On Sunday, April 3, the Rothko Chapel presented its 2005 Oscar Romero Award to the Torture Abolition Survivors Support Coalition, International. Sister Dianna Ortiz, the founder of the organization, is the first American recipient of the award.

Dominique de Menil, founder of the Rothko Chapel, established the award in 1986 to commemorate the martyrdom of Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador. Monsenor Romero has been symbolized as “the voice not silenced in the midst of oppression, death, torture, militarism and intimidation of many kinds.” The human rights award is given to one person or group every two years to honor those who are willing to risk their lives to promote human rights for all people. The recipient receives a cash prize of $20,000.

Mark Danner, the keynote speaker, brought the audience to a hush during his presentation. Danner, a journalist, most recently wrote the book Torture and Truth: America, Abu Ghraib, and the War on Terror. His depiction of the situation regarding Abu Ghraib and other military prisons was followed by a challenge for the audience to take action.

Michael Ratner, the president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, introduced Sister Dianna, after a summation of his first meetings with her while he was defending her. Ratner's book, Guantanamo, What the World Should Know, is an account of the disregard of the Geneva Conventions in the Guantanamo prison.

Sister Dianna then spoke of her past, her present, and her future. While serving as a nun teaching Mayan children in Guatemala in the late ‘80s, Sister Dianna was abducted and brutally tortured by the military. After escaping, she came back to the US, and in 1998, founded the Torture Abolition Survivors Support Coalition, an organization that aids torture victims from more than 60 countries and ethnic groups. It operates independently of any political ideology, government, or economic interest to break the silence surrounding torture and calls for an end to military assistance and arms sales to governments that use torture. She spoke with great strength, and stated that the members of the organization are not looking for sympathy rather, they are looking for those who abhor torture to act against it, to object loudly, and to push to make it stop. Sister Dianna devotes all of her time to TASSC, and speaks often about its mission and goals. She is the author of The Blindfold’s Eyes, a powerful book describing her suffering and recovery.

Archbishop Romero stated that one of our duties as citizens in a democracy is to open our eyes to the world as it is, to see violence, torture, and injustice and to respond to them as if we were the victims of these evils. 

“Peace is not the product of terror or fear. Peace is not the silence of cemeteries. Peace is not the silent result of violent oppression. Peace is the generous, tranquil contribution of all to the good of all. Peace is dynamism. Peace is generosity. It is right and it is a duty.” - Oscar Romero

The program in its entirety is airing at different times on Houston’s Public Access channel. For more information, call the Chapel at 713.524.9839.