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The Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture provides comprehensive medical and mental health care, as well as social and legal services to survivors of torture and war traumas and their family members. In the past year alone we provided these multidisciplinary services to more than 500 people from 70 countries.

Since its inception in 1995, the Program has developed an international reputation for excellence in our clinical, educational and research activities. Our mission is to assist individuals and families subjected to torture and war trauma to re-build health, self-sufficient lives and to contribute knowledge and testimony to global efforts to end torture.

Program Updates

  • Democracy Now Airs Interview with Dr. Allen Keller: “Broken Laws, Broken Lives”: Medical Study Confirms Prisoners in US Custody

    The daily TV/radio news program, Democracy Now interviews Dr. Allen Keller on the report he co-authored for Physicians for Human Rights which has, for the first time, found medical evidence corroborating the claims of former prisoners who say they were tortured while in US custody. Teams of medical specialists conducted physical and psychological tests on the former prisoners, including exams intended to assess if they were lying. Click here for the transcript and to listen/watch the show.

  • Dr. Leanh Nguyen Gives Video Interview to Physicians for Human Rights on Evaluating a Former Abu Ghraib Detainee

    Broken Laws, Broken Lives shows the human consequences of harsh and unlawful US interrogation practices. This landmark report reveals the excruciating pain and continued suffering of men who, never charged with any crime, endured torture at US detention facilities in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantánamo Bay. Based on internationally accepted standards for clinical assessment of torture claims, the report documents practices used to bring about long-lasting pain, terror, humiliation, and shame for months on end. Click here for a link to Dr. Nguyen's video interview.

  • Program Physician Homer Venters Testifies Before Congress Regarding Immigrant Detainee Healthcare

    In his statement, Dr. Venters pointed to the confusing and unreliable statistics concerning detainee deaths, and argued that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) healthcare system contains key elements that may jeopardize detainee health. Contrary to public statements by ICE, he concluded that this health system, and the care it allows for detainees, is getting worse not better. Please consult the Washington Post article on this testimony, or download a PDF of Venters' report.

  • Program Client Featured in Documentary 'The Dictator Hunter' to Premier at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival

    On June 15, 16 and 17, the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival will present the U.S. premiere of “The Dictator Hunter,” by Dutch director Klaartje Quirijns. The film explores the efforts of Reed Brody of Human Rights Watch, and Souleymane Guengueng, a Chadian torture victim, to bring former president Hissène Habré of Chad to trial for killing thousands of his own countrymen in the 1980s. To purchase tickets click here.