December 08, 2011, 3:00PM
Jerome Greene Annex, Columbia University
410 West 117th Street New York, NY 10027

50 Years: Amnesty International & Human Rights

Panel 1 is from 3:00 - 4:15 p.m. On Torture
Sowore Omoyele Former student leader and prisoner of conscience in Nigeria
Vincent Warren Center for Constitutional Rights
Dr. Allen Keller Bellevue/NYU Program for the Survivors of Torture

Panel 2 is from 4:30 - 5:45 p.m. On Capital Punishment
Laura Moye Program to Abolish the Death Penalty, AIUSA
Lawrence Hayes Former inmate on death row in New York
Vincent Southerland NAACP Legal Defense Fund

Reception and Global Write-A-Thon to follow the panels.

For further information: http://www.amnestyusa.org/events/50-years-amnesty-international-human-rights
chrdr@columbia.edu

Co-sponsored by: Center for Human Rights Documentation & Research, Human Rights Institute, and Columbia Center for Oral History.

Free and open to the public.

December 6, 2011, 6:30PM

Farkas Auditorium, NYU Medical Center, 550 First Avenue at 33rd Street, New York City

Narrated by Oscar-winner Mercedes Ruehl and written by Oscar-winner Mark Jonathan Harris, Doctors of the Dark Side is the first feature film on the role of physicians and psychologists in detainee torture. 

The screening will be followed by a panel and a reception.

Panel Participants: Dr. Allen Keller (NYU Center for Health and Human Rights), Dr. Katherine Porterfield (Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture), Mercedes Ruehl, Hana Akselrod (Mt. Sinai Medical Student), and NY Assembly-Member Richard Gottfried (Chair, Committee on Health)

This event sponsored by the NYU School of Medicine Center for Health and Human Rights and the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture, and co-sponsored by NYU medical student chapter of Physicians for Human Rights, NYU medical student Bioethics Interest Group, and Psychologists for Social Responsibility New York Area Chapter.

No RSVP required. 

Visit http://www.doctorsofthedarkside.com for more information on the film.

November 17, 2011, 6:00PM                                                                             City College Cohen Library Archives Gallery, 5th Floor                             160 Convent Avenue in the NAC Building

Dr. Allen Keller will speak at the Opening Reception for artist Frances Jetter's exhibit "Cry Uncle."

“Cry Uncle” is a 23-page accordian limited edition artist’s book by Frances Jetter. It is described as "A graphic response to man’s inhumanity to man in Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, Bagram and other places of torture."

The exhibit will be on display at the Cohen Library from November 7 - December 22, 2011.

November 15, 2011, 11:00 AM                                                                        Senate Hearing Room at 250 Broadway, New York

NY Senator Thomas K. Duane, co-sponsor of the Gottfried/Duane NY Anti-Torture Legislation is holding a Senate Public Forum to discuss the bill and issues surrounding it. PSOT Program Director Dr. Allen Keller as well as representatives from Physicians for Human Rights and the NY Coalition Against Torture will testify.

Details from Senator Duane concerning the forum below:

Revelations of controversial interrogation methods authorized by the Bush administration have stirred a national debate about the definition and practice of torture.  Specifically, a number of court cases and petitions to state disciplinary boards have included evidence demonstrating the participation of licensed medical professionals in the design and supervision of controversial interrogation methods.  Those involved with these interrogations claim that medical professionals’ presence protects the well-being of detainees, while anti-torture advocates and many professional medical organizations argue that participation constitutes a violation of their commitment to do no harm.

Since medical professionals are licensed at the state level, it is well within the states’ jurisdiction to determine whether violations have occurred -- as well as any appropriate sanctions.  In  New York, I have introduced legislation along with Assembly Health Chair Richard N. Gottfried, which would explicitly prohibit participation in torture by New York State-licensed medical professionals.  

November 12, 2011, 9:00AM-5:00PM

Farkas Auditorium
NYU Langone Medical Center

Panelists include Dr. Hawthorne Smith, Dr. Andrew Rasmussen, and Dr. Kate Porterfield from PSOT as well as some of the world’s leading experts on mental trauma, asylum, international human rights, child protection and returning veterans. Experts will address the experience of healers in the US and abroad; the experience of media; advocacy, and planning and prevention.  For conference details please click here. 

The Peter C. Alderman Foundation, Master Scholars in Medical Humanism and the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture will hold this one-day conference open to the public and free of charge to all mental health professionals and others interested in or working to alleviate trauma.

For registration and further information, please visit this website: www.petercaldermanfoundation.org.

SPONSORED by

The Peter C. Alderman Foundation
Master Scholars Program in Medical Humanism
The NYU-Bellevue Program for Survivors of Torture

October 18, 2011, 1:15-2:45PM

The Permanent Mission of Denmark to the UN in New York and International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) invite you during the session 3rd Committee of the UN General Assembly to an expert panel discussion on rehabilitation of torture survivors.

Rehabilitation of Torture Survivors

How holistic Treatement can Heal wounds and contribute to Justice and Prevention

Conference Room 4, North Lawn Building, UN Headquarters

Moderator

H.E. Ambassador Carsten Staur
Permanent Mission of Denmark to the United Nations

Panellists
Juan E Mendez, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture
Victims centred approach – need for rehabilitation after torture

Claudio Grossmann, Chair of the UN Committee against Torture
Rights perspective – the right to rehabilitation of torture survivors

Malcolm Evans, Chair of the UN Subcommittee for Prevention of Torture
Access to support in places of detention

Brita Sydhoff, Secretary General of the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims
Global network for providing holistic rehabilitation to ensure support and justice for torture survivors

Raphael Mfuambote Kiama, Survivors Speak OUT network
Survivor’s voice – the difference of rehabilitation after torture

Allen Keller, Director of Bellevue/ NYU Programme for Torture Survivors
The role of doctors – medical treatment and documenting to fight torture

September 22, 2011

Dr. Allen Keller is giving a lecture entitled "Health, Human Rights, and Advocacy: A Jewish Perspective" at the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) of Pennsylvania's Annual Meeting on Thursday, September 22 from 12:00-3:00pm.

The meeting is held at the Jewish Community Services Building, 2100 Arch Street, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19103.

For more information, please visit: http://www.hiaspa.org/index.html. 

May 31, 2011

Please join us Tuesday, May 31 at the Kimmel Center's Rosenthal Pavilion for our Annual Benefit. Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres will begin at 7 pm with dinner and program at 8 pm.  Please RSVP by May 15, 2011. 

For questions or to RSVP, please call 212-562-8624 or email erin.ballard@nyumc.org. 

May 24, 2011

As a part of the program's commitment to advocacy, a group of medical, pre-medical, and graduate students joined by health professionals and program staff descended on Albany on Tuesday, May 24 to meet with lawmakers and advocate for passage of historic legislation Assembly Bill A-5891 prohibiting the participation of health professionals licensed in the state in the torture and improper treatment of prisoners. Furthermore, this bi-partisan legislation provides health professionals with strong legal protection to resist and report any participation in acts of torture and abuse.

“Preventing medical participation in torture is crucial to our profession’s moral integrity,” said Dr. Allen Keller. “It is appropriate that future health professionals are not only reminding us of this but leading the way.”

One such future health professional, Benjamin Rodwin from the NYU School of Medicine argues, “It is vital that as a future physician there be a legal backstop to any perceived pressure to participate in an interrogation which involves the improper treatment of prisoners, particularly when such acts are a clear dereliction of the responsibilities of any doctor.” Another NYU medical student Jafar Al-Mondhiry adds that “reducing pain and suffering is our stated duty, and this bill strongly reinforces that ethic. By rejecting torture or any deliberate harm to another human being as an unacceptable medical practice, I feel that I am entering a practice of integrity, solemnity, and unwavering humanitarian commitment.”

For more information on the bill, please visit www.whenhealersharm.org

January 26, 2011

The Vilcek Foundation, in cooperation with the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture is hosting a lecture by Dr. Allen Keller, director and founder of the program, on the critical need to provide recovery services to survivors of torture. Presented on Wednesday, January 26, 2011, at the Bohemian National Hall in New York City, Dr. Keller will discuss the comprehensive care PSOT offers to torture victims and their families so that they may regain their health and begin to rebuild their lives.

Special speaker guests: Cheikhna Mahawa and Samten Dakpa.

For more information please visit the Vilcek Foundation website: http://www.vilcek.org/news/press-release/caring-and-1.html

Image Credit: The Vilcek Foundation