Examining detainees and documenting torture (Istanbul Protocol)

What it is

The Istanbul Protocol is the United Nations manual for the effective investigation and documentation of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; its current revision dates from 2022 (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights). It sets how the medical and psychological evaluation should be done: independent, with informed consent, in private, without State agents in the room, and with a report that interprets how the findings relate to the account. In Colombia the Penal Code makes torture an offence (art. 178), and a doctor who examines a detainee, whether in a medico-legal exam or in health care, must document objectively what is found.

What to document

• Who was present during the exam: the presence of State agents can undermine a negative report.
• Account, acute and chronic symptoms, and physical and psychological findings.
• The opinion on the possibility of torture, based on all the evidence.
• Factors that explain an absence of findings: time elapsed, methods that leave no mark, healing.

How it is done

1. Identify the person and obtain informed consent; explain the purpose, the uses of the report and its limits.
2. Examine in private: police or guards should not be in the room; if they refuse to leave, record it.
3. Take the account: dates, places, methods, acute symptoms and their course, without pressing.
4. Do a full physical exam and describe each injury with diagrams and, with consent, photographs with a scale.
5. Assess the psychological state and refer for specialist evaluation if needed.
6. Order the additional studies that help document the injuries.
7. Interpret each finding and the whole using the Protocol's levels: not consistent, consistent, highly consistent, typical or diagnostic.
8. Deliver the report through secure channels and protect the person's confidentiality and safety.

Next step: what to do and document

• Examine the person alone and record any presence or interference.
• Describe precisely and give your opinion using the Istanbul Protocol's levels of consistency.
• If you suspect torture or ill-treatment, inform the competent authority (Fiscalía) through secure channels and protect the person from reprisals.
• Ensure the medical care needed and continuity of treatment.
• Official text checked on 2026-11-05 at funcionpublica.gov.co.

Common mistakes

• Concluding there was no torture because there are no injuries: the absence of findings does not rule it out.
• Examining with police or guards present without recording it.
• Rating each injury separately without an opinion on the whole.
• Using legal standards («beyond reasonable doubt») instead of the levels of consistency.

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Elsewhere in DurgiPedia

• Informed consent: elements and how to obtain it
• Professional secrecy and confidentiality

Connections

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Educational content on forensic and legal medicine; not legal advice and no substitute for the technical guides of Colombia's National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences. Laws change: each page links the official text and says when it was last checked. For a real case, follow the guide in force and ask the competent authority.

Sources: Istanbul Protocol: Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Professional Training Series No. 8, Rev. 2) (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), 2022); Ley 599 de 2000, Código Penal (art. 178) (Función Pública, Gestor Normativo, 2000).

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