IRCT [to 5 April 2014]
In the media
02 April 2014
What the bones remember: Doctors from IRCT partner PCATI share their experiences of documenting torture

In focus
01 April 2014
IRCT adopts policies on Right to Rehabilitation, Migration and Torture, and Detention and Torture
The International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) adopted three new policies during its annual Council meeting on 28 March 2014 in Copenhagen.
These policies represent the voice of the world’s largest membership-based organisation in the field of torture rehabilitation, and address the critical areas of right to rehabilitation, torture and forced migration, and torture and detention. They significantly further IRCT’s mission, and denote a clear path on addressing urgent gaps in the fight against torture, still prevalent throughout the world.
“The IRCT is calling upon states to ensure that domestic legal frameworks provide an effective right to rehabilitation; introduce mechanisms in national legislation or policy for the early identification of forced migrants who have experienced torture; and ensure that victims of torture and ill-treatment are identified as early as possible in detention settings and have access to treatment and rehabilitation services at all times,” said Suzanne Jabbour, IRCT President.
States that implement these recommendations – which stem from the UN Convention against Torture, the OPCAT and General Comment 3 of the Committee against Torture – will be placing themselves at the forefront of human rights, catering for the rehabilitative needs and rights of torture survivors, and delivering appropriate care for vulnerable migrants and within places of detention, where most cases of torture and ill-treatment occur.
Secretary-General Victor Madrigal-Borloz added that the policy positions and respective declarations mark a significant milestone for the IRCT and the torture rehabilitation sector. “It is thrilling to see such concrete progress across a network the members of which range from large organisations that provide rehabilitation services to several thousands of torture victims, to very small centres that struggle in some of the world’s most challenging social, economic and political climates.”
The purpose of the Council is to formulate and monitor policy with an aim to advancing IRCT’s global vision of a world without torture.
The Council will next meet in November 2014 in Nigeria.