Torture

• Torture and Abuse

  •There are many overlaps between the injuries seen in torture  and those seen in abuse

  •There is no injury which is specifically characteristic of  either torture or abuse

  •Detection relies on careful observation and recording of the  injury:  including location and timing of injury in relation to  other injuries
• 'Any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether  physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a  person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a  third person information or a confession, punishing  him for an act he or a third person has committed or is  suspected of having committed, or intimidating or  coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based  on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or  suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with  the consent or acquiescence of a public official or  other person acting in an official capacity’
• Reality of torture

  •Whilst International Human Rights Law (IHRL) and  Humanitarian Law (IHL) both prohibit torture it is carried out  in over half the countries of the world today.

  •Evidence gathered may be presented at court including

  •the International Criminal Court (ICC).

  •2009-2013 : Amnesty International had reported  on

  •torture and other ‘ill-treatment’ in 141 countries
• Brogdon et al. 2003

  The necessary evidence to support claims of torture are:

  1.Comparisons to known or documented cases of torture (i.e., the pattern and distribution of injuries)

  2.The timing of injuries (evidence for chronic abuse being sustained over a prolonged period)

  3.Pathological findings consistent with detainment (i.e., malnutrition or rampant infections without medical intervention)

  4.Corroboration of physical findings with other forms of evidence (i.e., witness testimony – Peru example in Kimmerle and Baraybar 2008. Chapter 5: Skeletal Trauma.)
• Istanbul Protocol (1999)

  •The Manual on Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other  Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

  •

  •First set of international guidelines for documentation of torture

  •Official UN document.

  •Internationally recognised standards and procedures for investigation and  documentation of  symptoms of torture to serve as valid evidence in court
• Recommendations of the protocol

  •Experts must avoid speculations

  •Experts must take into account the variability of the lesions, depending  on the characteristics of the victim (age, sex, previous health, nutritional  status) and the severity of the lesions themselves

  •All lesions must be recorded including, size, stage of healing etc.

  •The whole body must be observed in detail

  •Essential to consider the different methods of ill-treatment, torture and  homicide in the region