DOCUMENTATION OF TORTURE AND

P hysicians play a key role in investigating and documenting evidence of torture and ill-treatment. They are the ones who treat survivors, work to prevent these abuses from occurring, and work to prevent other physicians from participating in them when they do occur.'-4 For these reasons, the United Nations (UN) has published international standards on effective investigation and documentation of torture and ill-treatment in the Istanbul Protocol: The Manual on the Effective Investigation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.5 In 1989,