A/69/387
option to request an evaluation by a medical expert of choice and any limits on
the confidentiality of the information provided in the evaluation;
(f) Ensure that medical experts in detention centres have unrestricted
access to relevant evidence, including material evidence, witnesses and relevant
legal documents, including interrogation logs and medical records;
(g) Ensure that all medical examinations and interviews with detainees
in detention facilities are performed using audio, video and photographic
equipment;
(h) Prohibit the transfer of medical reports to law enforcement officials
except by order of and under the supervision of a judge and with the consent of
the victim;
(i) Ensure that detainees have the right to review and have a copy of
their own medical records and the right to have them transferred promptly
with the detainee if she or he is moved to another facility.
70.
Recommendation regarding cases of sexual assaults:
Ensure that in cases of alleged sexual assault showing no or limited
physical evidence, because of passage of time or other reasons, a comprehensive
physical and mental health evaluation should still be performed with special
attention to behavioural and psychological evidence (see FCO sexual violence
protocol).
71.
Recommendation regarding medical ethics:
Ensure that all health professionals working with detainees are made
aware of their ethical obligations, including the need to report torture and
other ill-treatment, to maintain confidentiality and to seek the consent of
victims prior to examination; and ensure that national legislation is clear that
health professionals must abide by their ethical obligations at all times.
72.
Recommendations regarding capacity-building and training:
(a) Raise awareness among concerned professionals and society at large
on the role of documentation and its importance in broader anti-torture policies
and initiatives; bring together key professionals, comprising both officials and
civil society with established forensic expertise, to promote forensic capacitybuilding, and to develop strategies and practices on how best to document and
investigate torture cases with a view to ensuring accountability and reparation;
(b) Enhance the skills of health and legal professionals on the effective
medical documentation of torture and other ill-treatment through training on
the use of the Istanbul Protocol and other relevant materials to forensic
pathologists, medico-legal officers, general practitioners, psychiatrists,
psychologists, Ministry of Health officials and social workers; as well as
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, the
Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of the Interior.
73. Recommendations regarding judicial recognition and evaluation of
forensic evidence in cases involving torture:
22/23
14-61535
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