Center for Victims of Torture

09/10/2026

CVT is proud to partner with the National Transitional Justice Commission on this agreement that aims to strengthen technical and institutional cooperation in areas related to supporting victims and survivors, and to advance transitional justice processes grounded in an approach that places victims at the heart of the transition. We look forward to advancing this important work for victims and survivors.

الهيئة الوطنية للعدالة الانتقالية توقع مذكرة تفاهم مع مركز ضحايا التعذيب لتعزيز دعم الضحايا والناجين

وقعت الهيئة الوطنية للعدالة الانتقالية مذكرة تفاهم مع مركز ضحايا التعذيب (CVT)، بهدف تعزيز التعاون الفني والمؤسسي في المجالات المرتبطة بدعم الضحايا والناجين، وتعزيز مسارات العدالة الانتقالية القائمة على نهج يضع الضحايا في صميم العملية الانتقالية.

تندرج هذه المذكرة ضمن جهود الهيئة للاستفادة من الخبرات المتخصصة في مجالات الدعم النفسي والاجتماعي، وبناء القدرات، وتطوير الممارسات المهنية الداعمة لحقوق الضحايا والناجين.

بموجب المذكرة، سيتعاون الطرفان في عدد من المجالات ذات الاهتمام المشترك، تشمل تقديم الاستشارات التقنية المتخصصة، وتوفير الأدلة الإرشادية والموارد المعرفية، إضافة إلى تنظيم ورش عمل وبرامج تدريبية وأنشطة إرشاد وتوجيه فني مصممة وفق الاحتياجات، بما يسهم في تعزيز القدرات المؤسسية والفنية للهيئة ودعم تنفيذ مهامها.

09/10/2026

On World Su***de Prevention Day, CVT clinicians remind us that we can all do our part to support people during difficulties. The way we speak about su***de is important: su***de can result from underlying mental health problems. Let’s work together to encourage each other and help people move forward during difficult days.

***depreventionday

09/09/2026

Guantánamo’s Camp 6 is no place to hold asylum seekers. MPR News reports on a Somali man who, although an asylum seeker, is being held there after being detained in Minnesota during Operation Metro Surge. “This administration wants to conflate this threat of immigration with terrorism, so wants to create this idea that the individuals at Camp 6 are so terrible and so horrific,” said CVT's Yumna Rizvi to Matt Sepic.

Adam Abdullah has no criminal record, but the government is holding him at a military prison set up for terrorism suspects after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

09/08/2026

There are NO circumstances when torture is allowed. U.S. and international law apply universally, regardless of wartime status, concerns for national security or states of emergency. Importantly, these international prohibitions cover torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.

Freedom from torture is a fundamental human right. There is no exception – ever.

09/04/2026

Hello DC: Register now! We’re partnering with Muslim Counterpublics Lab to examine the lessons and legacies for the 25th anniversary of the War on Terror - George Washington University, Sept 17-18. Check out this incredible schedule and line up of brilliant speakers from across sectors including journalists, lawyers, organizers, scholars, directly impacted community members and so much more.

Register here: https://waronterror25.org/

09/03/2026

Trauma can affect how people think and feel. It can also affect sleep, pain, muscle tension and the body's response to stress. CVT’s trauma-informed, culturally-responsive massage therapy (TCI-Massage) was developed to help address the physical dimensions of recovery alongside our psychosocial care.

Read more: https://www.cvt.org/what-we-do/advancing-research/tci-massage/

Massage Therapy Foundation
American Massage Therapy Association - AMTA

08/31/2026

NO SHOCK GLOVES FOR ICE
We're proud to join Congresswoman Delia Ramirez in calling for a halt to the $16.7 million DHS contract to give direct-contact shock gloves to ICE agents. These gloves are inherently abusive equipment.
https://ramirez.house.gov/media/press-releases/ramirez-49-lawmakers-demand-end-dhss-167-million-contract-purchase-electric

08/31/2026

DO NOT GIVE ELECTRIC SHOCK GLOVES TO ICE.
Act today: Contact Dept. of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and tell him to cancel the multi-million dollar contract for direct-contact shock gloves for ICE. Join efforts led by Congresswoman Delia Ramirez who said the decision to buy the gloves “… continues a deeply disturbing escalation in the militarization of DHS — as well as sustained efforts to shield itself from accountability.”
Click and call today: https://www.cvt.org/stop-shock-gloves/

08/31/2026

NEW from Emily Witt at The New Yorker covering the horrifying events of Operation Metro Surge. CVT’s Alison Beckman, senior clinician for external relations, comments that CVT clients detained by ICE told stories “strikingly similar to the ones that they tell us about what happened to them in their country—a group of masked men throwing you in a car, taking you somewhere, holding you, not telling you what’s happening.”
Read the article - link in comment.

08/30/2026

Naima lived in Iraq during the war when her husband was killed. But then her 17-year old daughter was taken by militia, leaving her with loss she struggled to comprehend: “I see her in front of me. I hear her voice screaming for me . . . I keep talking to myself. I ask her if it’s possible that she could find an escape and come back to me.”

Enforced disappearance is used to punish and control communities. CVT stands with all victims of enforced disappearance.

International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances