instances of torture, 9 and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has produced a guide for police conduct and behaviour. 10 There also exist a number of practical codes and guidelines on this subject, including the Guidelines and Measures for the Prohibition and Prevention of Torture, Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in Africa (the Robben Island Guidelines); 11 the Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Istanbul Protocol); 12 and the Guidelines to EU policy towards third countries on torture and cruel inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 13 Also worth mentioning in this context is the OSCE Handbook on Preventing Torture (1999), which was the Organization’s first attempt to distil lessons learned up to that point for the benefit of all OSCE field operations. Finally, there have been numerous recommendations made by international anti-torture and human rights bodies. This publication aims not to duplicate such efforts or reiterate principles already enumerated but, rather, to collect the OSCE’s unique experience since 1999 and highlight practical issues arising in relation to field operations activity in preventing torture. The common perception of a torturer is someone who is inhuman, mentally sick; only “bad” people commit torture. Academic studies have shown that in the right circumstances, for example when individuals feel threatened, under stress and subject to peer pressure (such as during a war), they may behave in a way they would normally consider unacceptable. “Certainly, acts of torture can be committed by almost anyone – not just psychopaths,” says Ian Robbins, a clinical psychologist who has treated victims of torture and torturers themselves at the traumatic stress service in St George’s Hospital, London. Over 25,000 psychological studies involving eight million participants support this finding. 14 . 9 Foley, Conor. Combating Torture: A Manual for Judges and Prosecutors (Essex: Human Rights Centre University of Essex, 2003), <http://www.essex.ac.uk/combatingtorturehandbook/> 10 To serve and protect: guide for police conduct and behaviour (Geneva: International Committee of the Red Cross, 2002), <http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/p0845>. 11 “Guidelines and Measures for the Prohibition and Prevention of Torture, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment”, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, <http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/achpr/tortguidelines.html>. 12 “Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Istanbul Protocol)”, UNHCHR website, <http://www.unhchr.ch/pdf/8istprot.pdf>. 13 “Guidelines to EU policy towards third countries on torture and cruel inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”, UNHCHR website, <http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/category,LEGAL,,THEMGUIDE,,3e2fac757,0.html>. 14 Vince, Gaia. “Everyone Is a Potential Torturer”, New Scientist, 25 November 2004. <http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn6727-everyone-is-a-potential-torturer.html>. 11