Specific concerns regarding the treatment of victims of torture within national asylum procedures The final part to this chapter highlights key findings and recommendations on specific aspects of some national asylum procedures that the IRCT also considers as essential parts to improving the safeguards for VoTs. • Abolish the practice of detaining vulnerable asylum-seekers, particularly VoTs; • Ensure that VoTs are not processed within an accelerated asylum procedure; • Ensure access to independent legal and medical advice early on in the asylum procedure for all vulnerable asylum-seekers, which should be covered by public funds. • Provide training on the signs and symptoms of torture and on the identification of VoTs and the use of MLRs to state authorities and legal professionals; • Encourage collaboration between all stakeholders (lawyers, judges, state authorities, civil society, etc.) on the treatment of VoTs within asylum procedures; • Promote academic research and assessment of the consequences of torture in the asylum procedure; • Ensure the recognition of health professionals as experts in the asylum process; • Encourage states to recognise and meet their commitments under Article 14 UNCAT in relation to providing access to an initial medical assessment (including an MLR) and rehabilitative treatment to asylum-seekers and refugees. Why detention of vulnerable asylum-seekers must be abolished Part 2 highlights the concerning trend of detaining asylum-seekers, including vulnerable persons. Most of the centres in the represented countries reported no measures in place in the national asylum procedure to avoid the detention of VoTs. This is particularly concerning given the extent to which detention is known to exacerbate physical or mental health conditions and the re-traumatisation of the victim. A report published by Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS) Europe in 2010, based on more than 650 interviews with detainees, showed that detention is used in a mostly indiscriminate way, and, in almost every case, detention had “a distinctively deteriorative effect upon the individual person”, whether that person had pre-existing special needs or had been in good health.113 The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights has highlighted the abolition of migrant detention and promotion of alternatives as one of his key priorities, noting: “The detention of migrants, including asylum seekers, upon arrival or when subject to removal in Council of Europe member states 62 / Recognising victims of torture in national asylum procedures