Torture is never forgotten: documenting trauma of ex-detainees Each medical team prepared reports according to the principles outlined in the Istanbul Protocol. Thus the reports on each individual ex-detainee included: an account of any history of medical and psychiatric needs prior to detention; a detailed record of their allegations of any torture and ill-treatment and its effect on the individual both at the time and in the subsequent days; the clinical examination results and documentation of physical and psychological sequelae; the use of diagnostic tests; and the consistency of the clinical and test findings with the individual’s allegations of torture. The examination teams identified a number of recurring practices in all three places of detention. Reported forms of torture included beatings, exposure to harsh stress positions, various forms of sensory deprivation, threats of harm to detainees and their families, use of electric shock, sexual and physical assaults, forced witnessing of torture, use of psychopharmacological drugs, sexual, religious and cultural humiliation and other forms of degrading treatment. The physical evidence gathered during the examinations, such as scars and positive bone scan findings, strongly corroborated the patients’ allegations of beatings. All survivors showed musculoskeletal system problems, which were consistent with long-term application of stress positions. In one case there was a scar highly consistent with the application of electric current. In two cases there were medical findings of rape. Ten of the eleven survivors’ clinical presentations, reported history, and the results of their psychological tests documented the presence of ongoing psychiatric disorders that can reasonably be attributed to their experiences while in detention at US facilities. Ten of the patients showed symptoms that met the diagnostic standards of all three symptom clusters of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, including intrusive recollections, hyper-arousal, and avoidance. These symptoms can be directly ascribed to the above forms of torture. Many of the former detainees described symptoms of severe anxiety, including panic attacks. Half of the survivors reported sexual dysfunction, which may be attributed to sexual torture. All of the eleven men reported forced administration of injections or medications and in at 27