(also available in Spanish)

May, 14th 2004

The undersigning Latin American Mental Health and Human Rights Centers strongly repudiate the way in which the North American and English soldiers torture the Iraqi prisoners. The hood, electric shock and psychological torture are tools painfully known to us, and even though it disgusts us, we are not surprised: the North American army has a wide experience in the use of these methods both directly and indirectly, through intermediates, such as the Latin American militia, for example.

While Mr. George W. Bush pretends to convince the world that he was not aware of the way prisoners are treated, the new responsible for the Iraqi jails, general Geoffrey Miller, almost lightly says that the hood will be taken off the prisoners heads and that they are not going to submit them to further humiliations but, at the same time, he points out that "interrogation methods" are going to be kept the same.

Before been transferred to Iraq, General Miller was the responsible of the North American prison at the Naval Base of Guantanamo. Over 600 people are detained there and although they had reported all kinds of torments they continue to be denied any legal assistance.

For many years, we have been condemning the abuses committed by United States in the name of peace and freedom. These are repeated crimes against humanity that deserve our strongest repudiation and persecution.

• We denounce the serious effects of torture both for the physical and mental health of the direct victims. These actions will have consequences not only on the following generations but will also have a traumatic outcome for the worldwide community. Injustice and impunity have a re-traumatizing effect on people's psyche.
• We call the international community to make use of every resource that is needed to fully rehabilitate victims of torture.
• We repudiate the kind of terrorism that implies the killing of men, women and children by the most sophisticated military equipment on the planet, the destruction of entire countries and of the historical heritage of humanity and the oppression of peoples that are fighting for their rights
• We demand the withdrawal of the troops that occupy Iraq and the respect for human rights all over the world, and justice and punishment for all the people responsible.
• We defend the right of self-determination of the Iraqi people.
• We pronounce against torture and in favor of the unconditional defence of Human Rights.