A hub of expertise: the International Forensic Expert Group The key benefit of a tool like the Istanbul Protocol is that it sets the standards for forensic documentation in investigations of torture. However, in these cases, experts are needed to determine whether or not reports are consistent with these established standards. Thus, the IRCT and the University of Copenhagen have jointly established the International Forensic Expert Group, “the most experienced experts in the world”, as described by Önder Özkalipçi, former IRCT forensic specialist and co-author of the Istanbul Protocol. The forensic group, also known as IFEG, is comprised of more than 30 experts from 18 countries; it is a historic achievement in the fight against torture. The group serves as a reference point, providing technical advice on specific issues as well as participating in missions to examine alleged torture survivors and draw up impartial medico-legal reports. Furthermore, I think that this group is fantastic. I think that for the first time we have a group of different experts with practical experience in this field and from different areas — people that work more in clinical forensic medicine, people that work more in forensic pathology, people from psychology and people from anthropology. It’s very good to have this network because you get different perspectives and different experiences. It’s very good when you can combine all these things together from independent, impartial persons that are there doing it on a voluntary basis, with no profit from it. So I think that it was a very good idea, and I hope this can mean the beginning of a bigger group, a bigger network, from people from all the continents, from people that are committed, and especially from people that know what they are doing. — Duarte Nuno Vieira, National Institute of Forensic Medicine and Forensic Sciences, University of Coimbra, Portugal 8 International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims