The Center for Victims of Torture hopes that 2026 will bring peace and happiness to everyone, around the world.

The cruelty is the point.

“We know for sure that our survivors we are no longer able to serve are suffering,” said Scott Roehm, CVT sr director of global justice & accountability, in this NYT article that accounts for how little was saved by DOGE cuts this year, and just how much was lost. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/u...

It's illegal to send people to prisons like CECOT. CVT's Yumna Rizvi said in May: “The Trump administration continues to destroy the rule of law, lives & communities with its performative efforts to intimidate immigrants as it actively sends people to torture dungeons.” www.cvt.org/statements/t...

“We know for sure that our survivors we are no longer able to serve are suffering,” said Scott Roehm, CVT sr director of global justice & accountability, in this NYT article that accounts for how little was saved by DOGE cuts this year, and just how much was lost. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/u...

“It is unconscionable that companies are allowed to promote these products inside the EU. It is grotesque that such products even exist. This trade in human cruelty should be completely banned.” @simonadams.bsky.social on the need to ban goods used for torture. www.ipsnews.net/2025/12/the-...

One of the most important things for survivors to repair the wrongs of war is a strong sense of community. After the LRA war in Northern Uganda, that community was badly damaged, and more work is needed to repair and heal. Read CVT’s report here: www.cvt.org/wp-content/u...

A new report from CVT lays out survivors’ priorities for repairing the wrongs of war. Healing is the second of three top priorities for survivors of the LRA war in Northern Uganda. Watch here for more priorities. Read the report here: www.cvt.org/wp-content/u...

“The swirl of manufactured urgency and manufactured uncertainty has exhausted so many people and organizations,” said Kate Barr, CVT board treasurer and the president and CEO of Propel Nonprofits, in this article in the @startribune.com www.startribune.com/ramstad-the-...

CVT Georgia’s Arman team held a special meeting with partners who are such an important part of our work with the Afghan community in the Clarkston area. We send thanks and appreciation to our partners!

How do survivors prioritize elements that repair the wrongs of war? A top priority is justice. Read CVT's report with perspectives on justice and healing from formerly abducted women and their children who were born in captivity in Northern Uganda during the LRA war. www.cvt.org/wp-content/u...

CVT is proud to join this effort to restore humanitarian and immigration programs.

“Meaningful social relationships are fundamental to human dignity & well-being.” For #HumanRightsDay Lisa Hattori & Jenn Esala highlight evaluation findings from CVT’s Arman & Raahat projects that demonstrate the importance of community support in healing. www.cvt.org/articles/men...

“Now is not a time for timidity or silence,” – a message from @simonadams.bsky.social, CVT president and CEO, on Human Rights Day. In 2025, it is more important than ever that we stand up for human rights and reject all who want to dilute the protections in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

📢 Peaceful protests are essential to democracy, yet many are met with excessive force & dangerous weapons. Our new guide helps monitors identify, document, & challenge such misuse during protests. Download our new United Against Torture Consortium guide: omegaresearchfoundation.org/news/new-uat...

NEW! CVT is proud to announce our new program in Sonora, Mexico where we support individuals & families who had their migration plans disrupted in Northern Mexico. We also provide training and capacity building to area organizations. Read more: www.cvt.org/what-we-do/c...

One year since the fall of the Assad regime. @cvt.org stands with the humanitarian workers and human rights defenders on the frontlines of building a truly free and democratic #Syria. The future belongs to them.

What happens to asylum seekers stranded at the US-Mexico border? @CVT.org is working in Nogales, MX to help provide humanitarian solutions. www.cvt.org/what-we-do/c...

NEW: “The shooting is a tragedy," said CVT's Yumna Rizvi. "So, too, is the Trump administration’s response — a series of collective punishments for all Afghans and immigrants more broadly in the United States. CVT condemns both.” New in the @startribune.com www.startribune.com/rash-prosecu...

A brief reflection as my team and I wrap up our work. Providing mental health support, social services, and community programs-always with people at the center-has been life-changing for those we served and for us as a team.

The derogatory comments from President Trump about the Somali community in Minnesota are unconscionable. His words are meant to sow division. CVT stands with the Somali community. Read our statement from @simonadams.bsky.social here: www.cvt.org/statements/c...

NEW: Mahdi Surosh writes about the Raahat project’s impacts: “I am profoundly moved by the resilience of Afghans and other refugees, whose courage and determination to rebuild their lives in a new land have taught me invaluable lessons about hope and perseverance.” www.cvt.org/articles/fin...

As Trump curbs immigration after the DC shooting, Yumna Rizvi says, “The murder is reprehensible. But Trump’s punitive actions are overreaching in their scale and cruelty to a group of people to whom we made promises of safe haven and the chance to make a new life.” www.cvt.org/statements/d...

“We need governments to invest more in humanitarian solutions to global problems, not spend billions of dollars more every year on the manufacture and marketing of shiny new killing machines.” @simonadams.bsky.social comments on the rise in global arms sales. pressnewsagency.org/africa-risin...

NEW: CVT stands with the Somali community after recent negative remarks from President Trump. “The president’s derogatory comments about the Somali community in Minneapolis are deeply harmful and divisive, and palpably untrue,” said CVT's @simonadams.bsky.social www.cvt.org/statements/c...

“Generalizing an isolated case of an individual and dehumanizing a community … can incite violence against the community,” said Mahdi Surosh, CVT project manager, on the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration after shootings of National Guard members. www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics...

“. . . those acts of violence are exactly the things that we have fled from.” Mahdi Surosh, CVT project manager, condemns recent shooting & comments on impacts on the Afghan community. www.startribune.com/in-social-me...

As an organization dedicated to supporting survivors of torture and trauma, CVT understands the importance of the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. In fact, in 2024, 62% of our international clients were women or girls.

Colleagues from @amnesty.org @Omega_RF recently discovered Chinese companies marketing illegal torture equipment at the Milipol security trade fair in Paris. @cvt.org condemns this illegal trade in human cruelty. omegaresearchfoundation.org/news/milipol...

MINNESOTANS! Stand with the Somali community Sunday, Nov. 23 and show your support as the Trump administration launches attacks. Bring a dish to share or just bring yourself. All are welcome! 3 pm, Karmel Mall, 2910 Pleasant Ave, Minneapolis. @isaiahmn.org

NEW: “ . . . we’ve been downscaling and had to shut down programs providing essential care to people. And that’s heartbreaking,” said @simonadams.bsky.social in the @startribune.com. He adds, “But what keeps me awake at night is I fear they also cost us lives.” www.startribune.com/give-to-the-...

“Democracy does not always expire with a single event, like a military coup. Sometimes it slides slowly into the darkness, corroding norms and corrupting independent modes of thought along the way.” Honoured to give this speech for @cvt.org @MurdochUni @RadioNational www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

CVT is proud of the great work of the CVT Raahat team! They held an event with partners to honor its work serving the Afghan community as the project moves to closure Jan. 2026. Although the program is closing, mental health services will continue to be available through other CVT programs.

The more the Trump administration uses militaristic tactics and deportations against immigrants, the more legal, tax-paying workers leave the country. Can the U.S. afford to lose nearly $100 billion in taxes?

The Trump administration repeatedly insists that they are deporting violent criminals from the country. Yet we can see that ICE is detaining anyone they believe to be an immigrant. Deporting immigrants will not lower crime rates.

CVT Ethiopia has provided internships for psychology students at universities across the country for over a decade. New from CVT's Maki Katoh: “With so many of its citizens having experienced grave traumatic events, Ethiopia needs trauma healers more than ever.” Click: www.cvt.org/articles/a-l...

There is a difference between criminal behavior and civil violations. Someone who overstays the amount of time on a visa is not committing a crime. That is a civil violation. So is parking at a meter beyond the time you paid. It doesn’t make you a criminal.

There are legal pathways to becoming a U.S. citizen, and people reside in the country during this time. Here are two: 1. Asylum seekers live in the U.S. legally while their case is pending. 2. Refugees were already vetted overseas and are in a process seeking permanent residency.

How Democracies Revive: Don’t miss this virtual conversation with Juan Méndez, former UN Special Rapporteur on Torture & long-time member of CVT’s National Advisory Council. Hosted by the U of Minn Humphrey School of Public Affairs - Nov. 11, 5:45 pm Central. Register by email: [email protected].

Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states clearly that everyone has the right to seek asylum from persecution and torture. It is legal for people to seek this protection in the United States.

CVT is hiring a full-time Psychologist in Clarkston, Georgia. You'll provide high-quality, trauma-informed, culturally responsive psychotherapy services, including individual, couples, and group therapy. Doctoral degree required. 50% remote. Click: jobs.dayforcehcm.com/en-US/cvt/CA...

Trump's new cap on refugee admissions is making devastating history with an unprecedented low of 7,500 people, prioritizing white Afrikaners for entry. “The United States has stood as a strong light of hope in the past,” said CVT's Alison Beckman. “Today, that light is being extinguished.”

RCUSA is outraged by the White House’s Presidential Determination on refugee admissions for Fiscal Year 2026, which sets the refugee admissions goal at a devastatingly low 7,500 – the lowest ever set in the 45-year history of the USRAP See RCUSA's full statement here: rcusa.org/news-and-med...

Up until 2025, if you were seeking protection in the United States, it took years, even decades. And while this process helped only a tiny percentage of refugees, it was still possible via the Refugee Admissions Program or by applying for asylum at the border.

NEW: “For a society collectively to make progress towards justice, individual survivors must feel that their own healing and justice needs are being addressed,” said CVT's Dr. Shannon Golden about a new CVT report on justice for survivors in Northern Uganda. Read more: www.cvt.org/statements/n...

Refugees are in the United States legally after undergoing rigorous vetting processes across many government agencies. In fact, refugees are among the most documented people on earth. However, less than 1% of all refugees are ever resettled to the U.S.

Curt Goering served as CVT exec director from 2012-21, a time of expansion in programming. He comments on the need for CVT’s care, saying “. . . at a time of resurgent denial of torture and its impacts, and increasingly, its justification, the role of CVT has never been more critical or needed.”

“CVT friends, supporters and sustainers have been CVT clients’ lifelines,” said Ruth Barrett, former vice president of global operations, in Part 2 of this article commemorating CVT’s 40th anniversary. Click to read more on our past and good wishes for our future. www.cvt.org/articles/cvt...

Another incredible morning of healing and hope as CVT celebrates another successful Restoring Hope Breakfast! While we recognize our 40th anniversary, we are grateful to all our supporters – you make a difference for survivors around the world! Thank you so much.

Those who came to @cvt.org's first clinic in Minnesota 40 years ago included people who had suffered unspeakable horrors and lost everything, often simply because they opposed tyranny and injustice. True then, true now. www.cvt.org/articles/cvt...