Healing through justice: Supporting victims in the fight against impunity Many of those who have perpetrated torture in Burundi, Rwanda and the DRC — and continue to do so — have not been brought to justice. In many instances, victims live in the same communities as their perpetrators and are confronted by them on a daily basis. It is a constant reminder of their ill-treatment and contributes to their continued trauma and suffering. In the Great Lakes Region, impunity often persists for human rights abuses by state and nonstate actors, including torture and sexual violence. The participants of a workshop on the use of the Istanbul Protocol in Burundi, September 2014. The IRCT and its partner centres believe that ‘justice heals’. This means that for some victims, seeing perpetrators brought to justice, receiving compensation for harm suffered and receiving community support and public acknowledgement of ill-treatment are integral steps in their rehabilitation. Legal proceedings can also help restore a victim’s dignity by placing the guilt on the offender and acknowledging the victim’s status. Equally they can serve to uphold the rule of law by bringing perpetrators to justice, as well as facilitating the redress and reconciliation process. Achieving justice sends a powerful message that no-one is above the law, and that everyone can 20 IRCT Great Lakes Project “I always use the techniques I learned in training modules on psychotrauma I received from the IRCT when I am collecting evidence for a case. Before the training, I wasn’t aware of how very direct questions can affect the victim. I now ask questions I never used to ask and notice that the information I get is richer and gives me much more context as to what happened.” claim their right to redress. Consequently, successful legal support to victims of torture not only has a positive impact on victims, but also on communities and society at large and is essential to preventing the repetition of the crimes. Legal support activities In the past four years, the Great Lakes Project has supported rehabilitation centres in providing legal support to their clients, a key element in the holistic rehabilitation process. This legal support was combined with psychological and psychosocial support throughout the legal process. Centres received financial support to hire lawyers and ensure cases were followed up, participated in capacity-building workshops on medico-legal documentation of torture, social counselling and psychotrauma and organised awareness raising events on the right to rehabilitation, the fight against impunity and the use of the Istanbul Protocol (IP). The Project recognised that it is imperative that each client understands the legal process and the potential benefits and risks when considering whether to proceed with a legal case. Each individual can then make an informed decision on whether to pursue the case or not. The Great Lakes Project supported centres in providing clients with information on legal procedures, the possibilities of legal redress, what facts constitute legal proof and how to behave in court. Throughout the legal process, there is a high risk of re-traumatisation of victims. They have to tell their story several times in unfamiliar surroundings and elements of it are often questioned. For many victims, being confronted with the perpetrator in a court room is an intimidating experience. To avoid re-traumatisation, the project ran workshops for lawyers and other professionals involved in legal proceedings on psychotrauma and techniques to use when interviewing victims. A tree planting ceremony took place in the Ngoma district in Rwanda and was attended by genocide survivors, the chief of police, mayor of the Ngoma district, the EU Ambassador and representatives from the IRCT and ARAMA. Jules Milenge, Lawyer at the Bukavu Bar Association, Burundi Between 2011 and 2015, more than 1,500 direct beneficiaries received a combination of legal and psychological support and 28 cases supported by the project were brought to court. However, there are many cases supported by the centres that did not go to court. For example, in cases related to land ownership they are often dealt with by local mediation committees. One such case was that of a 21-year-old man who came in contact with Rwandan centre Uyisenga Ni Imanzi centre in 2014. He became an orphan during the Genocide and grew up in an orphanage, but was too old to continue living there. The centre’s legal officer and psychologist got involved and identified where he had been living before the Genocide. They contacted his family members who had sold the property the boy should have inherited. The legal officer dealt with the local mediation committee and the land was then returned to the man. With support from the centre, which provided equipment and construction materials, and the community who provided labour, a house was built for the man and completed in 2015. Other reasons for the low number of cases are the cost associated with bringing them to court and victims’ reluctance to take on a case due to uncertainty about their future. For example, in cases of domestic violence where the woman has moved to another community to live with her husband’s family, she will be left alone in the village if he goes to prison. She will have no income to educate her children and provide for them and may be subject to intimidation from his family and the rest of the community. In Uvira (DRC), the project supported four cases to be brought before the Chambre Forraines. Following the adagium “Not only must Justice be done; it must also be seen to be done”, the Chambre Forraine is a system in which the court moves its sitting to the community to allow the public to attend. It allows community members to witness judicial proceedings and helps to alleviate the perception of impunity at community-level. It also ensures that remote and rural communities have access to justice. Moreover, the system of the Chambre Forraine administers justice in a quick and efficient manner. Medico-legal documentation The Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment — known as the Istanbul Protocol (IP) — is the key international instrument providing guidelines and standards on how to investigate and document torture effectively, including any physical and psychological evidence. This medico-legal evidence provides a reliable and scientific basis for courts to assess allegations of torture and make decisions. Time and time again, experience has shown that a high-quality medico-legal report can greatly IRCT Great Lakes Project 21