The Istanbul Protocol The Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment, commonly known as the Istanbul Protocol, contains the first international standards and procedures on how to recognize and document physical and psychological evidence of torture in court cases. Initiated and coordinated by the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey and Physicians for Human Rights USA, the Istanbul Protocol was developed by more than 75 experts from more than 40 organisations, including the IRCT. It was submitted to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on 9 August 1999 and has subsequently been annexed to various UN resolutions and been published by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) as part of its Professional Training Series. The Istanbul Protocol is available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish on the OHCHR’s website: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ PublicationsResources/Pages/TrainingEducation.aspx. The IRCT has collected translations of the Istanbul Protocol in a number of additional languages. These translations are available at: http://www.irct.org/Read-theProtocol-2701.aspx. 8