Darfur Survival Campaign

Holding Perpetrators Accountable

Documenting Physical and Psychological Evidence of Rape, Sexual Violence and Torture

Physicians for Human Rights, in collaboration with two partner organizations, has launched a project to address the Government of Sudan’s widespread use of rape as a weapon of war. Working with REDRESS, a group that assists torture survivors, and the Sudanese Organization Against Torture (SOAT), PHR led a series of three trainings in 2005 and 2006 for the Amel Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, a Sudanese non-governmental organization with offices in Khartoum and Nyala (in Darfur). Using the standards in the Istanbul Protocol, the groups trained local health workers and lawyers on effective methods for documenting physical and psychological evidence in cases of torture, rape and sexual violence. This work will help ensure that perpetrators are held accountable.

The first two trainings, held in London and Khartoum, briefed participants about the Istanbul Protocol, an internationally recognized set of standards for documenting evidence of torture. Federal Ministry of Health officials and government doctors participated in the Khartoum training.

In Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, more than 50 participants attended the third three-day training. Local doctors and officials, including several judges, attended the sessions, which were targeted to the needs of the Amel Center’s staff and volunteers. Specifically, training focused on challenges in the documentation of rape and sexual violence, the treatment of victims of sexual violence and how to address and prevent secondary trauma for first responders, including staff. The team prepared case studies that emphasized the challenges of developing evidence that will support successful prosecutions of rape and torture in local courts.

The trainers included Turkish forensic physician and Istanbul Protocol co-author Dr. Onder Ozckalips, Istanbul-based psychologist Pinar Onen, PHR Deputy Director Susannah Sirkin and REDRESS lawyer Lutz Oette.