Annunciation House Newsletter - Winter 2004

Voice of the Voiceless Award 2005

By Kerry Doyle

On the weekend of March 18 and 19, 2005, Annunciation House will present its second “Voice of the Voiceless” award to Sister Dianna Ortiz, Ursuline nun, torture survivor, activist and author of the autobiographical The Blindfold’s Eyes; My Journey from Torture to Truth.

The 2005 Voice of the Voiceless award recognizes how the kidnapping, rape and torture of Sister Diana Ortiz mirror the often anonymous experience of so many of the guests who have passed through our houses. We recognize the extent to which her experience and her courageous activism give voice to past and present victims of torture and all those who are silenced by violence and poverty. We hold her up as a powerful example that, as she herself writes, “at the core of the human spirit, there is a voice stronger than violence and fear.”

2005 Recipient: Sister Dianna Ortiz

In 1989, while working as a missionary in Guatemala, Sister Dianna was abducted by security forces and savagely tortured. Her international witness to this torture has stood in the face of the brutal policies of the Guatemalan and United States government and individuals from both countries that supported this torture. Her story tells of attempts to silence and discredit her testimony on every level, both in Guatemala and here in the United States. It also speaks to the profound physical, spiritual and psychological distress that haunts survivors of torture.

The experience of Sister Dianna and her powerful advocacy on behalf of victims of torture brings voice to the experiences of so many of the guests who have passed through our houses through the years. Many have themselves been victims of torture, others of economic and political polices that have caused large-scale violence, prolonged separation from families or homelands and extreme poverty. Sister Dianna reminds us of how quick we are to discredit their pain, to blame them for the situations in which they find themselves, to reject any larger responsibility for policies which cause human suffering.

In the current political climate, where U.S. involvement in abuse and torture around the world is again making headlines, Sister Dianna’s story is particularly poignant. Human Rights First (The Lawyers Committee on Human Rights) reports over 300 cases of abuse/torture by U. S. forces are currently under investigation. They count at least 37 detainees dead in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan, noting at least 48 military personnel accused of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. In addition, they report 100 “Ghost Detainees” in these two countries—individuals kept off prison records and hidden from Red Cross investigators. With her words and her witness, Sister Dianna gives an agonizingly personal face to these statistics, one that is not easy to look at and even harder to turn away from.

History of the Award

In 2003, on the occasion of its 25th anniversary, our Board of Directors decided that Annunciation House should be a vehicle through which advocacy on behalf of the poor—even at personal risk and cost—be affirmed and encouraged. The Board of Directors felt it important that Annunciation House be an instrument for recognizing individuals who not only work with and live in solidarity with the poor, but also advocate for and on behalf of the powerless.

During its almost 27-year history, Annunciation House has hosted close to 80,000 refugees, immigrants, and undocumented persons from over 40 countries. Of these, thousands have been refugees who have fled the violence of political upheaval, civil wars, death squads, human rights abuses and stifling poverty. Common to all of these people has been the almost categorical absence of a viable vehicle through which to find protection, redress their grievances, exert their human rights or respond to the forces that threaten their lives and those of their families.

This reality gives rise to courageous voices who recognize the vulnerability of the countless voiceless and accept the call to work, struggle and witness on behalf of the oppressed poor. Through their work and actions, these individuals give voice to the poor and their profound yearning to be heard and be freed.

The first Voice of the Voiceless Award was given by Annunciation House in 2003 to Samuel Ruiz, Bishop Emeritus of San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico, in recognition of his prophetic voice and his tireless accompaniment of the poor and marginalized people of Chiapas. During the 1980’s, Samuel Ruiz supported thousands of Guatemalans who sought refuge in Chiapas from the violent repression of the Guatemalan military. In 1994, he served as a mediator between the Mexican government and Zapatista forces. He led his fight to defend the rights of the economically impoverished indigenous population at great personal cost, surviving assassination attempts and being put under tremendous pressure by those in the political as well as religious hierarchy to resign.

Close to 1600 people gathered in El Paso for the visit of Samuel Ruiz in 2004 which was held in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of Annunciation House. Bishop Ruiz celebrated a mass in honor of Annunciation House’s quarter century of service to migrants and refugees here on the border, followed by a silent march to the border and a celebratory dinner at the convention center attended by more than 1000.

This year’s award will be another opportunity to gather our border faith and justice communities to honor a world-class champion of human rights. We are proud to host Sister Dianna Ortiz and look forward to the warm participation of the larger community in this event.