The Istanbul Protocol: the standard for forensic documentation In any effort to prevent torture, it is of the utmost importance to have the right tools to guide human rights defenders as well as those responsible for investigating incidences of torture. Since 1999, the Istanbul Protocol has become a crucial instrument in the global effort to eradicate torture and has been endorsed by the United Nations as a standard for the proper investigation of torture. It is the first set of international standards and guidelines for health and legal professionals on how to recognise and document symptoms of torture for use as evidence in court cases. The Istanbul Protocol enables medical and psychological experts to: • Gather relevant, accurate and reliable evidence on torture allega- The Istanbul Protocol enables legal experts to: • Reach conclusions on the consistency and the degree of support • Obtain relevant, accurate and reliable state- tions between the torture allegations and the medical findings • Produce high-quality medical reports for submission to judicial and administrative bodies ments from torture victims and witnesses • Recover and preserve evidence related to the alleged torture which will aid in the prosecution of those responsible • Determine how, when and where the alleged incidents of torture occurred Without the Istanbul Protocol, state authorities are able to make it up as they go along and seek to undermine the credibility of people who allege torture where it suits them; and it often suits the state to discount torture allegations. So it is very important to have a document like the Istanbul Protocol to show to the court and say, “Look, the government isn’t complying with these standards. You shouldn’t rely on the government claims that these victims haven’t been tortured because the examinations have fallen so far short of the standards in the Protocol”. So it has been a really important document in increasing the standard of treatment and evaluation of torture victims in our cases, which is brilliant. — Daniel Carrey, Public Interest Lawyers,3UK Getting the evidence: Countering torture through medico-legal documentation