D. 131. Other more subtle forms of torture, psychological or sexual, for example, clearly cannot be dealt with in the same way. In these cases, it may be necessary for investigators to refrain from comment for one or several visits until the circumstances allow or encourage detainees to be less afraid and to authorize the use of their stories. The physician and interpreter should provide their names and explain their role in conducting the evaluation. Documentation of medical evidence of torture requires specific knowledge by licensed health practitioners. Knowledge of torture and its physical and psychological consequences can be gained through publications, training courses, professional conferences and experience. In addition, knowledge about regional practices of torture and ill-treatment is important because such information may corroborate an individual’s accounts of these. Experience in interviewing and examining individuals for physical and psychological evidence of torture and in documenting findings should be acquired under the supervision of experienced clinicians. Techniques of questioning 135. Several basic rules must be respected (see chapter III, sect. C.2 (g)). Information is certainly important, but the person being interviewed is even more so, and listening is more important than asking questions. If only questions are asked, all that are obtained are answers. To the detainee, it may be more important to talk about family than to talk about torture. This should be duly considered, and time should be allowed for some discussion of personal matters. Torture, particularly sexual torture, is a very intimate subject and may not come up before a follow-up visit or even later. Individuals should not be forced to talk about any form of torture if they feel uncomfortable about it. E. 132. Those still in custody may sometimes be too trusting in situations where the interviewer simply cannot guarantee that there will be no reprisals, if a repeat visit has not been negotiated and fully accepted by the authorities or if the person’s identity has not been recorded so as to ensure follow-up, for example. Every precaution should be taken to be sure that prisoners do not place themselves at risk unnecessarily, naively trusting an outsider to protect them. 1. Documenting the background Psychosocial history and pre-arrest 136. If an alleged torture victim is no longer in custody, the examiner should inquire into the person’s daily life, relations with friends and family, work or school, occupation, interests, future plans and use of alcohol and drugs. Information should also be elicited regarding the person’s post-detention psychosocial history. When an individual is still in custody, a more limited psychosocial history regarding occupation and literacy is sufficient. Inquire about prescription medication being taken by the patient; this is particularly important because such medications may be denied to a person in custody, with significant adverse health consequences. Inquiries into political activities, beliefs and opinions are relevant insofar as they help to explain why a person was detained or tortured, but such inquiries are best made indirectly by asking the person which accusations were made or why they think they were detained and tortured. 133. Ideally, when visits are made to people still in custody the interpreters should be outsiders and not recruited locally. This is mainly to avoid them or their families being put under pressure from inquisitive authorities wanting to know what information was given to the investigators. The issue may be more complex when the detainees are from a different ethnic group than their jailers. Should the local interpreter be from the same ethnic group as the prisoner, so as to gain his/her trust, but at the same time arousing the mistrust of the authorities who would possibly attempt to intimidate the interpreter? Furthermore, the interpreter may be reluctant to work in a hostile environment, which would potentially place him or her at risk. Or should the interpreter come from the same ethnic group as the captors, thereby gaining trust, but losing that of the prisoner, while still leaving the interpreter vulnerable to intimidation by the authorities? The answer is obviously and ideally neither of the above. Interpreters should be from outside the region and seen by all to be as independent as the investigators. 2. Summary of detention and abuse 137. Before obtaining a detailed account of events, elicit summary information, including dates, places, duration of detention, frequency and duration of torture sessions. A summary will help to make effective use of time. In some cases in which survivors have been tortured on multiple occasions, they may be able to recall what happened to them, but often they cannot recall exactly where and when each event occurred. In such circumstances, it may be advisable to elicit the historical account according to methods of abuse rather than relating a series of events during specific arrests. Similarly, in writing up the story it may often be useful to have “what happened where” documented as much as possible. Holding places are operated by different security, police or armed forces, and what happened in different places may be useful for a full picture of the torture system. Obtaining a map of where the torture occurred may be useful in piecing together the stories of different people. This will often prove very useful for the overall investigation. 134. A person interviewed at 8 p.m. deserves as much attention as one seen at 8 a.m. Investigators should arrange to have enough time and not overwork themselves. It is unfair to the 8 p.m. person (who in addition has been waiting all day to tell his or her story) to be cut short because of the time. Similarly, the nineteenth story about falanga deserves as much attention as the first. Prisoners who do not often see outsiders may never have had a chance to talk about their torture. It is an erroneous assumption to think that prisoners talk constantly among themselves about torture. Prisoners who have nothing new to offer the investigation deserve as much time as the other prisoners. 27