JournalTOCs

Torture Journal
Number of Followers: 2

This is an Open Access Journal

Open Access journal
ISSN (Print) 1018-8185 - ISSN (Online) 1997-3322
Published by Royal Danish Library

[23 journals]

Red de Personas Torturadas de Navarra: auto-organización y empoderamiento
en la lucha contra el silencio
- Authors: Mikel Soto
  Abstract: Tras tres años de discreto pero intenso trabajo, el 12 de febrero de 2022, nació oficialmente la Red de Personas Torturadas de Navarra - Nafarroako Torturatuen Sarea, formada en ese momento por más de 150 personas torturadas durante los años 1960 a 2010 y familiares. La Red informaba a la sociedad de su primera labor ya en marcha; ponerse en contacto y tratar de elaborar un censo lo más detallado posible de las personas torturadas en Navarra, que en ese momento se calculaban en torno al millar: “Llegar a esas 1000 personas no es tarea fácil, porque muchas de ellas ya no están entre nosotras o porque rellenar esos formularios aflora en nosotras dolores y sufrimientos del pasado” (Agirrezabal, A. 2022). Las personas torturadas reclamaban una investigación oficial, científica e independiente sobre la tortura, como la realizada por el Gobierno de Navarra sobre el periodo de 1960 a 1978[1]. Llamaban a la sociedad navarra a “acabar con la tortura, tratar de combatirla, requiere acciones preventivas, pero también la asunción de responsabilidades por parte de quienes han diseñado su aplicación sistemática, la han llevado a cabo o han intentado ocultarla. Pero sobre todo, el reconocimiento de su práctica y el sufrimiento causado” (Agirrezabal, A. 2022). Desde ese momento, la Red ha ido creciendo y fortaleciéndose organizativamente; ha realizado una fuerte actividad pública organizando movilizaciones, jornadas y actos públicos, a la vez que ha llevado una intensa dinámica de relaciones tanto pública como privada con diversos sectores políticos y sociales. Fruto de esa labor, se han ido dando pasos que parecían imposibles hace tan solo unos años, entre los que el más importante es la realización de la primera fase de un estudio auspiciado por el Gobierno de Navarra y realizado por el Instituto Vasco de Criminología (IVAC-KREI) centrado en la tortura desde 1979 hasta la actualidad que, junto con el anterior sobre el periodo 1960-1978, ha mostrado por vez primera la dimensión y gravedad del fenómeno de la tortura en Navarra. El proceso de autoorganización de las personas torturadas en Navarra es un fenómeno nada común, que puede ofrecer enseñanzas interesantes especialmente para las víctimas de la tortura de otros países y contextos. El objetivo de este artículo es describir una experiencia dirigida por las víctimas –survivor-lead– y analizar las claves de este proceso de empoderamiento colectivo. El artículo se compone de dos partes. En la primera se describe el fenómeno de la tortura en Navarra desde el franquismo a la actualidad, a fin de permitir al lector tomar una dimensión de la gravedad del fenómeno. Para ello se usan los propios datos del Estudio sobre tortura en Navarra. La segunda parte está centrada en describir el proceso auto-organizativo de las victimas y algunos apendizajes que pensamos que pueden ser útiles para otras realidades y grupos de víctimas de tortura que quieran generar procesos de auto-organización. [1] Instituto Vasco de Criminología IVAC-KREI, Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea-UPV/EHU (2019).
  PubDate: 2023-08-08
  DOI: 10.7146/torture.v33i2.141145
  Issue No: Vol. 33, No. 2 (2023)
Survivor-organisation in the search for justice and reparation: A vision
from grassroots organising
- Authors: Pau Pérez-Sales
  Pages: 4 - 16
  Abstract: Editorial to 2023(2) issue, special section on survivor engagement in torture rehabilitation. In this editorial, Pau Pérez-Sales adds a perspective based on historical experiences of organisational processes of victims of political violence and recover some of the lessons learned as contributions to the debate.
  PubDate: 2023-08-08
  DOI: 10.7146/torture.v33i2.139558
  Issue No: Vol. 33, No. 2 (2023)
What is ‘agency’ in torture and trauma recovery' An inquiry into the
properties and explanations of the concept of agency and it’s impacts
- Authors: Susan Wyatt
  Pages: 17 - 44
  Abstract: The global ontology of survivor-led movements provides a useful reflection on conceptual frameworks and pathways for effective and strategic mechanisms for facilitating 'agency' within the spectrum of torture rehabilitation. This paper aims to provide a theoretical overview and analysis of the concepts, working frameworks, implementation methods and outcomes of survivor-led initiatives. The terminologies and meanings of survivor engagement are unpacked, highlighting the assumptions and implications for how services are designed, delivered and evaluated. This paper deliberately straddles multiple thematic fields to showcase and learn from other successful movements, and invites you as the reader into this discourse of inquiry now from the perspective of torture treatment services. This paper deep dives into survivor-led concepts, opening the plethora of adaptations available and encouraged. It looks firstly at the broader contexts that provide commonality and structure for concepts around power, empowerment or agency, before then exploring particularities from different contexts to enable the perspective of the 'differientiated whole' in Survivor Engagement programming. It concludes with thematic areas bearing implications for practice going forwards.
  PubDate: 2023-08-08
  DOI: 10.7146/torture.v33i2.137064
  Issue No: Vol. 33, No. 2 (2023)
Best practices in survivor engagement in IRCT member centres
- Authors: Christopher Einolf, Susan Wyatt, Carmen Araujo Marquez
  Pages: 45 - 63
  Abstract: Introduction: While the literature encourages engaging torture survivors in the direction and provision of services, little is known about how best to do this. Method: We surveyed 82 IRCT member centres and interviewed fourteen staff members and executive directors about current practices, best practices, and the advantages and disadvantages of engaging survivors. Results: While few agencies involve survivors extensively, those that did found survivor engagement helped agencies engage in better planning, service provision, and advocacy, while at the same time being healing and empowering for survivors. Agency staff described strategies to minimize retraumatization, particularly in not encouraging survivors to share the story of their trauma, but to engage in other ways. They also suggested a number of ways to engage survivors in program direction, service provision, and advocacy, which included having survivors serve on the board of directors, hiring survivors as staff, involving survivors in advocacy, advising staff and volunteers on how better to provide services, and working as community outreach workers and mediators. Discussion: IRCT member centres can engage survivors in programming without retraumatizing them, and there are many advantages to doing so.
  PubDate: 2023-08-08
  DOI: 10.7146/torture.v33i2.135818
  Issue No: Vol. 33, No. 2 (2023)
Self-organisation and empowerment in the struggle against silence. Network
of Tortured People of Navarre
- Authors: Mikel Soto Nolasco
  Pages: 64 - 84
  Abstract: In 2021, a group of tortured people and their relatives in Navarre started a process of self-organisation that culminated in 2022 with the birth of the organisation Network of Tortured People of Navarre. The process of self-organisation of tortured people in Navarra is an uncommon phenomenon, which can offer interesting lessons especially for torture victims in other countries and contexts. The aim of this article is to describe a survivor-lead experience and to analyse the keys to this process of collective empowerment. The article has two parts: the first explains the phenomenon of torture in Navarre from the 1960s, in Franco's dictatorship, to the present day using data from the Study on Torture in Navarre, highlighting significant cases or events. The second part is focused on describing the self-organising process of the victims and some lessons that we think may be useful for other realities and groups of torture victims who want to generate self-organising processes. The article analyses some aspects in the genesis and the first steps of the Network with emphasis on those aspects that can be useful to other victims' organisations in their struggle against torture. To do so, we will analyse these aspects: The political and social context in which the Network was born, the Network's strategies for dealing with victims' difficulties in working with their "traumatic event", the organisational structure and development of the network, the Network's basic principles and demands, the Network's strategy and philosophy of work, the Network's policy on relations and alliances and the opportunities and consequences of the process being driven by victims of torture.
  PubDate: 2023-08-08
  DOI: 10.7146/torture.v33i2.137318
  Issue No: Vol. 33, No. 2 (2023)
Survivor engagement: Experience with an advocacy-based model in
Washington, D.C.
- Authors: Seini O'Connor, Andrea Barron, Léonce Byimana, Jennifer Isley, Sheetal Patel, Yadhu Dhital, Nouf Bazaz
  Pages: 85 - 101
  Abstract: Introduction: As an IRCT member organization supporting survivors of torture, the Torture Abolition and Survivor Support Coalition (TASSC) International places survivor engagement at the core of their work, aiming to provide safe and inclusive spaces for survivors to speak out and take meaningful action to prevent torture. This article describes TASSC’s model for engaging survivors in advocacy and presents evidence on the personal impacts such engagement can have. Method: Each year from 2016-2019, TASSC administered a simple survey with questions for survivors to complete after their annual “Advocacy Day” in Washington D.C. Quantitative and qualitative data was collected to inform internal service provision and the design of future events. Results: Across the four years a total of 140 survivors and compatriot human rights advocates participated in the annual Advocacy Day, and a majority completed the surveys. In their survey responses, survivors agreed they had many positive thoughts and feelings after advocacy. Their reported positive experiences included a sense of being listened to and heard by an understanding and responsive audience, the power of feeling part of a group that was speaking out on behalf of themselves and others, and a sense of motivation and hopefulness for the future. Discussion: Although undertaken primarily to inform internal processes, TASSC’s surveys with survivors who engaged in advocacy shed light on the potential value of well-designed advocacy experiences. Consistent with past research, survivors reported strong motivations around and compelling benefits from participating, despite the challenges that the deeply personal nature of their engagement could present. This feedback suggests TASSC has a strong model that could be replicated elsewhere, but it would be beneficial to further investigate the experiences of survivors engaging in advocacy in other country settings.
  PubDate: 2023-08-08
  DOI: 10.7146/torture.v33i2.135716
  Issue No: Vol. 33, No. 2 (2023)
Torture survivors who engage in advocacy in the U.S.: Review,
characteristics and policy implications
- Authors: Nouf Bazaz, Seini O'Connor, Andrea Barron, Léonce Byimana, Jennifer Isley
  Pages: 102 - 118
  Abstract: Introduction: Despite facing many challenges, some survivors of torture seeking asylum in the U.S. have courageously engaged in advocacy efforts to bring attention to human rights issues relevant to their own personal experiences. This study sought to add to our understanding of the characteristics of survivors who engage in advocacy in comparison with those who do not. Method: We analyzed demographic, social, and psychological quantitative data collected from survivors (n=730) connected to a support agency that regularly facilitates advocacy events using between-groups t-tests and regression analyses. Based on theory, clinical insights, and past research around survivor advocacy we predicted that participation in advocacy would be associated with and predicted by factors indicating lower levels of trauma-related symptoms and higher social power and stability. Results: We found no significant difference in clinical symptoms or most demographic or social characteristics between advocacy participants (n=75) and non-participants. However, advocacy participants had spent significantly more time in the U.S. and were less likely to have had employment authorization at time of service intake, and were more likely to be male, compared to non-participants. Without controlling for other demographic factors, higher spirituality and not having been detained at entry to the USA also predicted advocacy participation. Discussion: Our findings suggest that, despite some patterns of difference indicating greater stability and access to power (e.g., being male, having more time in the U.S., more daytime availability, a strong sense of spirituality, and less experience of detention in the U.S.), survivor-advocates are diverse and not consistently differentiated from non-advocates by specific characteristics. Thus, we find no evidence to support using psychological or demographic indicators as a “screening” criterion for selecting advocacy candidates. We contend that it is important to adopt a gender-inclusive approach in providing wider opportunities that help more survivors overcome potential (racial, socio-economic, mental health, etc.) barriers to engagement, and to pay close attention to who is being left out of advocacy opportunities.
  PubDate: 2023-08-08
  DOI: 10.7146/torture.v33i2.136319
  Issue No: Vol. 33, No. 2 (2023)
The community pillars project: engaging survivors as cross- cultural
facilitators in Aotearoa/ New Zealand
- Authors: Seini O'Connor, Elizabeth Alkass, Ruzaika Arshad, Huthami Behayaa, Priscilla Dawson, Aklilu Hibtit, Ghirmai Misghina, Annette Mortensen, Marguerite Ntawe, Julia Sheikh, Ven. Sumanasiri, Salma Khin Tun, Eliana Vanegas, Dunya Wardak, Mahjooba Yousufi
  Pages: 119 - 132
  Abstract: Introduction: Communities who have fled torture and persecution in their home countries can find it difficult to access services in new cultural settings. Past research has shown that it is helpful to provide cultural bridging services to form a connection between locally-trained professionals and newly relocated communities. Method: This article presents, from a practitioner’s perspective, a case example of cultural bridging involving a pilot programme to train torture survivors and former refugees to become Cross-Cultural Facilitators supporting mental health services for displaced communities. Results: The Cross-Cultural Facilitator role has become an integral part of the case example agency’s services. Internal agency reviews of the Cross-Cultural Facilitators’ work shows that they have been continuing to operate successfully through challenging times, including the many societal disruptions and stressors entailed in the Covid-19 pandemic. The agency has also gathered notable anecdotal evidence that the pilot training programme has been positively impactful and supportive not only for the Cross-Cultural Facilitators but for the communities they serve. Discussion: Healthcare workers and civil society organisations have an important role to play in supporting survivors to engage in this form of cultural facilitation aimed at addressing the consequences of traumatic experiences at a community level. In doing so, they must balance efforts to empower survivors and former refugees to participate as agents of change with a duty of care not to push individuals into roles or settings that may diminish their own wellbeing.
  PubDate: 2023-08-08
  DOI: 10.7146/torture.v33i2.135769
  Issue No: Vol. 33, No. 2 (2023)
‘I was lost in my life and they helped me find my way again’:
Befriendee and befriender experiences of the Spirasi Befriending Programme
for survivors of torture in Ireland
- Authors: Rachel Hoare
  Pages: 133 - 150
  Abstract: Introduction: Befriending is one of the rehabilitative services embedded in the holistic approach adopted by Spirasi, the Irish National Centre for the Rehabilitation of Survivors of Torture. Their befriending programme offers survivors one-to-one companionship from trained volunteer befrienders. The literature suggests that befriending programmes can improve quality of life, provide emotional support and combat loneliness. However, there is little empirical research of the effectiveness of befriending programmes for torture survivors. Objective: The main objective was to explore, in complementary ways, the impact of the Spirasi befriending programme on befrienders and befriendees and to incorporate their voices into recommendations for optimising the service. Methods: The methodology consisted of five focus groups (two with befriendees, two with befrienders and one with both) and a portrait workshop facilitated by two community artists, where each befriending pair member created a portrait of their partner to express and visually explore the befriending relationship. Data comprised the focus group transcripts and written feedback on the portrait-creation process. Results: The themes identified in both data sets firmly ground the befriending programme in Spirasi’s holistic approach to recovery. For the focus group participants, befriending promotes integration; models trusting, kind and reciprocal relationships; combats loneliness and protects against suicide. They also highlighted the importance of regular befriender training, increasing the programme’s reach and developing a befriender community of practice. The portrait workshop was found to strengthen relationships and provide a context of normality, acceptance and shared humanity through compassionate and creative exchanges. Conclusions: This paper highlights the benefits of the befriending programme within Spirasi’s holistic approach and the importance of collaborative expressive arts activities in building befriending relationships. It provides recommendations for good befriending practice which are relevant to all organisations working with survivors of torture as well as those working with people seeking international protection more broadly.
  PubDate: 2023-08-08
  DOI: 10.7146/torture.v33i2.134386
  Issue No: Vol. 33, No. 2 (2023)
Medico-legal evaluation of torture victims in the USA before the Istanbul
Protocol
- Authors: Jose Quiroga, Ana Deutsch
  Pages: 151 - 156
  Abstract: The article reviews the historical precedents of the Forensic Assessment of Torture Survivors in the US in the 1970s and 1980s, setting the precedents of the US branch of the construction of the Istanbul Protocol that was developed in the late 1990s. It includes, as supplementary material, the first model of affidavit developed in Los Angeles at that time, which is the first predecessor in the history of the Istanbul Protocol in the US. Similar models were developed in Latin America, Canada and Turkey. All these efforts were later joined under the United Nations auspices in what finally ended to be the Istanbul Protocol.
  PubDate: 2023-08-08
  DOI: 10.7146/torture.v33i2.135388
  Issue No: Vol. 33, No. 2 (2023)
Torture beyond carceral settings against individuals from marginalized
communities: the important role for clinical documentation
- Authors: Christian DeVos, Rayan N. Kaakati, Joshua Martins-Caulfield, Michele Heisler
  Pages: 157 - 167
  Abstract: This Perspective piece builds on recent scholarship that has begun to explore extra-carceral governmental actions that constitute torture or ill treatment of socially and economically marginalized populations. We advocate for a more contextual approach to the understanding of what constitutes torture or ill treatment, and, consequently, a more expansive interpretation of states’ obligations to prohibit and prevent it under international law. Following this more contextual approach, we describe several case examples of abuse directed at various marginalized communities that might constitute torture. These examples further unsettle the conventional understanding of torture that is focused on carceral and custodial settings to one that encompasses more systemic, routine forms of abuse that disproportionately affect economically and socially marginalized groups. Finally, we offer recommendations for how clinicians and health and human rights researchers, in particular, can better elucidate the links among torture, poverty, and vulnerability to hold perpetrators accountable and help states develop laws, policies, and other measures to prevent the perpetration of state-promoted or sanctioned acts of torture or ill treatment.
  PubDate: 2023-08-08
  DOI: 10.7146/torture.v33i2.135272
  Issue No: Vol. 33, No. 2 (2023)
The use of the Istanbul Protocol in Israel: Insights at the reception of
the revised (2022) version
- Authors: Daniel Weishut, Bettina Steiner-Birmanns, Lucy R. Aitchison, David Senesh, Alona Korman
  Pages: 168 - 172
  Abstract: Health professionals and lawyers in Israel have used the Istanbul Protocol (IP), the internationally accepted protocol for documenting torture and ill-treatment, for many years (Abu Akar et al., 2014; Weishut, 2022; Weishut et al., 2023). A complete IP report requires substantial effort and investment of - mostly pro bono - experts, while the IP interview on which it is based is often an emotionally burdensome experience for clients. This paper presents insights about the use of the IP in Israel, as collected by a group of experts in the documentation of torture and ill-treatment, at the reception of the revised (2022) version.
  PubDate: 2023-08-08
  DOI: 10.7146/torture.v33i2.136128
  Issue No: Vol. 33, No. 2 (2023)
Migration and Torture in Today’s World, by Fabio Perocco (ed.)
- Authors: Giulia Berta
  Pages: 173 - 176
  Abstract: The article is a review of the volume Migration and Torture in Today’s World, curated by Fabio Perocco and published by Ca’ Foscari Editions in 2023.
  PubDate: 2023-08-08
  DOI: 10.7146/torture.v33i2.136879
  Issue No: Vol. 33, No. 2 (2023)