24 Part I: Recognition and usage interest of combating torture, apart from protecting themselves, prison doctors have to be absolutely sure that there will be no reprisals on those persons whom they speak to and who will have to give them not only their testimonies, but also their trust. Unless the prison doctor is certain s/he can guarantee the safety of any prisoner interviewed, documentation should not be pursued. It is paramount, when interviewing prisoners willing to talk about their ordeal, to clarify what and how any information obtained can be used. Any information, personal or otherwise, that the prisoner may request not be used, will be kept confidential, as within any normal doctor-patient relationship. Another risk that the doctor must consider at all times is the risk of re-traumatisation of the tortured prisoner. Therefore, the prisoner must never be forced to relive past events in the interest of documentation. In order to sufficiently protect the prisoners, informed consent should be a sine qua non condition for using any of the information about torture provided by prisoners during interviews. Physicians coming from the outside might not have the same knowledge about the pertaining situation as the local prison doctor and must therefore be especially sensitive to the local conditions and the present risk factors. This relates both to psychological, cultural and religious specificities of the prisoners when conducting interviews and the need to conduct the interview without putting the prisoner at risk of retaliation. Conclusion The documentation of torture by prison doctors is not an easy task. Documentation of torture in prisons will be most relevant in countries where torture is in fact common practice. In all such places there is an inherent risk to prisoners who are interviewed, and this should be very seriously considered before any documentation is carried out. A local prison doctor will have experienced many difficulties that an outside physician will not have, mainly in getting prisoners to trust him or her. Prison doctors are sometimes rightly, but very often wrongly, seen as part of the system of repression. It will be up to the prison doctor to obtain the merited trust of the prisoners s/he wishes to interview.