protection des réfugiés et apatrides, OFPRA), as well as section heads, receive targeted training delivered by mental health specialists. 49 psychological vulnerability and on the most important psychological problems resulting from severe trauma. In Sweden, the Migration Agency developed an internal ‘Manual on migration cases’ (Handbok i migrationsärenden), which includes sections specially focusing on asylum seekers and torture/PTSD. 59 For example, the manual points out that agency officials must bear in mind that asylum applicants who have been subjected to torture may give conflicting and/or imprecise answers in eligibility interviews, or may need more time to be able to speak about traumatising experiences. Furthermore, the manual states that officials processing cases involving torture must ensure that the applicant feels safe during the asylum interview. 60 To facilitate the identification of torture victims, in Poland, the authorities included relevant provisions in the contract with the private entity providing medical care to asylum seekers, obliging their medical personnel to take part in the identification procedure. The Head of the Office for Foreigners also adopted special procedure No. 1/2015, which contains concrete steps for the identification and support of victims of torture by the employees of the Social Assistance Department. 50 Tools Some tools to support identification are available. In 2016, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) developed the ‘identification of persons with special needs tool’ (IPSN Tool). 51 The tool is currently available in 19 EU languages. During February and March 2017, Sweden will test the integration of the tool in national procedures to facilitate the identification of persons belonging to vulnerable groups. The tool will be used when an application is submitted, but identification efforts may continue 52 throughout the asylum process. In June 2017, the Danish Red Cross will introduce a new questionnaire to specifically identify victims of torture; 53 the validity of the questionnaire will be tested via a cooperative effort between the Danish Red Cross and the NGO Dignity. Violence and excessive use of force in the EU This section looks at allegations of violence and excessive use of force in the EU. It describes select incidents reported by various sources to illustrate that traumatic experiences may not only occur in the country of origin or in transit, but also once a person has arrived in the EU. This section does not analyse whether the incidents reach the threshold required by Article 3 of the ECHR. The section only covers conduct by authorities and not other violent experiences that may have a traumatising effect, such as racist attacks. It also does not deal with conditions in detention facilities. In most EU Member States, there is no evidence that would suggest that violence or excessive use of force by state officials or entities working on their behalf regularly occurs. Information collected by FRA mostly focuses on individual and localised incidents. For example, in Germany, the trial of security guards accused of severely mistreating and humiliating asylum applicants in North RhineWestphalia starts in February 2017. 61 In France, in early January 2017, Doctors without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) reported incidents in certain areas of Paris involving the police confiscating the blankets of Some countries use special questionnaires to identify victims of torture and other abuse, such as the PROTECT questionnaire 54 (Bulgaria, 55 Hungary, 56 Spain, 57 and, in the frame of a 2014-2015 project, France 58). This questionnaire was developed as part of a project to identify specific categories of vulnerable persons, such as persons who have been subjected to torture, rape or other forms of severe psychological, physical or sexual violence. It intends to ensure that such people receive the necessary treatment for the damages caused by those acts. The questionnaire consists of 10 questions on 7