- UN Special Rapporteur Juan Mendez with TASSC Executive Director Demissie Abebe
It was TASSC International’s honor to host the newly elected United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture on Thursday, January 13, 2011. Dr. Juan Mendez was welcomed with a luncheon followed by an opportunity to address survivors from TASSC, as well as human rights advocates and faith-based groups working to end torture.
Dr. Mendez shared with survivors and other gathered at TASSC the mandate he has been given by the United Nations: “By insisting on the absolute prohibition of torture and of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in international law, I hope to make an effective contribution to the enforcement and progressive development of international norms in this area.”
Dr. Mendez has dedicated his long legal career to defending human rights and has a distinguished record of advocacy. He recently served as the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Genocide under Secretary General Kofi Annan. Before that, he directed the International Center for Transitional Justice in New York, taught international law at various universities, and directed the Washington Office of Americas Watch during the 1980s.
Dr. Mendez is currently visiting professor of law at the Washington College of Law, American University, in Washington D.C.
Dr. Mendez shared with survivors his hope of carrying out his mandate from the perspective of the victims and survivors of torture. It is his belief that survivors play a crucial role in advocating on behalf of the victims, and holding accountable those governments who are guilty of torture. 
Dr. Mendez is the first non-European to be elected U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture. He is also a survivor of torture, when he was kidnapped and imprisoned for 18 months during the Dirty War carried out by the military dictatorship in Argentina that disappeared and assassinated more than 30,000 people between 1976 – 1983. At that time he was named a “prisoner of conscience” by Amnesty International.
Dr. Mendez indicated that he would like to open more doors between survivors and organizations advocating on their behalf, as this is critical to the fight to end torture and, on an individual level, to assisting the healing process for survivors.
This idea was further supported by Dr. Orlando Tizon, Helping Hands Coordinator at TASSC and survivor from the Philippines. “I am convinced there is a vital relationship between healing from torture and becoming an advocate for human rights,” Dr. Tizon told the U.N. Special Rapporteur and those gathered. TASSC was founded in 1998 by survivors, and created a model of healing based on empowerment of survivors and training to become advocates or “truth-speakers.”
Demissie Abebe, the executive director of TASSC, indicated that “Our goal at TASSC is to mobilize our capacity to support Dr. Mendez in his efforts to confront torture wherever it exists.”
Survivors from TASSC, and advocates from human rights groups, had the unique opportunity to communicate directly with the U.N. Special Rapporteur in an open question and answer discussion, many of whom declared their support of Dr. Mendez.
In addition to more than twenty survivors of torture from TASSC, representatives from the National Religious Campaign against Torture, Human Rights USA, Advocates for Survivors of Torture and Trauma, Pax Christi USA, Maryknoll Office for Global Concern, and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops were in attendance.
Dr. Mendez reiterated that the United Nations has the responsibility to investigate each credible case that is brought to its attention, and while it does not have any enforcement capabilities, it can and does utilize the power of its office to pressure governments to end torture. When asked whether his mandate includes receiving credible complaints of torture by the Bush administration, he indicated that there are no exceptions, and that his office is in conversations with the U.S. government. The U.N. Special Rapporteur reports directly to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Dr. Mendez also commented on the Guantanamo prison, assuring those gathered of his determination to interview the current 173 inmates. Under the Bush administration, this permission was denied to the previous U.N. Special Rapporteur. Dr. Mendez recently filed a complaint to the U.S. State Department on behalf of Pvt. Bradley Manning, the U.S. soldier accused of leaking the Wikileaks documents to the press. He is currently in solitary confinement in Quantico, Virginia.
On another note, Dr. Mendez announced that the U.N. Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances received the necessary 20 ratifications in December, after initially being approved by the U.N. General Assembly in 2006. The new U.N. Convention makes enforced disappearances an international crime, like torture, and is the fruit of more than 30 years of struggle by family members advocating on behalf of their loved ones who were disappeared by governments around the world.
