DUSHANBE, March 3, 2015, Asia-Plus – A three-day training on standards of the Istanbul Protocol is being conducted in Dushanbe for Tajik surgeons, psychiatrists, hospital ward physicians and forensic medicine experts.

“The training participants include 23 medical workers from districts subordinate to the center and as well as two representatives of Tajik Ombudsman’s Office,” Ms. Parvina Navrouzova, manager of the ‘Implementation of the Istanbul Protocol In Tajikistan’ Project, Human Rights Center, told Asia-Plus in an interview.

According to her, the training participants are studying the main aspects of investigating cases of use of torture and international standards of carrying out forensic medical examination of supposed victims of torture and documenting cases of torture.

Similar training is expected to be conducted for physicians in Qurhgon Teppa, the capital of Khatlon province from March 9-11.

The Manual on Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, commonly known as the Istanbul Protocol, is the first set of international guidelines for documentation of torture and its consequences. It became an official United Nations document in 1999.

The Istanbul Protocol is intended to serve as a set of international guidelines for the assessment of persons who allege torture and ill treatment, for investigating cases of alleged torture, and for reporting such findings to the judiciary and any other investigative body.

The Istanbul Protocol is a non-binding document.  However, international law obliges governments to investigate and document incidents of torture and other forms of ill-treatment and to punish those responsible in a comprehensive, effective, prompt and impartial manner. The Istanbul Protocol is a tool for doing this.