Impact of testimonial therapy and folk school on
the survivor of Torture and Organized Violence
Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi[i]
and Ms. Shirin Shabana Khan[ii]
The Republic of India
is the world’s second most populous country, and twelfth largest economy. India gained independence from the UK in
1947. It is a federal republic, made up of 28 states and 7 union territories. India
have signed the United Nations Convention against Torture (UNCAT) however, it
has not ratified it. The present government states that India has adequate provisions to
prevent torture in its existing domestic laws. However, torture is not
criminalized in domestic Indian law, and security forces and police perpetrate
human rights violations frequently in most if not all states of India.
Despite constitutional guarantees, legal protection and reports in the media,
beatings, rape and torture seem to be part of a routine continuing unabated.
Human Rights
Watchdogs and critical observers agree that the Indian criminal justice system
seems to be dealing with two broad categories of people: those who live above
the law and those who are absolutely crushed by it. Prisoners are one of the
weakest constituencies in the society. They have no voting rights, have very
limited access to the outside world, and are under the complete control of the
prison authority. They cannot speak with the press, write letters or speak with
their families without the permission and/or censorship by the prison
department. In India,
majority of these voiceless people remain in prison pending trial or
conviction. Most recent statistics reveal that over 65% of the prisoners are
under-trials and they may continue to be held in overcrowded prisons for years.
The occupancy in prisons exceeds by 41.4% over and above its sanctioned
capacity. A huge majority of these under-trial prisoners are poor. They are
denied bail for want of monetary security. And trials take years. Often, they have no lawyers, live in pathetic
conditions, do not have access to adequate medical care, and are likely to be
tortured or exploited. Many times, the legal aid lawyers and prison
officials are also unaware of the existing legal standards. The system fails
the prisoners at every turn and often times the agencies blame each other for
non-performance and unaccountability.
Under Indian law, there is no enforceable right to rehabilitation for torture survivors. Private medical and
psychological support is offered by only a few
rehabilitation centers[iii]
and torture
survivors cannot access the public health sector, due to lack of specialized
rehabilitation and rejection by the health care providers. In most cases,
torture victims, who have approached PVCHR for assistance, have never been
referred for any kind of treatment.
In this context of impunity, limited access to
justice, and limited rehabilitation services, PVCHR with RCT
identified a need for a psycho-legal approach. The two organizations have so far partnered on three pilot projects on
testimonial therapy.[iv]
Preliminary experiences show that testimony has a potential for creating new
dynamics in the justice process; converting the
survivor’s private pain into a new political voice to challenge impunity,
contribute to the establishment of the rule of law and people-centered advocacy. The pain and the agony expressed in the
testimonies help to convince the judiciary and human rights institutions about
the injustice committed against the plaintiff. It was easier to elicit a
coherent story from survivors and it seemed to release their pain during
narration of self suffering of being tortured[v]
The Constitution, adopted in 1950,
guarantees fundamental rights, such as the right to life and personal liberty,
equality before the law, procedural rights, freedom of religion, freedom of
expression, cultural and educational rights, and the right to redress in
courts. Salient provisions of the Constitution are summarized in annexure[vi].
The Constitution prohibits caste-based discrimination, but while caste barriers
have largely broken down in large cities, they persist in rural areas where 72%
of India's
population lives. Nevertheless, the caste system, in various forms, continues
to survive in modern India
strengthened by a combination of social perceptions and divisive politics.
India has ratified six of the nine core human rights treaties,[vii]
and has signed (on 14 October, 1997), but not yet ratified the UN Convention
against Torture (CAT). It has a dualist system, meaning that international law
must be transposed into domestic law by a legislative act.[viii]
The government introduced the
Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010 in the Parliament with a view to ratifying the
CAT.[ix]
However, in its current form this Bill is not fully compliant with the CAT, as
interpreted by the Committee against Torture. The definition in the Bill is not
as extensive as that in the CAT, the Bill includes a limitation clause despite
the jurisprudence of the Committee that such clauses should not apply to the
crime of torture, and the Bill addresses only the issue of criminalisation, but
not related issues such as witness protection or investigation procedures.
International monitors report widespread
violations of human rights in India,
including the use of torture. Dramatic
examples, where there is ongoing violence; torture and organized violence (TOV)
by both state and non-state parties against minorities; and torture as standard
operating procedure in police investigations of crime. The perpetrators, in
order of importance, include the police, military, border police, forest
officials, prison staff, and railway police.
Over 6000 credible cases of police torture were
documented in India within a three year period, in states not directly affected
by war or insurgency.[x] Data projections
from this study suggest that more than 1.5 million cases of torture, ill
treatment and inhuman behaviour may take place every year at the hands of the
police, not including other perpetrators.[xi] The majority of the torture takes place in rural
India,
where the prevailing social structure does not allow someone from a lower caste
effectively to enforce their rights. Dalits, indigenous groups, women, religious
minorities and the poor are the primary victims of torture. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are
overrepresented among the tortured compared to other castes. Most victims fear
further persecution or retribution, and so suffer in silence.[xii]
The purpose of
torture is to extract information or confession from the suspect in custody. At
times, torture is also employed against political opponents of the party in
power, to intimidate witnesses or deter complaints against the police, or for
simple extortion of money and favours.[xiii]
Police brutality and misuse of force are common,
and anti-terror legislation in particular has contributed to a culture of
impunity. Indian National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI)[xiv]
has failed consistently to report or investigate reported cases of torture,
although they have been given powers to do so.[xv]
As already mentioned individuals who are
poor and socially and politically marginalized are especially vulnerable to
prolonged detention and repeated ill-treatment because they are unable to bribe
police to secure their release and are unlikely to have connections to local
political figures that can intervene.
Testimonial Therapy
The
testimonial method represents a brief cross – cultural psychosocial approach to
trauma, which is relatively easy to matter. The method was developed in Chile
in 1983 and has since been used in many variations in different cultural
contexts. In 1998 Bosnia For refugees - led to improvement in PTSD
and depressive symptoms. In 2002 Kosovo: For refugees – seen as a narrative exposure treatment – a cognitive method. In 2003 Netherlands: For refugees
– seen as exposure to traumatic memories and adjustment
of inadequate thinking and in dame year 2003 Germany: For traumatised Bosnian
refugees – feelings of self-esteem and dignity were regained.
2004 Mozambique: For survivors of civil war in rural camps – decrease of psychiatric symptoms. In 2004 Uganda: For
Sudanese refugees in Ugandan camps – Narrative Exposure Therapy had promising results for treatment of PTSD
and in same year 2004 USA: For adolescent Sudanese refugees – an acceptable interaction bridging cultural gaps
preventing refugees from seeking psychiatric help. In 2005 Iraq: For injured
humanitarian workers after bombing of UN HQ in Bagdad – a safe structure to recall the traumatic event and in
same year 2005 USA: For African Americans – personal and collective stories are told and the person is seen within
the community. In 2008 Sri Lanka: For torture Victims – a brief therapy intervention – re-integration into the community – development of a Manual (published by Asian Human
Rights Commission). In 2008 – 2009 with PVCHR, India developed a new testimonial method “psycho-legal
approach”
brief therapy intervention for torture survivors to – re-integration of survivors into the community
The aim of the
testimony was to facilitate integration of traumatic experience and restoration
of self esteem. However the communication of traumatic events through testimony
may also have been useful because it channelled the patients into socially
constructive action – production of a document that could be used as an
indictment against the offenders. The possibility of putting their experience
to use resulted in the alleviation of guilt.
It is an
approach that emphasizes the denunciation of human rights violation and
advocacy to obtain justice. The method is also brief and can be used both in
the individual and community interventions, and by the non –professionals with
specific training in methodology. Giving testimony about one’s suffering is
probably a significant component in the healing of trauma across culture,
whether the frame of reference is psycho –legal, psychodynamic, existential,
spiritual, political, cognitive- behavioural or narrative.
By giving testimony, survivors benefited psychologically and became
better able to cope with the difficult present. Feelings of self-worth and
dignity could be regained and a trusting relationship between the survivor and
the listener facilitated the therapeutic process. The testimony material
documented human rights abuses both in the country of origin and in exile,
helped us to perform informed advocacy for this group and informed a larger
public on the psychological costs of refugee resettlement policies
The
testimonial therapy[xvi]
procedure in this model is performed over four sessions:
·
Session
one: Opening the story
·
Session
Two: Closing the Story
·
Session
Three: The delivery ceremony
·
Session
Four: Follow-up
The testimonial method can be used
with survivors of torture only if they have complete trust in the therapists. Therefore, the therapists must be part of an
organization the survivors already know and with which they have established a
bond of trust. This will most likely be a human rights organization, which has
already made legal testimonies with the survivors and supported them in their
fight for legal justice and reparation.
The duration of each session is
normally from 90 to 120 minutes. The survivor should be informed before the session
starts about the number and duration of the sessions. The first and second
session includes a meditation (“mindfulness”) experience guided by the
therapists, in which the survivor and the two therapists sit together for ten
minutes in silent concentration on their breathing and with awareness of their
thoughts and feelings. The meditation will usually take place at the end of a
session.
The testimony is written in note form
by the note-taker during the sessions. After the sessions, the interviewer and
note-taker collaborate on filling-in the missing parts of the story and produce
a computer version of the narrative. The story in the written testimony is in
the first person (“I experienced”, and not “he experienced”). The story about
the traumatic events is in the past tense, while sensations and feelings
produced by telling the story are in the present tense. In the training course,
the steps for writing a good testimony is explained and practiced. A testimony
should include detailed information about the torture experience, the
perpetrator(s), emotional reactions of the survivor to the experiences at the
time when it happened and now, the impact of the torture on the survivors life
(impact on relation to family and community), and the steps taken by the
survivor to obtain justice.
Session One:
Opening the story
When starting
the first session the testimony procedure is explained, beginning with a
psycho-educational introduction to the survivor in which his or her symptoms
are explained both as a result of the torture and of the violation of universal
human rights, which has taken place. A preparatory introduction to the
therapeutic approach is given: the testimony should not be seen by the survivor
as directly related to expectations of obtaining immediate justice and
reparation but as a way of healing the psychological effects of the torture.
Then the M&E questionnaire is completed, and it is explained that the data
are confidential and will only be used for developing methods for helping survivors
of torture.
The survivor is then asked to give a
short description of personal background and individual history prior to the
first traumatic event or persecution. With open questions the survivor is asked
to briefly describe the stressful events s/he has experienced and choose one
major, overwhelming traumatic event. The therapist gives an overview of the
different events to help the survivor trace one of the experiences and help
him/her really begin the re-construction of the story. The therapist separates
overlapping stories (if the survivor wants to tell about more than one event).
The therapist organizes the themes and helps the survivor to explain unclear
elements in the story. It is important that the therapist is “in control” of
the situation and leads the survivor in getting to the main points of the
story. The survivor narrates the facts concerning this event (time, place,
duration and people involved); the survivor’s role during the event (observer,
participant, active or passive); the individual and social dimensions of the
experience; the survivor’s perceptions and feelings at the time of the event;
the survivor’s perceptions and feelings at the time of the testimony therapy[xvii].
The therapists (interviewer and note-taker) are empathic and warm. Contradictions
are clarified, and the survivor is urged to describe the torture in as much
detail as possible and to disclose his or her emotions and thoughts at that
moment. The therapists may use culturally appropriate touch, e.g. a hand on the
arm of the survivor. A mindfulness meditation experience ends the session.
Session
Two
One of the
therapists starts the second session by reading the written testimony to the
survivor in a loud voice so that the survivor hears that his or her story has
been given voice. It often has a strong
supportive effect on the survivor to hear his or her story of suffering told
with another voice. The survivor is asked to correct the story or add any
additional details that may have been missed, and the therapists continue the
session as during the first session. They focus on the relationship between the
stressful experience and the present situation, and the survivor is encouraged
to express his or her feelings about the future (individual, family and
community). A mindfulness meditation ends the session. After the session, the
therapists correct the document to produce a final version of the testimony.
Session three: The delivery ceremony
The delivery
ceremony can be performed in different variations according to the wishes of
the survivor and the circumstances: a public ceremony (with a wider audience in
the streets) or a more private ceremony (with the community, support group or
family), a political ceremony (a demonstration), or a spiritual ceremony (with
emphasis on cultural ritual and purification). In the ceremony, the interviewer
(or note taker) reads the testimony out to the audience, and the survivor is
presented with a printed copy of his or her testimony. Speeches could be given
praising the courage of the survivor, who might be awarded flower garlands or
some other honorific symbol.
In
this project, PVCHR held a public delivery ceremony in honour of the survivors.
The ceremony was also a political demonstration against torture and was held in
front of the District Government Headquarter of Varanasi where 14 testimonies
were read out in public and delivered to the survivors who were also honoured
with a cotton shawl (a symbol of honour in India) and a speech which praised
their bravery and encouraged them to continue fighting for justice. Many of the
survivors and their family members cried when they heard their stories read
out, and said afterwards that they felt very happy. At the end of the ceremony
the 14 survivors spontaneously sat down in a circle and spoke with each other
about their feelings. The ceremony was transmitted by local TV networks and
written about by the press.
Session
four: Follow up
The fourth session is a post-therapy testing to
monitor and evaluate the outcome of the testimony therapy. One of the
therapists meet with the survivor one to two months after the last intervention
(public ceremony, community meeting, or delivery of the testimony), and the
M&E questionnaire is filled-in.
Folk School, a survivors’ support
initiative as torture prevention strategy and community healing
Essentially, the folk school approach is to establish equality in a
society by improving the speech capacity of the poorer and the weaker section
of the society. Improving their capacity to talk back and thereby creating a
two way discourse in the society is the way the concerns of the weak are
brought to social discourse against TOV.
Matters of justice depend very much on the capacity of concerned people
to un-censor themselves and to speak out constantly. Normally there are many
unwritten rules through which people censor themselves. For example, some
topics may be considered taboo in some societies or sub sections of societies.
For example it may be an unwritten rule that some “lower class people” do not
talk back to “higher class people”. It may also be that some unwritten rules of
censorship are enforced by punishments.
In all these instances the capacity to un- censor ourselves is an
essential component of seeking justice. When a small group of people begin to
un- censor themselves others watch and soon begin to un-censor themselves as
well. In this manner taboos invariably dissolve. The initial stages of
un-censoring require:
1.
Location from which you can break the rules of
censorship while assuring protection for yourself.
2.
The will to break such rules of censorship.
3.
Creating an audience for you, which may at the
beginning, is small.
Keeping at it day in and day out until taboos such TOV slowly begin to
eliminate.
Building
self-esteem:
A human/survivor having self-esteem is creative,
happy, and active and has more confidence. Survivors derive confidence about
themselves from the way they are treated, mostly by their
family/community/therapist/social worker /society at large.
Considering that we work with the marginalized
survivors, who have experiences of deprivations of various kinds, building
self-esteem among these survivors assumes greater importance.
Self-esteem refers to the sense of personal worth
and ability that is fundamental to an individual's identity. The term self
esteem can be explained as an essential quality that one should have, to become
a confident and independent person. It is also called as self pride, where the
person feels proud of himself/herself and the things he does. A person with high
self esteem considers himself/herself capable to achieve whatever he sets out
to do. S/He not only knows about his/her strengths, but also his/her
weaknesses. On the other hand, a person with a low self esteem doubts his/her
abilities for every step s/he takes, and this attitude may lead to failure in
his/her professional as well as personal life. This surely shows the importance
of having a high self esteem.
Facilitating Critical thinking:
Critical thinking is a process,
the goal of which is to make reasonable decisions about what to believe and
what to do. Philosophers emphasize the importance of survivor's exposure to
causality and logic. Improvement in survivor's cognition allows them to produce
new ideas and confront problems by reasoning through them. This 'critical
thinking' allow survivors to explore their own concepts, derive conclusions and
dispute the reasoning of others.
Because we all are continually
making decisions, critical thinking is important to us in personal and
vocational, as well as societal aspects of our lives.
Folk
school-Education for life:
The challenges marginalized communities today faces
are many, and they need to develop skills beyond the mere numerical and
literacy skills.
Education for life should be one that is able to
have an all round development of the marginalized. She/he should try to develop
life skills that will make him/her an asset to society and re-build the society
based on the principle of social justice. Education for life in the 21st century
includes the ability to lead change, think critically, work in teams, create
and quickly adapt to new changes - technology, be a self-managed learner,
communicate effectively, and understand the needs of the communities in which
we live and contribute.
Developing
Leadership:
The objective is not to teach survivor how to
become a leader but to enable them to develop their full potential and teach
them basic ethics and values so that they become strong individuals with the
capabilities to become a leader. The best way to teach survivors about
leadership is by first telling them why individuality and ethics are important.
Leaders are the most pro-active people in any group so survivors need to be
taught to take the initiative. Discussions with real life examples of leaders
and fighting survivors will inspire and motivate survivors.
Helping survivors analyze a situation and take in a
lot of different perspectives is also an effective way of teaching how to
approach situations differently. Learning from each experience is a very
important trait of a leader. Leaders are knowledgeable, so encourage young to
read the newspapers and books regularly. Reading can be a great source of
inspiration for aspiring leaders.
And lastly, teaching survivors to set goals and high standards. This does not
mean we force survivors to achieve the impossible, but enabling them to aim for
the best. And more importantly, empowering them how to get there too!
[i] Executive Director, Peoples’ Vigilance Committee on Human Rights
[ii] Program Manager, Peoples’ Vigilance Committee on Human Rights
[iii] India has only six rehabilitation organizations for torture victims
registered in the IRCT updated global directory of rehabilitation services.
www.irct.org
[v] The senior
HRW researcher interviewed several torture survivors, who were assisted through
the RCT – PVCHR testimonial pilot
project in 2009. Ref. Human Rights Watch, Broken System, dysfunction, abuse,
and impunity in the Indian Police.
|
CONSTITUTION OF INDIAN
|
|
Art.14
|
Equality before laws
|
|
Art.17
|
Abolition of untouchability
|
|
Art.19
|
Fundamental freedoms
|
|
Art.20 (1)
|
Protection against
conviction/enhanced punishment under ex
post facto law
|
|
Art.20 (2)
|
Protection against double
jeopardy
|
|
Art.20 (3)
|
Protection against self-incrimination
|
|
Art.21
|
Protection of life and
personal liberty
|
|
Art.22
|
Right against arbitrary or
illegal arrest
|
|
Art.23 (1)
|
Abolition of bonded labour
|
|
Art.32 & 226
|
Right to remedies for
enforcement of human rights
|
|
Art.46
|
Promotion of interests of weaker
sections
|
|
Art.39A
|
Free legal aid to the poor
|
|
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE
|
|
Sec.57, 41, 151, 46, 49
|
Right against arbitrary or
illegal arrest
|
|
Sec.50
|
Right to be released on bail
|
|
Sec.50 (A)
|
Health & safety of
arrested person should be care of
|
|
Sec.47, 51,100
|
Right against arbitrary or
unreasonable searches and seizure
|
|
Sec.54, 162,164 & 176
|
Protection against cruel or
inhuman treatment during investigation
|
|
Sec.53 & 54
|
Detainees should have the
right to a medical examination
|
|
Sec. 57
|
Person arrested not to be
detained more than 24 hours in police custody
|
|
Sect.
97
|
Magistrate
may issue search –warrant if any person is illegally taken in the custody
|
|
Sec. 160
|
Women & Children should not be taken to police
station for investigation
|
|
Sec. 176 (A)
|
Provision for the compulsory
Judicial enquiry in the each case of custodial death
|
|
Sec.300
|
Protection against double jeopardy
|
|
Sec.161
|
Protection against self-incrimination
|
|
Sec. 357 (A)
|
Every provincial government
in collaboration with the central Govt. shall prepare a scheme for providing
fund for the purpose of compensation of the victims or his depends who have
suffered lose or injury as a result of the crime and who require
rehabilitation.
|
|
INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT
|
|
Sec.24, 25 & 26
|
Protection against cruel or
inhuman treatment during investigation
- Forceful approbation of crime by police under section 161 CrPC
that is not evidence under section 26 of evidence act; if the statement
is not given before the magistrate.
|
|
Sec. 101 to 104
|
Right to benefit of doubt
|
|
Sec.113A,113B,114A
|
Protection of Women against
certain crimes
|
|
INDIAN PENAL CODE (IPC)
|
|
Sec.330 & 331
|
Protection against cruel or
inhuman treatment during investigation
|
|
Sec.376& 304-B
|
Protection of women against
certain crimes
|
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CODE OF CONDUCT FOR THE
POLICE
|
|
Clause1, 3 & 4
|
Protections of Human Rights
|
|
Clause 7
|
Code of Behaviour for Police
Officers
|
[viii] See state of Madras vs. V.G.G Menon AIR SC 517 and peoples’ Union for Civil Liberties v Union of
India (1997) 3 SCC. See for the proposition that some provision of
international treaties might be self executing Shah, J., Sep.op., in Maganbhai
Ishwarbhaiv Union of India, AIR 1969 SC 783 at 807 and comments by Verma, S.K
International Law in: verma, S.K. and Kusum (eds), fifty years of supreme court
of India, its grasp and reach, oxford university press, Indian Law Institute,
2000, 621-649, at 632.
[x] National
Project on Preventing Torture in India, 2006-2008, funded by the
European Commission
[xi] The projections are
based upon 10 cases per month in 12,702 police stations in India (Torture in India,
Torture and Impunity in India,
PWTN, 2008)
[xii] Torture
and Impunity in India,
PWTN, 2008
[xiv] Protection
of human rights act, 1993, provides for the constitution of national human
rights commission, state human rights commissions and human rights courts for
better protection of human rights
[xv]
The so called ‘Malimath report’
is essential to study in order to understand the critical discourse on
reforming the criminal justice system in India. The Committee on Reforms of
the Criminal Justice System, headed by Justice V.S. Malimath, submitted its
report to the Ministry of Home Affairs in April 2003.
Amnesty International has criticized the the Committee for having failed
to take into account international human rights standards which establish a
framework for human rights protection within criminal justice systems
throughout the world. Secondly, it has failed to address a vast range of
important concerns about the current functioning of the criminal justice
system. The report fails to address adequately or in some cases at all, issues
including: the problems of access to the criminal justice system for marginalized
communities; lack of access to legal aid; endemic corruption, discrimination
and bias within institutions of the criminal justice system; non-implementation
of safeguards against police abuses; impunity for human rights violations
committed by state actors, among others.
