Of course, it is very important not only for the public to get information that torture does exist today, but it is very important for the torture survivor him or herself. First of all, for psychological reasons, he or she can face what happened to him or her in the past. And if he or she can face it in a documented form, he or she gets a psychological permit to speak about it openly, and to share it with other persons and to the public and to fight for his own rights. — Lilla Hardi, Cordelia Foundation, Hungary to evaluate the reports. Consequently, many torture claims remained inconclusive within the Turkish judicial system and were referred to the European Court of Human Rights. The investigation and documentation of torture is a challenging task that requires specialised knowledge and technical skills. Often, health and legal professionals lack sufficient knowledge about rights and obligations and the required technical skills and knowledge on the appropriate medical and legal procedures. Teaching doctors, mental health professionals and lawyers, judges and prosecutors is crucial in ensuring proper application of international standards. The IRCT has worked with partners to carry out major training programmes for health and legal professionals in a wide range of countries including Ecuador, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Morocco, the Philippines, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Uganda. The training pursues several interrelated purposes aimed at strengthening domestic efforts to combat torture and other forms of ill-treatment, namely to: • Enhance the skills of health and legal professionals in how to document torture and how to establish evidence that can be used in legal or administrative proceedings against those responsible for torture through the use of the Istanbul Protocol and other relevant materials; • Bring together key professionals, comprising both officials and civil society, and to develop strategies and practices on how best to docu- 6 International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims ment and investigate torture cases with a view to ensuring accountability and reparation; and • Raise awareness amongst concerned professionals and society at large on the role of documentation and its importance in broader antitorture policies and initiatives. The training seeks to reach out to key professionals working on the documentation and investigation of torture. The composition of professionals attending the training has varied from country to country, depending on who the professionals are who mainly deal with torture cases in the country concerned. The main target groups are: • Health professionals, typically: forensic pathologists, medico-legal officers, general practitioners, psychiatrists, psychologists, ministry of health officials and social workers; • Legal professionals, typically: lawyers, state investigators, prosecutors, judges, prison officials, police officers, immigration officers, NGO activists, members of national human rights commissions and similar bodies, representatives of the ministry of justice, ministry of defence and ministry of the interior. The training is conducted by a team of both national and international trainers who cover general and country-specific aspects of the medial and legal documentation and investigation of torture cases.