Documentation of torture victims. Implementation of medico-legal protocols.

This article outlines the background for performing medical documentation in the context of a rehabilitation centre by reviewing literature and current practices. The article moreover delineates 6 ways of using medico-legal documentation in torture prevention: National legal proceedings; international legal proceedings; asylum cases; research, lobbying and advocacy activities. This article forms the basis for a Pilot Study performed at the Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims in Copenhagen, which is described elsewhere.

Documentation of torture victims, assessment of the start procedure for medico-legal documentation.

A Pilot Study was performed at the Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims (RCT) in Copenhagen in order to explore the possibilities for adding a medico-legal documentation component to the rehabilitation of torture victims already taking place. It describes the process and results on implementing medico-legal documentation in a rehabilitative setting. A modified version of the Guidelines in the Istanbul Protocol was developed on the basis of the review of literature and current practices described in "Documentation of torture victims, implementation of medico-legal protocols".