the motivating source behind those who torture is: to control a group or community, to prevent opposition, to punish dissent, to produce breakdowns in family structures, and, to instill fear. The impact of torture usually lasts for a longer period and at times, for even “life time” of the individual. The severity and scale of the traumas that is produced by the experience of torture can have a Tran generational effect, shaping the health, the hopes, and the aspiration of future generations. How?? For instance, as a result of the torturing acts that lot of us experienced during the war, today there are Liberians that still: v    Have distorted belief  in humans---lack of trustv    Get suddenly scared for no reason---along with other anxiety symptomsv    Have no interest in previous pleasurable activitiesv    Have difficulties in falling or staying asleepv    Exhibit hyper vigilance and, exaggerated startle response to cues resembling torture experiencev    Have constant nightmares about torture eventsv    Have physical pain in their bodies that need medical attentionv    Have senses of a foreshortened futurev    Not making plans and have no hope in the futurev    Have constant psychosomatic symptoms (headache, stomachache etc.) Liberians, if our psychological wounds—which we refer to in CVT as “trauma”, are not healed, we may not be able to:v    Earn a living; raise children and, enjoy lifev    Reconcile with each other—leading to revenge tendencies and possible outbreak of violencev    Stop its transference to future generations But I have Good News for you. In fact, two Good News! The first is that, Torture is now a crime under International Law. In December 2002, the General Assembly adopted the Optional Protocol to the Convention against torture and other cruel inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment which establishes a frame work that will allow visits by independent international and national bodies to places where persons are deprived of liberty. Relative to this, Dr. Kofi Annan once said “The protocol will create new possibilities for dialogue with and among national authorities to ensure that the right to be protected from torture is translated into reality.” The second Good News is that the Center for Victims of Torture (CVT) who is the host to this auspicious program was established in the USA with the help of the former governor of the state of Minneapolis called Rudy Perpich.The core of CVT’s work is providing direct rehabilitative services to survivors of politically motivated torture.CVT’s clinical goal is to return adults and children survivors of torture to a normative functioning state through services provided by professional paraprofessional mental health staff in order for them to effectively function in their communities.CVT usually carry out:v    Direct client services through individual and group counseling  interventions—upholding the principle of confidentiality with clients’ informationv    Capacity building of paraprofessionals by professional clinicians through a model of intensive training that combines theoretical training with practical experiencev    Community awareness raising on mental health issues through workshops, large group activities and, community sensitizations.  Today is a day set aside to give us the opportunity to:v    Pay tribute and remember all victims and survivors of torture; to be mindful of those who suffer under it; those who recovered from physical and psychological traces; those who did not recover and died because of it.v    Honor and pay respect to the survivors of torture who have endured the unimaginablev    Say thank you to those who are struggling to help victims overcome their physical and psychological pain with the aim of restoring their health and dignity as human beings: government, organizations, and individuals for their selfless effort.v    Inform the public opinion that this form of violation of human right is the worst application for the practice of this authority on the margin of the law being totally ignored.v    Raise our voices defending human dignity and calling for respect of human life; an occasion to speak up against torture; to speak up against the unspeakablev    This year theme is, and I want you to repeat after me: “STAND UP, SPEAK UP, STOP TORTURE NOW”Let us all act together to make this world free from torture. We can start doing that in our villages, our communities, our country and, our region.Ladies and Gentlemen I THANK YOU