freedomfromtorturesubmissiontotheunhumanrights.docVIP

Freedom from Torture submission to the UN Human Rights Committee – List of Issues for the 5th periodic review of Sri Lanka Freedom from Torture (formerly the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture) is a UK-based human rights organisation and one of the world’s largest torture treatment centres. We are the only organisation in the UK dedicated solely to the care and treatment of survivors of torture and organised violence. Since our foundation over 25 years ago, more than 50,000 people have been referred to us for rehabilitation and other forms of care and practical assistance. We have centres in London, Manchester, Newcastle, Birmingham and Glasgow. Freedom from Torture runs a Medico-Legal Report Service which uses forensic methods to document physical and psychological evidence of torture for use in connection with survivors’ claims for international protection in the UK. Our medico-legal reports are prepared in accordance with the UN Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, known as the ‘Istanbul Protocol’. Each is subject to a detailed clinical and legal review process. We aim through our Country Reporting Programme to contribute evidence drawn from these medico-legal reports, presented in an anonymised and aggregated format, to UN bodies capable of holding torturing states to account. This submission for the Committee’s List of Issues prior to the fifth examination of Sri Lanka is based on in-depth analysis of 50 medico-legal reports completed by our clinicians documenting torture committed in Sri Lanka in the post-conflict period. Forensic evidence of ongoing torture in Sri Lanka in the post-conflict period Freedom from Torture has consistently received a high number of referrals for survivors of torture from Sri Lanka and the high rate of referrals has not diminished following the end of the armed conflict in May 2009. In fact Sri Lanka became the top c