[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Carlos Mauricio, Center for Justice & Accountability (CJA) client and torture survivor, with CJA Executive Director Pamela Merchant at CJA's May 2008 Annual Dinner in San Francisco

By Pamela Merchant
Executive Director
Center for Justice and Accountability

Last week, a unique group of California-based NGOs convened in Sacramento to educate California lawmakers on the importance of state-sponsored support and advocacy for California’s population of torture survivors. Representatives from the California Consortium of Torture Treatment Centers, which shares information and best practices regarding the treatment of torture survivors living in California, held a press conference to promote recognition of the long-term psychological and physical effects of torture and the role treatment centers in California play in the recovery process. The June 26th conference marked the 21st anniversary of the 1987 Geneva Convention Against Torture and the 11th United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is telling the ICE to back off the local economy, reports the LA Daily News. In a letter to the ICE,the mayor said that responsible businesses which depend on undocumentedworkers for labor should be left alone, and that the agency shouldconcentrate on raiding companies that are suspected of mistreatingworkers instead.

Assemblyman Alberto Torrico  (D-Newark) has withdrawn his bill that would have prevented state pension funds from investing in private firms partly operated by foreign governments with human rights abuses, reports the Sac Bee. The bill was opposed by both CalPERS and CalSTRS, as well as Governor Schwarzenegger.

Meanwhile, the Assembly  Education Committee has passed a bill that would require school textbooks to discuss the history of Hmongs, reports the Sac Bee. The bill, introduced Assemblyman Juan Arambula (D-Fresno) was opposed by three Republicans on the panel.

by randymi [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

It's offical, Jackie Speier is in according to the San Francisco Examiner. Following the announced retirement of Tom Lantos, she will make her announcement Sunday to represent the solid blue CA-12.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

CMR was saddened to learn today that U.S. Rep. Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo, San Francisco) has been diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus and therefore won’t be seeking re-election. The only Holocaust survivor ever elected to Congress and a courageous opponent of human rights abuses around the world, most recently the genocide in Darfur, he is and will continue to be a steadfast symbol of strength and dignity for his constituents and all Americans.<> <>His announcement does close the book on one potential political showdown and opens the door to another. Longtime and highly-respected former state legislator Jackie Speier, whose onetime boss Congressman Leo Ryan represented this same or similar San Francisco Peninsula district before he was killed in the line of duty (while Speier was wounded) in the Tragedy at Jonestown, had been formalizing plans to make a high-profile run against Lantos in this year’s primary. Now, while she’s clearly the favorite, short odds are she won’t be the only serious candidate looking at the seat, especially given the hurt feelings among Lantos loyalists.<> <>CMR has learned that Leland Yee, who succeeded Speier in the State Senate two years ago, is contemplating a possible run and has a better-than-average shot of getting Lantos’ endorsement in the process.       

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

The Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) and the Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition (BAIRC) sponsored a public forum titled "Braving Borders, Building Bridges: A Journey for Human Rights," at Laney College in Oakland yesterday. The panelists hoped to address the "black voice" in the immigration debate. The panel originated from a recent visit by a 14-member delegation of African Americans and black immigrants to the Tucson border area in order to "investigate the human rights abuses of immigrants, Mexican Americans and indigenous communities."  <><>Reverend Philip Lawson, one of the panelists, co-founded BAJI because of the lack of "black faces" during recent immigration marches. For Rev. Lawson and the other members of the panel, the "black voice" is important in this debate, because they are deeply impacted by immigration. Rev. Lawson delivered a powerful speech on the importance of a "culture of hospitality: hospitality for the alien and the powerless living among us."  <>