Preventing Torture and Rehabilitating Survivors in Nepal

Preventing torture and rehabilitating survivors in a country that practices torture is difficult but possible. The Center for the Victims of Torture Nepal (CVICT) documents and treats torture survivors in four ways: (a) fact-finding teams, (b) referrals to its clinic in Kathmandu, (c) prison visits, and (d) a community-based rehabilitation program for Bhutanese refugees. In addition, the center also conducts research in four ways: (a) a quantitative matched-control study of tortured refugees to identify consequences of torture, (b) a case note survey, (c) a narrative study to identify local idioms of distress, and (d) focus groups to identify issues pertinent in the local context.