Governor Schwarzenegger June 26 Proclamation

June 26, 2008, as "Day in Support of Survivors of Torture"

PROCLAMATION

by the

Governor of the State of California

Sadly, far too many people around the world suffer from torture every day. These tragedies are horrifying and unacceptable, and California joins with others across the world in demanding change and offering support for these victims.

It is estimated that around a quarter of the refugees in the United States have experienced some form of torture, and many of those refugees live in California. It is crucial that we assist them in their efforts to rebound and build happier, healthier lives. Our Golden State has a proud legacy of offering kindness and safety to torture victims, and I urge all those who have been persecuted to take advantage of the many resources available to them.

Additionally, I thank all those who have opened their hearts to help others recover from these difficult experiences. Torture victims have experienced unimaginable pain and grief, and by providing counseling, health care services, housing and food, compassionate individuals and organizations are rekindling hope and the belief in a brighter future.

On this day and all others, I encourage all Californians to help end persecution and take a stand to eliminate torture world-wide.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim June 26, 2008, as "Day in Support of Survivors of Torture."

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 2nd day of June 2008.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER
Governor of California

ATTEST:

DEBRA BOWEN
Secretary of State

Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas takes on torture

The Sacramento Bee reports that Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas has proposed a resolution that would notify California health professionals that they could lose their license and be prosecuted by the state if they are involved in the torture:

"California has the obligation, I believe, to notify its licensees of laws pertaining to torture that may result in prosecution," Ridley-Thomas said.

The senator said physicians have reportedly advised interrogators whether prisoners were fit enough to survive "physical maltreatment, informed interrogators about prisoners' phobias and other psychological vulnerabilities that could be exploited."

Invoking the Hippocratic oath that physicians traditionally take, he said the state can "withdraw its consent to torture by demanding that its health professionals remember their oath to first do no harm."

Yet some professionals do not agree that this is the best strategy in tackling the problem of health professionals involved in torture:

Dr. Vito Imbascini, state surgeon of the California National Guard, said "a few Californians were among the practitioners in the healing arts involved in torture" at U.S. military facilities at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

"But given the tiny number of renegade offenders, we think a more effective approach (than the resolution) would be to target those offenders," said Imbascini, who represented the 35,000-physician California Medical Association at the hearing.

Read the different views here.