Training

The investigation and documentation of torture is a challenging task which requires specialised knowledge and technical skills. Often, health and legal professionals lack sufficient knowledge about rights and obligations and the required technical skills and knowledge on the appropriate medical and legal procedures. Teaching of doctors, mental health professionals and lawyers is crucial to ensuring proper application of international standards.

The IRCT has worked with partners to carry out major training programmes for health and legal professionals in a wide range of countries including Ecuador, Egypt, Georgia, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Uganda.

The training pursues several interrelated purposes aimed at strengthening domestic efforts to combat torture and other forms of ill-treatment , namely to:

• enhance the skills of health and legal professionals in how to document torture and how to establish evidence that can be used in legal or administrative proceedings against those responsible for torture through the use of the Istanbul Protocol and other relevant materials;

• bring together key professionals, comprising both officials and civil society, and to develop strategies and practices on how best to document and investigate torture cases with a view to ensuring accountability and reparation; and

• through media coverage, raise awareness amongst concerned professionals and society at large on the role of documentation and its importance in broader anti-torture policies and initiatives.

Resource materials developed as part of the trainings can be downloaded here.

If you want to know more about our trainings on the documentation on torture, please contact Dr. Önder Özkalicpi, IRCT medical expert (oz@irct.org).