Care Full, Pharos/Amnesty International/VluchtelingenWerk

Opdrachtgever: Pharos
Periode: 2006
Omvang: 224 p.
Formaat: 17 x 24
ISBN: 10 90-75955-58-8, 13 978-90-75955-58-3

Torture and ill-treatment are widespread. Mutilation, rape, domestic abuse or forced prostitution are an ongoing reality for many inhabitants of this world. It’s a reality victims do not easily talk about. Not at home, not abroad. Sometimes mental impediments keep them from telling their story. It takes a great deal of confidence to relate about horrific events. To ignore this makes one complicit in the conspiracy of silence.
To document torture and ill-treatment in all circumstances should be part of the responsibility of states. Conventions, like the Convention against Torture, however, only urge states to investigate allegations of torture committed on their own territory, with a view to criminal prosecution. In the context of asylum no examination is required.
In 2001, the United Nations adopted a manual on the effective investigation and documentation of torture and ill-treatment: the Istanbul Protocol. This Protocol can serve as a valuable guidance for examining alleged victims of torture and ill-treatment in asylum procedures. As such, it can not only contribute to the eradication of these crimes, but it can also assist in providing effective protection to those in need.
This publication serves to promote the knowledge of the Istanbul Protocol and its wider use in asylum cases.