Medical meanderings of the mind, looking back at 30 years of experience visiting victims of torture in custody.

Abstract

The paper summarises some highpoints from my past field experience of thirty years, to il-lustrate different issues, difficulties and best practices when visiting prisoners. I recount some of my most relevant experiences, both positive and negative, with individuals who had been tortured, interviewing and exam-ining them whilst they were still in custody. They might be of interest to younger genera-tions of physicians working on these issues.The examples, all from the field, should demonstrate the importance of showing true "empathy" for the victims, so as to obtain their trust - and hence their stories. The examples are as varied as have been the different settings and encounters with both victims and perpe-trators. I have tried to illustrate the many pit-falls to avoid, and provide suggestions on how best to avoid them.