IRCT discusses torture rehabilitation in the context of armed conflict and post-conflict in Asia
November 29, 2014:
Seventeen members of the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) Asia
region will gather at Imphal, Manipur in the North East region of India for their annual regional
meeting from 1-3 December 2014.The meeting will be centred on the theme of ‘Rehabilitation as
Reparation in the context of Complex Humanitarian Crises’. Other centres from Thailand and the
Republic of South Korea shall also be joining the meeting as observers.
The meeting, co-organised by the IRCT and the Centre for Organisation Research and Education
(CORE) in close cooperation with the Indian Red Cross Society, will focus onthe concept and
implementation of the right to rehabilitation in Asia.
Key government, human rights and health experts will meet with representatives from IRCT
torture rehabilitation centres to discuss responses to torture and ill-treatment in the context of
armed conflict and post-conflict in Asia. The meeting will also provide an opportunity for torture
rehabilitation centres to exchange context–specific information and good practices on
rehabilitation interventions undertaken at local level.
The meeting shall be opened by the Hon’ble Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government
of Manipur. Keynote speakers include Dr Y Mohen Singh, General Secretary of the Indian Red
Cross Society in Manipur, and Dr Immanuel ZarzosangVarte, Executive Director of CORE.
Talks throughout the week will inform the development of IRCT’sGlobal Strategy for 2015-2020
and identify contextually appropriate means of operationalisation of the strategy in the Asia
region.
Other highlights of the meeting include a demonstration of the Dance Movement Therapy, a
participatory approach to rehabilitation through dance and movement established by therapists
from CORE-H2H and the Creative Movement Therapy Association of India.
Furthermore, delegates will travel to Loktak Lake to meet an indigenous community who have
been subjected to torture due to opposition to a large development planthat threatens their rural
communities. This Loktak Lake areas and fisher community illustrates region-wide tensions and
the widespread discontent amongst indigenous peoples.
The meeting is organised under the auspices of the IRCT, a Copenhagen-based umbrella
organisation that supports the rehabilitation of torture victims and the prevention of torture
across more than 140 rehabilitation centres worldwide.
What is the IRCT?
As a network of 144 torture rehabilitation centres across 74 countries, the IRCT is the world’s
largest membership-based civil society organisation working in the field of torture rehabilitation
and prevention.
Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, its key distinctive feature lies in a holistic health-based approach
to torture rehabilitation. In addition, the organisation defines itself as private, non-partisan, and
not-for-profit, as well as governed by democratic structures.
IRCT’s diverse membership share three common characteristics; each is a legally independent
organisation that is rooted in civil society; each provides services to at least 50 torture victims
annually; and each is committed to sharing their experiences throughout the IRCT and beyond.
IRCT member centres stem from all regions of the world. Given the very nature of the
organisation, some of those centres may be newly established, small or fragile from an
organisational perspective, while others have long trajectories of public service, appropriate
budgets and solid funding structures.
Together the movement is strong and effective in fighting torture across the globe. However, the
core strength of the movement stems from a triad of values: solidarity, equality and democracy.
For more information, please visit: www.irct.org
About CORE and H2H
The Centre for Organisation Research & Education (CORE) is an Indigenous Peoples’ Centre for
Policy and Human Rights in India’s Eastern Himalayan Territories that focuses on advocacy and
documentation of human rights abuses directly concerning indigenous peoples. CORE has a Special
Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
The Human to Humane Transcultural Centre for Torture & Trauma (H2H) – please visit
https://www.facebook.com/human2humane.imphal - is an autonomous humanitarian action
service initiative of CORE, working as an independent health and humanitarian service for
survivors of trauma and torture in Manipur, India since 2008. The centre seeks to address an
existing gap of comprehensive and effective institution-based healthcare response to the high
prevalence of widespread trauma and torture, and their consequences on the pePople of Manipur
in the context of long-standing political violence, internal armed conflict, and escalating criminal
violence. For more information please visit: http://coremanipur.org
Released by
Dr. Marion Staunton (Senior Advisor, Asia, IRCT);
Dr Debabrata Roy Laifungbam (President, Elders’ Council, CORE)
Notes With the cooperation of Indian Red Cross Society, Manipur
Place Hotel Classic & Hotel Imphal, Imphal, Manipur, INDIA
For more information on the IRCT Asia Regional Meeting, please contact IRCT Senior Advisor for the Asia Dr Marion Staunton at [email protected] or Deputy Director of CORE, Mr Namdithiu Pamei
at [email protected].
* This PR was sent to e-pao.net by Namdithiu Pamei (CORE) who can be contacted at namdithiu(at)coremanipur(dot)org
This Press Release was posted on November 30 2014
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