Diagnosis of torture after 32 years: Assessment of three alleged torture victims during the 1980 military coup in Turkey

Göçeoğlu, Ümit Ünüvar; Ulaş, Halis; Fincancı, Şebnem Korur

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2014.08.037

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(47 reference statements)

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“…The literature based on the forensic assessments of subjects who allegedly suffered torture acts is rather scarce [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. It is therefore so difficult for the medicolegal or forensic specialists to acquire a specific knowledge and experience in the field that the matter of the evaluation of the physical signs of torture is still considered a challenging area of forensic medicine [21].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tortures alleged by migrants in Italy: compatibility and other medicolegal challenges

et al. 2021

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Background Illegal immigration to Europe is a well-known phenomenon whose numbers are being steadily increasing in recent years. Most of the immigrants in Italy come from war zones, and many of them submit an asylum application supported by the complaint to have been victims of persecutory acts in their home countries. Material and methods One hundred ninety-six medicolegal reports are analyzed considering the different country of origin, the type of the lesions claimed, tools used, evidenced effects, location of the perpetration of the physical abuses, and the possible motivation of the alleged torture. Results Greater than 80% of the assessed asylum seekers are over 18-year males coming from African countries. Fifty-eight percent of migrants were tortured or abused in countries of transit, 95% in Libya. Economic, familial, politic, and ethnic reasons prevail in some countries of origin, while tortures or abuses perpetrated in transit countries are mainly linked to forced labor and detention. In the 42.2% of cases, no physical evidence of tortures was detected. The Istanbul Protocol resulted to have been only partly applicable and about 40% of the medicolegal reports are “inconclusive” about the compatibility of physical evidence with the alleged tortures. Conclusions The medicolegal and forensic experts involved in torture and ill-treatment cases should seek specific education and training to lower the risks of underestimation and the rate of inconclusive reports. More extensive implementation of the Istanbul Protocol in daily practice should be pursued by the authorities in charge of asylum or protection releasement.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tortures alleged by migrants in Italy: compatibility and other medicolegal challenges

et al. 2021

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“…7, 12, 18, 20, 22, 23, 25, 29, 31, 39, 44, 45, 51, 53, 59, 62, 64, 68, 70, 73, 76, 84, 85, 87, 88, 90, 91, 97, 101, 110, 116, 131, 132, 135, 136, 150, 152, 157, 170, 172, 177, 178, 184, 190, 193, 195, 218, 219, 224, 244, 250, 253-256, 264, 266, 273, 276 The location(s) of torture included regions encompassing multiple countries (ie, "Africa") or parts of multiple countries (ie, "Kurdistan") in 101 studies, and single countries could not be ascribed to those regions. Overall, 113 studies (43%) 7, 16, 17, 22, 23, 27, 30, 31, 33, 34, 40, 41, 43, 45, 46, 49, 51, 55, 57-61, 63-65, 67, 70-72, 76, 77, 79, 82, 84, 86, 89-91, 94, 96, 98, 100, 104, 106, 108-110, 112-114, 116, 118, 123, 128, 132, 134, 137, 140, 142, 146, 148-150, 156, 157, 159, 161, 166, 169, 170, 172, 173, 177, 178, 181, 182, 185, 186, 189, 192, 194, 197-199, 201, 202, 205, 206, 209-211, 216, 221, 223, 226, 228, 229, 231-235, 242, 244, 251, 253, 256, 259, 261, 269, 272, 277 included men and women, 82 studies (31%) 18, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 35, 37-39, 44, 47, 48, 52, 54, 56, 62, 66, 68, 69, 83, 87, 93, 97, 99, 102, 103, 105, 107, 111, 117, 119, 120, 127, 130, 133, 139, 151, 152, 154, 162-164, 167, 171, 174, 175, 179, 183, 188, 190, 191, 193, 195, 200, 203, 204, 207, 212, 213, 217-220, 222, 224, 227, 238, 240, 245, 248, JAMA Network Open | Global Health 250,252,254,255,258,264,267,268,[274][275][276] included only men, 27 studies (10%) 19,21,32,36,42,50,53,80,81,85,92,95,101,125,135,136,141,143,145,147,…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A total of 9937 article titles and abstracts were screened, 1739 full-text articles were assessed, and 266 articles were included for analysis (eFigure 1 in Supplement 1). One article was published in 1947 and the rest in 1977 to 2021, with an average increase of 0.25 additional articles published per year from 1977 ...…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reports of torture could be identified for an average of 2.1 (95% CI, 1.6-2.6) countries per study, and the range was 0 to 39 countries. Only 1 country of torture could be identified for 143 studies (54%), 2 to 10 countries for 53 studies (20%), more than 10 countries for 11 studies (4%), and no single country of torture could be identified for 59 studies (22%) …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reported Methods, Distributions, and Frequencies of Torture Globally

Milewski,

Weinstein,

Lurie

et al. 2023

JAMA Netw Open

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ImportanceDespite its prohibition by the United Nations Convention against Torture and other international treaties, torture has been perpetrated against countless individuals worldwide, and health care practitioners globally are increasingly encountering refugee torture survivors in their clinical practices. The methods, geographic distribution, and frequency of torture globally are not well described, which limits health care practitioners’ ability to adequately diagnose and treat the sequelae of torture.ObjectiveTo rank the commonness of torture methods and identify the regions of the world with which they are associated.Data SourcesFor this systematic review and meta-analysis, Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, Web of Science, and The Cochrane Library were searched from inception to July 2021.Study SelectionIncluded studies were peer-reviewed articles in English, contained an independent sample population of individuals who experienced torture, and outlined the type(s) of torture experienced. Excluded studies were not peer reviewed, lacked an independent sample population, or did not specify torture methods. Articles were chosen for inclusion by 2 independent and blinded reviewers, and a third, independent reviewer resolved discrepancies. Overall, 266 articles—15.3% of the 1739 studies initially identified for full review—met the inclusion criteria.Data Extraction and SynthesisData abstraction and quality assessment followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Data were extracted by 2 independent and blinded reviewers into predefined templates, and a third, independent reviewer resolved discrepancies. The risk of bias was evaluated using the Downs and Black Checklist.Main Outcomes and MeasuresTorture methods were ranked by their average frequencies, numbers of reporting studies, and numbers of countries wherein the methods occurred.ResultsA total of 9937 titles and abstracts were screened, and 266 studies encompassing 103 604 individuals (13 350 men, 5610 women, and 84 644 unspecified) were analyzed. Torture was reported for 105 countries; 21 methods accounted for 84% of all reported methods and 10 methods accounted for 78% of all physical tortures. The top 3 methods were beating or blunt-force trauma (reported in 208 studies and 59 countries; average frequency, 62.4%; 95% CI, 57.7%-67.1%), electrical torture (reported in 114 studies and 28 countries; average frequency, 17.2%; 95% CI, 15.0%-19.4%), and starvation or dehydration (reported in 65 studies in 26 countries; average frequency, 12.7%; 95% CI, 10.2%-15.2%). According to the Downs and Black appraisal tool, 50 studies were rated as good or excellent and 216 as fair or poor.Conclusions and RelevanceThe findings of this study suggest that torture remains widespread. Although innumerable torture methods exist, a limited number account for the vast majority of reported tortures. So that targeted therapies may be developed, additional investigation is needed to better elucidate the sequelae associated with the most common torture methods, described here.

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“…18 Blunt instruments were the most frequently used injurious means, as already said in other studies, which noted that beating was frequently applied as a torture method, leading to blunt trauma scars. 19 Nevertheless, the study allowed us to identify sequelae connected to a particular way of torturing people such as falanga (i.e. the act of beating the soles of the victim's feet repeatedly).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Asylum seekers: Forensic remarks regarding 185 cases

et al. 2019

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The medical examination of asylum seekers plays a significant role in helping them to obtain any form of international protection (refugee status or subsidiary or humanitarian protection). The Brescia Institute of Forensic Medicine has been increasingly involved in the medical examination of alleged victims of torture. Based on the Istanbul Protocol, the purpose of this study was to correlate the degree of consistency between the information provided by asylum seekers and the results of clinical examinations. A total of 185 asylum seekers were examined between September 2008 and September 2017. Almost all of the victims were male (94.0%) and aged between 11 and 30 years old (89.2%). Most victims were from Nigeria (23.2%), Gambia (16.2%) and Mali (10.8%), and the majority of the aggressions happened in Nigeria (18.9%), Gambia (14.5%) and Libya (12.9%). More than half of the instances of torture were related to political motives (57.3%); in 22% of cases, the victims referred to more than one act of aggression at different times. Blunt instruments were the most frequent means of injury (33.8%), followed by sharp instruments (23.3%). The most commonly involved anatomical regions were the lower and the upper limbs (23.6% and 20.5%, respectively). In terms of the degree of consistency between the lesion and the alleged torture, 50.4% of lesions were consistent with the information provided by the asylum seekers.

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Diagnosis of torture after 32 years: Assessment of three alleged torture victims during the 1980 military coup in Turkey

Cited by 6 publications

References 25 publications

Tortures alleged by migrants in Italy: compatibility and other medicolegal challenges

Tortures alleged by migrants in Italy: compatibility and other medicolegal challenges

Reported Methods, Distributions, and Frequencies of Torture Globally

Asylum seekers: Forensic remarks regarding 185 cases

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