States are not only obliged to prevent torture. They must also act to help heal those who have suffered it.

Under Article 14 of the United Nations Convention against Torture (CAT), torture survivors have an internationally recognised human right to “as full rehabilitation as possible”. The obligation to fulfil that right falls first and foremost on States. 

The IRCT and the International Centre for Health and Human Rights (ICHHR) have produced a step-by-step Guide in order to assist States on what they must do to implement the right to rehabilitation. Drawing on a decade of research and over 30 years of practical experience working in all regions of the world to promote implementation of the right to rehabilitation, the Guide represents an authoritative statement of best practice. It can also be used by national human rights institutions, civil society organisations and other actors to engage States in dialogue on how to create rehabilitation programmes for torture survivors.