Asia

Credit: shutterstock, Zakir1346 / Students painting graffiti in memory of those killed at pro-democracy protest in Bangladesh.

Beaten, suffocated, drowned, sexually assaulted and set on fire by the Philippine Army’s Special Operation Task Force-Basilan, Abdul-Khan Ajid, a baker, was saved from despair by the support of Balay, while evidence of his torture was documented by MAG.

On July 23rd, 2011, Abdul-Khan Ajid, a baker living in the Muslim-majority island of Basilan in the far south of the Philippines was arrested by the 4th Scout Ranger Battalion on charges of kidnapping. He was turned over to the Special Operation Task Force-Basilan, headed by Captain Sherwin Guidangen.

For four days, soldiers under Guidangen’s command beat, suffocated, drowned, sexually assaulted and eventually set fire to Ajid in an attempt to get him to confess to being someone he was not: Kanneh Malikil, an alleged member of outlawed armed Islamist group Abu Sayyef Group (ASG), for whom they had an arrest warrant. Following his torture, Ajid received medical treatment for burns and other injuries at a hospital in Basilan before being transferred to high-security detention in Taguig City prison, south east of Metro Manila, the capital of the Philippines…

Read about how Balay and MAG cooperated and helped Abdul-Khan Ajid obtain justice on the Philippines Country Page.

Watch Dr Benito Molino from the medical Action Group (MAG) explain forensics in Philippines in Insights: Frontline Forensics in the Philippines

Poverty is a leading risk factor for torture: Being poor makes you more likely to be tortured. And being tortured makes you more likely to be poor, as survivors struggle to return to work, putting them at risk of falling into a cycle of poverty and social exclusion, aggravating the trauma already suffered.

IRCT member The People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) has worked for decades to overcome such discrimination and break the link between poverty and torture.

With a grant for improved rehabilitation from UATC, 696 survivors received support, including testimonial therapy, legal support, livelihood, and counselling to publicly voice their concerns and seek justice.

Read more about IRCT’s members’ work on the India Country Page.

In individual honour ceremonies survivors present their testimonies and receive a certificate, symbolising their transition from victims to empowered advocates for justice. Credit: PVCHR

To address effectively the acute crisis in Bangladesh, the UATC adopted a Crisis Response procedure, the first of it’s kind as Bangladesh approached its general election in January 2024, and the rise in torture went hand in hand with attacks on the rule of law.

IRCT led on drafting a series of statements (in English and Bengali) aimed at the government in Dhaka and its international partners, as well as providing emergency grants and training on torture documentation for our new member Human Rights Development Centre (HRDC).

Read more about the work between IRCT and Bangladeshi member HRDC on the Bangladesh Country Page.

credit: SK Hasan Ali, Shutterstock

Poverty increases the risk of torture, while torture survivors often face poverty due to difficulties returning to work. This cycle worsens trauma and social exclusion. Rehabilitation is limited when survivors struggle to meet basic needs, making recovery and reintegration into society even more challenging.

From June 2023 to May 2024, IRCT member in Sri Lanka, the Family Rehabilitation Centre (FRC), ran a project in Uduvil and Tellippalai, Jaffna offering 60 female survivors of torture a ‘Skills Development Training Programme.’ They received 3-day training on leather bag sewing or dry food packing, digital marketing training, business plan development, mentoring. Improved confidence and social integration was recorded among beneficiaries, as well as greater employment prospects, practical skills developed. The participants finalised business plans, and several new enterprises opened after obtaining commercial credit. Read more here.

Credit: FRC / 60 female survivors of torture from the Tamil-majority Jaffna district of North Sri Lanka were supported by FRC to enhance their skills and develop a sustainable livelihood.

TPO Nepal surveyed 46 torture survivors in Western Nepal before and after receiving support to restart their working lives alongside the standard course of counselling. The results? Depression severity fell from 22% to 2%, anxiety halved, and PTSD diagnosis fell from 44% to 5%.

Transcultural Psychosocial Organization Nepal (TPO Nepal) know that simple fixes go a long way. A new battery to get a motorbike taxi business up and running again. A secure shelter for goats to stop them being stolen.

Working since 2020 with people affected by torture during the armed conflict in western Nepal, TPO’s livelihoods projects benefit more than 1,000 people. Most are women whose husbands and sons were tortured, sometimes killed, by both sides of Nepal’s civil war, which ended in 2006. Read more about IRCT’s Livelihoods strategy here.

Credit: shutterstock / Rupa Chaudhary (TPO Nepal) and member of IRCT’s Livelihoods Steering Committee, said that holistic support, including income generating activities, can rapidly reduce survivors’ psychosocial issues.

In 2023, IRCT members from Asia gathered together for regional meetings in Manila for three days of face-to-face discussions on best practices and challenges in their centres and how to strengthen implementation of the Global Standards on Rehabilitation (GSR).

It was agreed with members beforehand to focus on those of the 17 GSR found to be most significant and challenging. Some members presented their own experience with the standard, prompting a wider discussion among peers.

Read more about GSR here.