The Istanbul Protocol: international standards for the effective investigation and documentation of torture and ill treatment

Working with traumatized refugees on the Balkan route

“…However, during that period the CRTV developed further activities: Psychological counseling and psychiatric assessment and treatment for individuals with severe problems at the Center, which is open to referral by other organizations and institutions. A majority of these clients were referred to the IAN CRTV by the UNHCR and other NGOs that are working at the reception centers in Belgrade. Supervision of professionals from other organizations who were providing direct help to refugees, in order to develop skills and understanding of post‐traumatic reactions and to prevent vicarious traumatization and burnout: clinical supervision for psychologists, employed by Médecins du Monde in Serbia, working with refugees in reception centers, and three supervision groups for MSF, (a) for psychologists working with refugees in the field, (b) group supervision for cultural mediators/interpreters working with medical and psychological teams in the field, and (c) staff support group for all staff working with refugees in the field. Educational activities: (a) training on effective identification and documentation of torture, according to the Istanbul Protocol (Iacopino, Ozkalipci, & Schlar, ) – trainings for medical staff, psychologists, social workers, employees of the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia, interpreters, and all other relevant stakeholders working directly with refugees/migrants at Reception Centers for refugees and migrants, or in the field, (b) training on psychosocial support for refugees and asylum seekers – with the aim to increase knowledge on trauma and its consequences; training was for mental health professionals and aid workers, employees of different national and international NGOs, (c) trainings for refugees, to enable them to provide psychosocial support, peer counseling and organize self‐support groups, in order to strengthen community self‐protection. Documentation of torture according to the Istanbul Protocol, in cooperation with Belgrade Center for Human Rights and the Forensic Department at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Medicine. The aim of this initiative was to document cases of torture and/or abuse of refugees who were collectively expulsed to the territory of the Republic of Serbia from Hungary, Croatia and Romania, during the period from May 2017 to the end of 2017. At this moment the IAN CRTV is implementing a psychosocial project in a Reception Centre in Bosilegrad, which is an example of a psychosocial project that relies very much on establishment of creative activities and play.…”

Challenges in the early assessment and protection of refugee survivors of torture and extreme violence

“…The common standard for assessment of torture survivors has been established by an UN General Assembly Decision, as the "Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment" (IP, 40,60). It is supported by the WMA and the World Psychiatric Association and gives a comprehensive interdisciplinary framework for documentation, reporting and independent investigation of allegations to be applied in any examination of victims of alleged torture including asylum procedures (53-56) as a general guiding principle.…”

Documenting Mass Rape: Medical Evidence Collection Techniques as Humanitarian Technology

“…61 Early nurse reformers in the U.S. criminal justice context in the 1970s and 1980s who advocated for routine implementation of sexual assault medical forensic exams in hospital emergency departments stated similar intentions in their published writings: to symbolically sanction crime and communicate to victims that their experiences were being taken seriously and everything possible would be done to facilitate prosecution and hold perpetrators accountable, regardless of whether or not cases ultimately go to court. 62 Standards of evidence collection may vary widely such that the medical certificate may or may not represent the findings of a standardized sexual assault medical forensic exam.…”