Istanbul Protocol implementation in Central Asia: Bending the arc of the moral universe

Vincent Iacopino; Rohini J Haar; Michele Heisler; Rusudan Beriashvili

doi:10.1016/j.jflm.2019.101886

Istanbul Protocol implementation in Central Asia: Bending the arc of the moral universe

J Forensic Leg Med. 2020 Jan:69:101886. doi: 10.1016/j.jflm.2019.101886. Epub 2019 Nov 29.

Authors

Vincent Iacopino¹, Rohini J Haar², Michele Heisler³, Rusudan Beriashvili⁴

Affiliations

¹ Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), 256 W 38th Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY, 10018, USA; University of Minnesota Medical School, Division of Epidemiology, USA; Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley, USA. Electronic address: viacopino@phrusa.org.
² Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), 256 W 38th Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY, 10018, USA; School of Public Health, University of California, 3136 College Avenue, Berkeley, CA, 94705, USA. Electronic address: rohinihaar@berkeley.edu.
³ Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), 256 W 38th Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY, 10018, USA; University of Michigan Medical School, USA. Electronic address: mheisler@umich.edu.
⁴ Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), 256 W 38th Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY, 10018, USA; Tbilisi State Medical University, 33 VazhaPshavela Avenue, 0177, Tbilisi, Georgia. Electronic address: Rusudan29@yahoo.com.

PMID: 32056803
DOI: 10.1016/j.jflm.2019.101886

Abstract

In countries emerging from authoritarian rule, a major challenge is ending often widespread and systematic torture and ill-treatment practices. Between 2011 and 2019, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), in collaboration with the Open Society Foundation (OSF), the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) and regional and local partners, worked to establish effective torture investigation and documentation practices in the Central Asian countries of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan. Our approach consisted of activities in three sequential phases - (1) assessment, (2) capacity building, and (3) policy reform. In this paper, we briefly describe activities during each phase and identify key lessons learned from these experiences and resulting policy and program reforms as a model for future efforts in other settings.

Keywords: Forensic medicine; Human rights; Istanbul protocol; Torture.

MeSH terms

Asia
Capacity Building / organization & administration
Documentation / standards
Forensic Medicine / standards*
Human Rights Abuses*
Humans
Public Policy
Stakeholder Participation
Torture*
United Nations