Paraplyorganisationen for verdens anti-torturcentre, Det Internationale Rehabiliteringsråd for Torturofre (IRCT) med base i København, har fået ny medlemsorganisation i Irak. Centret behandler årligt 2.000 torturofre – bl.a. flygtninge fra Syrien.
A new torture rehabilitation organisation, offering support to thousands of torture victims in northern Iraq, has joined the IRCT, says International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) on its website.
The Kirkuk Centre for Torture Victims has an extensive network of rehabilitation centres in the north of the country, operating through six branches in the Kurdish region of Iraq and in the Domiz refugee camp.
Det andet IRCT-center i Irak
It is the second IRCT member based in Iraq and already treats around 2,000 torture survivors a year, half of whom are women and children.
The centre offers a range of services catering for the needs of all victims of torture and is a particularly important resource in the region, especially with a rise in Syrian refugees entering the country seeking physical and psychological assistance.
Some of the services offered by the centre include medical assessments, physiotherapy, and surgical treatment in cooperation with local medical practitioners, and psychological programs of counselling, individual and group therapy, and psychotherapy for children to assist all victims of torture to overcome their experience.
Grundlagt i 2005
Established in 2005, the centre also uses its own team to raise awareness of torture and rehabilitation, campaigns to address other non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and provides seminars for health workers and lawyers.
“I consider the adhesion of the Kirkuk Centre to the IRCT network as a significant factor in meeting the tremendous needs of torture victims in the region, including the challenge of the Syrian refugee influx,” says Christina Papadopoulou, Regional Coordinator for Middle-East and North Africa (MENA).
“Iraqi Kurdish areas have indeed come a long way since Anfal and the decades of strife and widespread human rights violations. The prospect of working with the team of Kirkuk Centre makes us all the more optimistic in the pursuance of the goal of enhancing the rehabilitation work in the country and in the region”.
The IRCT would like to welcome Kirkuk to the network. With this development the IRCT membership now stands at 144 member centres across the globe.
Læs mere om International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT): http://www.irct.org
Læs mere om The Kirkuk Centre for Torture Victims: http://www.kirkuk-center.org/
