Because the ultimate goal of using torture is to terrorise and silence the populations it targets, Parcours d’Exil has dedicated itself to speaking out about these issues in our communities and with our political leaders.

Public Outreach and Awareness

Our public outreach campaigns aim to open the public’s eyes to the reality of how human rights are consistently violated throughout the world today. For the men and women who were denied a voice in their home country, our goal is to hand them a megaphone. We hope to show the world how their numerous strengths enabled them to overcome the insurmountable, arrive safely in France to forge a new identity, and begin life anew.

Lobbying our political leaders

Working within the regulatory and legal framework that stipulates (on both a national and European level) the conditions for the reception of asylum seekers, Parcours d’Exil aims to bring the care of torture victims to the forefront of public policy debate.times de torture comme sujet de réflexion et de politique publique.
As a non-profit advocacy group, Parcours d’Exil campaigns to inform those who represent our political institutions about the quality of life of torture victims living in France, most importantly their health and socio-economic situation. By doing so, we look to call our political leaders’ attention to the realities of the hazardous and often painful journey undertaken by asylum seekers and refugees; we hope to contribute to the modification and improvement of the current asylum procedures and structures.

Our lobbying efforts

► On a European Level

In 2007, as part of her visit to Brussels for a networking meeting of the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) Hélène de Rengervé requested a meeting with all the French European deputies to the European Parliament in order to speak with them about the current state of healing centres for torture victims in France and in Europe.
She was able to arrange two meetings: one with Martine Roure, a European Parliament deputy and one with Hélène Flautre, president of the European Parliament Human Rights Subcommittee. We remained in close contact with Ms. Flautre. Her work in the north of France led her to put a number of torture victims in touch with our organisation. Moreover, we were invited to a meeting of the European Parliament Human Rights Subcommittee on November 5 2007.

At the same time, Mrs. de Rengervé also met with Messrs. Alègre and Seytre at the French delegation to the European Commission. The purpose of the meeting was to brief them on the issue of torture and secure their support in the negotiations between the Commission and its member states concerning the financing of healing centres for torture victims in Europe.

► On a national level

In 2007, in preparation for a meeting which gathered all the non-profit organisations in France that fight against torture or treat victims, Parcours d’Exil was able to contact a number of government institutions and ministries and lobby for its cause.

Following this initiative, Michel Doucin, Ambassador for Human Rights, asked Parcours d’Exil to draft a two-page memo describing the realities faced by torture victims today. This memo would later serve as a template for a letter written by Mr. Doucin and signed by then Secretary of State for Human Rights Rama Yade in October 2007. The letter was subsequently sent to Minister of Health Roselyne Bachelot in early February 2008. The purpose of this letter was to request an investigation led by the Inspector General for Social Action examining how torture victims are taken care of upon their arrival in France.

Meanwhile, Dr. Duterte and Mrs. de Rengervé met with Elvire Aronica, an advisor to Roselyne Bachelot, to present the organisation and the healing centre’s activities. As a result of this long and interesting meeting, Ms. Aronica asked that a memo highlighting Parcours d’Exil’s work (as well as the realities faced by torture victims in France) be written. This memo was sent out on October 24 2007.

On March 1 2007, we met with Sylvie Smaniotto Gruska, a member of President Sarkozy’s cabinet, as well as with the Minister of the Interior. Lieutenant Colonel Gazen, from the Victim’s Delegation, was also present at this meeting. The discussions that took place that day proved to be fruitful and allowed us to pass along 500 copies of the pamphlet “Victims of Trauma: keys to professional care and support” to the Victim’s Delegation. The pamphlet was then distributed to local and national police stations.

Following a back-and-forth exchange via letters, we were finally able to meet with Eliane Assassi, a senator from the communist party, on April 12 2007 to discuss our patients’ situation. Mrs. Assassi agreed to support one of our patients in his legal case in which he was represented by HALDE (the French Equal Opportunities and Anti-Discrimination Commission). This case led to the institution of a new policy at Hospital of Paris: all departments must recognise a slip bearing the title “political refugee” as a valid form of ID.

We were visited by Ms. Degras from the international branch of the Ministry of Justice on October 2 2007. Ms. Degras was looking forward to meeting us and seeing the work that we do in greater detail

Finally, as we do for every new director, we met with Jean-François Cordet, the then newly-appointed Director of OFPRA (The French Bureau for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons). We presented him with an overview of our activities as well as how the trauma endured by our patients can impact their approach to the asylum application process.