For Health and Human Service Providers

HealTorture.org
This Web site provides information on helping torture survivors heal. Resources are categorized so health and mental health providers, teachers, students and others can easily find information.

HealTorture.org is funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Refugee Resettlement and is a project of the Center for Victims of Torture.

National Consortium of Torture Treatment Providers
NCTTP is a U.S.-based network of programs that advances the knowledge, technical capacities and resources devoted to the care of torture survivors living in the United States. The consortium acts collectively to prevent torture worldwide.

International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims
The IRCT is the umbrella for more than 140 independent torture rehabilitation organizations in over 70 countries. The organization provides rehabilitation services to torture survivors, promotes justice for survivors and raises awareness on the issue of torture among policy-makers and citizens. 

Society for Emotional Well-Being Worldwide
SEWW is dedicated to expanding access to mental healthcare by promoting knowledge and information on Global Mental Health particularly in resource-poor settings. SEWW facilitates networking, information exchange and collaboration through it’s Web-based platform to strengthen the mental health workforce and enhance the lives of those in need of mental health.

CVT Torture Rehabilitation and Research Biobliography.pdf
The bibliography includes information on existing studies on torture and refugee trauma interventions, research methods, program evaluation methods, symptoms and consequences of torture, rehabilitation of torture survivors and working with war traumatized and refugee populations.

The bibliography is made possible through the financial support of the United States Agency for International Development and the American people’s support.

Torture Survivors: What to ask, how to document (PDF)
This article in the Journal of Family Practice (April 2012) provides practical information for primary care providers to help them better identify survivors of torture, assess and document consequent morbidities and refer them to appropriate treatment programs. The article was written by Steven H. Miles, M.D., CVT board member, and Rosa E. Garcia-Peltoniemi, PhD, LP, senior consulting clinician at CVT.

Forensic Examination Missions by Medical Teams Investigating and Documenting Alleged Cases of Torture. This operational manual is published by the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims and is available to download free in English, Spanish, French and Portugese.

The Istanbul Protocol
The Istanbul Protocol contains international recognized standards and procedures for recognizing and documenting symptoms of torture so the documentation may serve as evidence in court.  The protocol provides guidance for health professional and lawyers who want to investigate whether or not a person has been tortured and report the findings to the judiciary and other investigative bodies.

Declaration of Tokyo, World Medical Association
This declaration by the World Medical Association condemns medical participation in torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. It serves as a template for many medical codes.

U.S. State Department Human Rights Reports
The reports cover internationally recognized individual, civil, political, and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

UN Special Rapporteur on Torture
The special rapporteur is an expert appointed by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to examine questions relevant to torture.