examination of persons placed in TDFs under internal affairs bodies and PDFs under the SSEP with regard to bodily injuries in cases when detainees were complaining about torture used against them. Unfortunately, minimum conditions conforming to international standards in the area of investigating and documenting torture and ill treatment were not always met during the monitoring. For instance, the Istanbul Protocol provides that detainees should be examined behind closed doors. Police officers and other law enforcement officers should not be present in the room where medical examination is taking place. This procedural safeguard can be violated only in those cases when, as believed by the examining doctor, there is convincing evidence that a detainee poses a serious threat to medical staff. And even in these cases, as requested by the Examination of a detainee in the TDF under the Issyk-Ata DDI examining doctor, security guards from a medical institution should be present, but not police officers or other law enforcement officers.114 Certain difficulties faced by doctors of the Rehabilitation Centre while discharging their duties had to do with the fact that persons undergoing medical examination were in detention. As there was no possibility to have unimpeded access to medical facilities providing therapeutic and psychological assistance, certain diagnostic examination methods were not available when needed. Another difficulty faced by doctors of the Rehabilitation Centre while discharging their duties had to do with a limited amount of time which they could allocate for interviewing and examining one detainee. Fifteen to twenty minutes for each interview was not enough to evaluate physical or psychological evidence of torture and to prescribe appropriate treatment. In some cases, there was a need to conduct the second and even third interview which was not possible in conditions of closed institution. Regrettably, doctors of the Rehabilitation Centre failed to obtain access to persons held in PDFs under the SSEP in order to examine them. As was mentioned earlier, the management of the SSEP denied access to those under investigation held in PDFs pointing to the need to obtain permission from investigation and judicial bodies, and also basing their decision on the operational and security situation in the penal system. The project activities show that restricted access to qualified medical and psychological assistance is a problem not only when victims of torture are held in places of detention, but oftentimes even after they are released. The Rehabilitation Centre had cases when victims of torture were seeking medical assistance in state-run institutions upon their release from places of detention, but they were rejected because law enforcement agencies were exerting pressure on medical workers. Many victims of torture are afraid to seek medical aid, because they always feel threatened by their torturers. Every year the number of people approaching the Rehabilitation Centre for help is increasing. During the five years of its existence, the Rehabilitation Centre helped more than 300 people go through a rehabilitation programme. 114 Mobile group in Osh Manual on Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Istanbul Protocol), para. 165. 80