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Center for Torture Survivors Opens in San Jose

By Ji Hyun Lim

Khai Chheangmay is a 46-year-old refugee, who arrived in the United States with physical and psychological scars from his experiences as a soldier who served the Lon Nok government in Cambodia. In April 1975, when the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia, Chheangmay was arrested, severely beaten and tormented, and thrown in a pile with the bodies of 80 dead soldiers. Khai escaped prison and returned home, but eventually ran away from his family, overwhelmed by fear and paranoia that he was constantly being chased and sought after. For three months, he lived underground like a wild dog, staying hidden during the day and coming out at night to look for food. The sight of a knife, gun, or wood stick gave him tremors.

Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI) recently opened the San Jose Center for Survivors of Torture (SJCST) to serve people such as Chheangmay. Although AACI opened 20 years ago, the SJCST is a new program that specifically provides medical, psychological and legal needs to refugees and those granted asylum, who live in the Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito, and Monterey Counties. According to Amor Santiago, president of the organization, “[ACCI] wants to serve a population that might not be covered anywhere else. We want to cover the Silicon Valley.”

With five to 35 percent of all refugees suffering from some form of trauma, AACI is able to provide comprehensive care for them with the $10 million in federal funds allotted to AACI by the Office of Refugee Resettlement.

“What’s new is that we have been able to provide medical services for the evaluation of physical trauma, as well as providing legal help,” Santiago said.

AACI specializes in treatment of those who were physically or psychologically victimized by government officials, such as soldiers or policemen.

Advocacy of volunteer groups such as Amnesty International continue to support victims of torture.

“There’s been a movement to end torture as a practice, and we’re all a part of this,” Santiago said.

AACI treats torture victims on an out-patient basis. Social workers, psychologists and licensed mental health clinicians aim to enhance the quality of life of their patients. Alice Tsoi, vice president of behavioral health, stated, “Our expertise is in serving different refugees, different diagnoses and different treatments, like post-traumatic stress disorder.”

Chheangmay’s symptoms are typical of those with the disease.

In 1979, he was arrested a second time by Vietnamese soldiers and thrown into jail and beaten severely. He lived in isolation and constant fear that people were looking for him. Even after escaping to Thailand in 1980 and living in a refugee camp for five years, Chheanmay had not completely recovered. He was unable to sleep at night, waking up screaming from nightmares. Hallucinations of voices calling and threatening to kill him, feeble appetite and poor concentration disabled him from maintaining routine activities. He was disoriented as to time and place, forgetful, and confused, and refused to leave his house, becoming socially withdrawn and living in isolation.

The SJCST approach includes: a social support system to help obtain shelter, food and clothes; a legal support system so survivors feel safe from the threat of forced return; medical support to help with their physical suffering; psychological support for their emotional and mental suffering; and family support to ease the return of survivors to loved ones after their detention. The center employees speak various languages, such as different dialects of Chinese, Filipino, Thai, French, Serbian, Albanian, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, and most European languages.

Chheangmay is able to receive counseling, case management, and psychiatric rehabilitation; however, treatment does not guarantee complete recovery. Although Chheangmay needs long-term therapy and treatment, community support will aid him to adapt to society, according to SJCST.

“We provide treatment as long as the need is there. As long as there is medical necessity to care for their mental health, we will continue to service them,” Tsoi said.