On 19 September 2019, Advocacy Forum-Nepal (AF) organized a medico-legal training program in Kathmandu. The training was aimed to capacitate doctors to document the cases of torture and sexual violence more effectively and accurately so that the medico-legal documents can be used in the court of law as a strong evidence. The major focus of the program was to train medical professionals on the documentation of psychological torture and the cases where no physical signs of torture are observed/found. Altogether, 27 participants including doctors and lawyers attended the training whereby Professor Dr. Harihar Wasti and Assistant Professor Dr. Sagun Bhallav Pant facilitated the training sessions.
While delivering welcome remarks in the program, Ms. Mandira Sharma, the founder of AF stated that out of 151 cases of torture filed by AF on behalf of the victims under the Torture Compensation Act (TCA) 2053, the court awarded compensation to the victims in only 45 cases, 9 cases were withdrawn, 2 cases were mediated, 95 cases were dismissed and 2 cases remain inactive. Out of 95 dismissed cases, most were dismissed on the ground of lack of sufficient medical evidences. Hence, the successful prosecution of torture cases requires a proper medical report on the physical and psychological status of the alleged torture victims.
In the training Dr. Wasti said that while doing medico-legal documentation of torture cases, the doctors need to give enough time to thoroughly document each and every scars and wounds. He also suggested to refer Istanbul Protocol before documenting torture cases.
Similarly, Dr. Sagun Bhallav Pant stressed the need to provide a comfortable environment and dedicate enough time while documenting torture by the doctors. He also focused on the need to notice various psychological traits of the person in order to verify psychological torture.
This sort of medico-legal training is a part of the series of medico-legal trainings conducted by AF in the past. Through a series of medico-legal trainings, AF is trying to ensure that in future no cases will be dismissed just because there was no proper medico-legal documentation. After the training, the attendees expressed that the module of bringing together lawyers and doctors as well as the content discussed during the training session was very fruitful in their professional life. With the empowerment of doctors to document physical as well as psychological torture/impact of torture, AF believes that no victim will face injustice on the ground of lack of medical evidences. Since its’ establishment, AF has been working in the prevention of torture and promoting the fair trial system in Nepal.
The program was supported by DKA Austria.
