TORTURE COMPLAINT
		To read about the procedure followed in submitting this complaint, go to: http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/chr/special/complaints.htm
	This web site lists some specific criteria which must be met in filing a formal complaint: (1) "Identification of the alleged victim(s)". The victims are clients of the Ministry of Human Resources in British Columbia, Canada. Twenty-seven (27) victims have signed a complaint form asking that "Party of Citizens", a registered B.C. political party, represent them. (2) "Identification of the alleged perpetrator". The primary perpetrator is the Government of British Columbia, Ministry of Human Resources. (3) "Identification of the person(s) or organization(s) submitting the communication". Party of Citizens is a registered B.C. political party found on the roster of Elections B.C. It was first registered in 1995. (4) "Date and place of incident". Torture has been a daily procedure at M.H.R. offices throughout B.C. since Election 2001. (5) "A detailed decription of the circumstances of the incident in which the violation occurred". The complaint at http://www.geocities.com/universalhumanrightscanada/torture_complaint_july7_04 was sent by email to <urgent-action@ohchr.org> on July 7/04. (6) Prohibition of "abusive language". There is no abusive language. (7) Prohibition of submissions which are "obviously politically motivated". POC is a political party but this submission is not politically motivated. It is motivated by the signed requests of 27 complainants that we represent them.
	TEACHING TORTURE: No reputable counselling, therapy of rehabilitation school in North America teaches its students to use torturous treatment as an underpinning to programs. Critics of School of the Americas have long claimed that SOA does exactly that. Although SOA was thought to have closed in 2000, Doug Ireland, LA Weekly, posts July 22/04 that it received funding from Congress in 2004: http://www.alternet.org/rights/19319 Expectedly if we could access SOA files we would find models for the MHR Regimen and DOC Paradigm there. Victims of cruel and torturous abuse at the hands of the governments in Canada will, when the litigation is completed, need real counselling and therapy as well as financial compensation from the perpetrators to pay for it. The punishment applied by these governments certainly does not rate a "1" or "2" on the 5-point Torture Scale (link to URL below) and it is not so extreme as to rate a "5". It is mostly level "4" or torturous punishment. THE TORTURE HANDBOOK In 2000, UK Foreign Secretary Robin Cook launched the "Handbook for Torture Victims" through Camille Giffard and Essex University. This book is mainly for those seeking legal remedies and can be freely downloaded: http://www.essex.ac.uk/torturehandbook
		Section 3.3.2 of the Handbook sets out two definitions used in law which could be incorporated into a four point scale for punitive treatment. We could add mildly and moderately punitive treatment to the cruel punitive treatment and torturous punitive treatment defined and described in 3.3.2: Why is the treatment which is the subject of this complaint deemed to be torturous? Consider this instance. If Jane Doe had been living in an institution like Woodlands under MHR before its closure, threatening her with eviction and homelessness as well as deprivation of the other essentials for health and life like food and clothing would have been criminal. It is no less torturous to threaten her in this way now that she is living in a room in the community  by using an EP (Employment Plan) whether that is done through MHR or any other ministry. (1) The threats to health and life are SEVERE.(2) They are conducted with the consent and acquiescence of the state authorities in BC and Canada.(3) They serve the purpose of intimidating the victims to comply with government-directed programming. Thus all three criteria of Section 3.3.2 are met. SOME LINKS FOR MEDICAL, LEGAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL REMEDIES: UK: http://www.torturecare.org.uk http://www.redress.org Europe: http://www.irct.org/usr/irct/home.nsf http://www.omct.org Australia:http://www.survivorsvic.org.au Canada: http://www.ccvt.org US: http://www.pacinfo.com/eugene/tsnet http://www.survivorsintl.org http://www.cvt.org http://www.notorture.org http://www.tassc.org
			TORTURE LAW SUIT AGAINST US SECURITY COMPANIES: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0610-02.htm http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/home.asp WE ARE DEVELOPING A 5-POINT SCALE FOR MEASURING SEVERITY OF PUNISHMENT-TORTURE AND WELCOME ASSISTANCE/FEEDBACK: http://www.geocities.com/universalhumanrightscanada/torturescale To return to the main web site, click on: http://www.geocities.com/universalhumanrightscanada