UN human rights releases revised torture investigation protocol

UN human rights releases revised torture investigation protocol

UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights released the updated version of the Istanbul Protocol at the Geneva Academy. The updated version reinforces the successful investigation and documentation of torture and ill-treatment and looks to strengthen the execution of worldwide principles and preventive tools to help torture survivors. The revision also incorporated contemporary law on torture prevention, accountability, and viable remedies and sets out additional guidelines for judges, prosecutors, and health experts on legal investigations of torture and ill-treatment. Further, it specifies compelling guidelines for states on the powerful implementation of their worldwide commitments to prevent and fight torture and ill-treatment. It took six years, 180 specialists from 51 nations to revise the protocol. The main organizations engaged in the revision process were Physicians for Human Rights, the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, and the Redress Trust. The Istanbul Protocol was first published in 2001. It provides worldwide rules and principles for documentation of torture crimes. The protocol has been approved in 173 States.