6 A practical guide to the Istanbul Protocol – for lawyers may wake early, sometimes shouting or with nightmares. They may have difficulties with memory and concentration, experience irritability, persistent feelings of fear and anxiety, depression, and/or an inability to enjoy any aspect of life. Sometimes these symptoms meet the diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or major depression. Physical and psychological scars can last a lifetime. To someone who has no experience of torture, these symptoms might appear excessive or illogical, but they can be a normal response to trauma. The word “torture” will, to most people, invoke images of some of the most horrific forms of physical and psychological suffering – the pulling out of fingernails, electric shocks, mock executions, being forced to watch the torture of parents or children, rape. The variety and severity of the methods of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment may simply defy belief. But there is no exhaustive list of 7 acts that constitute torture; torturers continue to invent new ways to brutalise individuals. And there is no limit on who can be victimised – survivors of torture come from all walks of life, and from most countries around the world. Even children may be victims.8 But most frequently, torture survivors are criminal suspects, or victims of discrimination on the grounds of race, ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual identity.9 As noted in the Istanbul Protocol, “torture is a profound concern for the world community. Its purpose is to deliberately destroy not only the physical and emotional well-being of individuals, but the dignity and will of entire communities. It concerns all members of the human family because it impugns the very meaning of our existence and our hopes for a brighter future.” In other words, torture is abhorrent not only for what it does to the tortured but for what it makes of the torturer and the system that condones it. The Istanbul Protocol explains: “Perpetrators often attempt to justify their acts of torture and ill-treatment by the need to gather information. Such conceptualizations obscure the purpose of torture and its intended consequences[…]. By dehumanizing and breaking the will of their victims, torturers set horrific examples for those who later come in contact with the victim. In this way, torture can break or damage the will and coherence of entire communities[…].” For this reason, torture is absolutely prohibited by every relevant human rights instrument since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. The violation of this prohibition is considered so serious that no legal justification may ever be found, even in times of emergency or armed conflict. The prohibition of torture is absolute, even in the context of policies and measures to counter terrorism. Courts and human rights bodies around the world have strongly affirmed the absolute prohibition against torture in all cases without exception.10 Despite the absolute prohibition of torture under international law, a glance at any of the reports of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, or of recent reports of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), or indeed many newspapers, makes it quite clear that torture is still commonplace in many countries around the world. This imbalance between the absolute prohibition on the one hand and the frequent practice of torture underscores the need to improve domestic implementation of international standards against torture and to improve the effectiveness of domestic remedies for torture survivors. The Istanbul Protocol is an important instrument in the fight against torture – the effective investigation and documentation of torture helps to expose the problem of torture and to bring those responsible to account. The Principles contained in the Protocol reflect important international standards