Guidance on helping torture victims launched by the government

The government has launched a new human rights handbook aimed at helping victims of torture.

The handbook, titled 'Medical Investigation and Documentation of Torture', which is designed for doctors and healthworkers, advises them on how to examine and treat torture victims and how to document the injuries so that their evidence can be used to prosecute the perpetrators.

The handbook advises doctors and other health workers on the most appropriate way of examining a person who has been tortured and looks at the uses to which the effective documentation of injuries can be put, including battling impunity, helping prosecute perpetrators, seeking redress for survivors and helping asylum seekers substantiate their accounts of persecution.

The handbook also explores the distinction between torture and ill-treatment, as well as the ethical considerations facing health professionals dealing with victims of state torture, while the absolute prohibition of torture under international law is also detailed.

Advice is also given on visiting places of detention and examining victims in the presence of members of the security services.

The handbook was funded by the Foreign Office and is published by the University of Essex's Human Rights Centre (UEHRC). It was written by Dr Michael Peel, a consultant at British charity, the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, along with Noam Lubell, a senior researcher at UEHRC and Dr Jonathan Beynon, co-ordinator for health in detention at the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Commenting on the publication of the handbook, Foreign Office Minister Ian McCartney said: "Torture has no place in the 21st century. It is one of the most abhorrent violations of human rights and human dignity.

"Victims of human rights abuses need more than just talk from international leaders. In our campaign against torture, we have combined the traditional tools of diplomacy with funding for practical projects that can make a real difference on the ground.

"An essential part of successfully eradicating torture is exposing torturers and bringing them to account. Thorough investigation and documentation are essential to this process. This handbook will help people who work with victims of torture to do just that."

(KMcA/CD)