A/65/273 party shall ensure in its legal system that victims of torture obtain redress and have an enforceable right to fair and adequate compensation including the means for as full rehabilitation as possible. That obligation includes the establishment and support of torture rehabilitation centres. That duty was further emphasized by the Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 2004/41, in which it stressed that “national legal systems should ensure that victims of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment obtain redress and are awarded fair and adequate compensation and receive appropriate socio-medical rehabilitation”. In that regard the Commission encouraged “the development of rehabilitation centres for victims of torture”. 62. Most existing torture rehabilitation centres are private, founded by physicians, psychologists, family members of victims and other concerned individuals or groups in response to the failure of Governments to ensure that victims of torture receive the necessary treatment. Torture rehabilitation centres fill a gap and provide highly specialized medical and psychosocial care to those in need. Member organizations of the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, the umbrella organization of 146 rehabilitation centres worldwide, provided treatment to more than 100,000 survivors of torture and trauma in 2009 alone. In the same year, the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture provided grants to 195 projects in 65 countries, for a total amount of 10 million United States dollars to support victims of torture. Healing bodies, minds and social ties 63. In order to fully appreciate the importance of the work of torture rehabilitation centres, one has to recall the devastating impact of torture on human beings. For most victims, the experience of their ordeal will remain present for the rest of their lives, if not physically then at least mentally. Often, the psychological impact of torture amounts to what has been described as a “disintegration of the personality”. The harm inflicted may be so profound that it shatters the very identity of a person, the ability to feel any joy or hope, to engage with his or her environment, or to find any meaning in life. Depression, anxiety disorders including flash-backs, loss of self-respect, cognitive impairment and suicidal tendencies are only some of the consequences of torture. The impact of the abuse is rarely limited to the person directly targeted but also victimizes their families and even their communities. The victims’ inability to resume their work further adds to their social seclusion and financial strain. In general, experiences of torture cannot be entirely “left behind”, let alone forgotten. 64. Centres for the rehabilitation of victims of torture support survivors in their efforts to learn to live with their experiences and assist them in regaining the strength to lead self-determined lives. Reflecting the far-reaching consequences of torture, rehabilitation centres provide a holistic treatment for survivors, aimed at healing their “bodies, minds and social ties”. Rehabilitation centres possess specialized medical know-how and experience in dealing with torture injuries, and provide primary care and sometimes longer in-patient stays focusing on pain relief and the avoidance of any long-term physical impairment. Their specialization in torture traumata facilitates the provision of high-quality care, and provides expertise from which other members of the health community, for example local hospitals, can learn. In terms of psychological treatment, rehabilitation centres constitute first and foremost a safe haven where survivors have their suffering acknowledged and 14 10-48049