Regarding the prevention and investigation of incidents of torture, one of the most urgent problems has long been the absence of internationally acknowledged guidelines for their effective and thorough documentation. Initiated by the Turkish Medical Association, the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey and the Physicians for Human Rights USA, and with the joint effort of more than 75 experts from different fields, representing 40 organizations in 15 countries, those guidelines were developed and finally published in 1999 as the "Istanbul Protocol: Manual on the Effective Investigation and...