Page Contents
Medical Terms
- Axilla
- Armpit.
- Brachial plexus
- The nerves running from the spine into the arm.
- Callus
- An area of thickening of bone at the place of healing.
- Cerebral oedema (edema)
- Swelling of the brain.
- Cognitive impairment
- Partial impairment of memory, thinking, perception or mood.
- Counter-transference
- Potential emotional reaction of the clinical evaluator toward the alleged torture victim.
- Depigmentation
- Complete loss of pigment from a patch of skin.
- DSM
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (American Psychiatric Association).
- Haematuria
- Blood in the urine.
- Hyperpigmentation
- Increase in pigmentation of an area of skin.
- Hypopigmentation
- Partial loss of pigment from an area of skin.
- Intrusive memories
- Involuntary, unpleasant and recurrent memories of an incident.
- Ischemia
- Decreased blood flow.
- Laceration
- A wound in which the skin is torn by blunt force.
- Medical Evaluation
- An assessment of physical and/or psychological evidence by a clinician.
- Medical history
- An individual’s personal account of a health problem.
- Medico-legal
- Relating to that branch of medicine that assists the courts.
- Necrotic
- Devitalized (death of) body tissues.
- Neuropathy
- Nerve damage.
- Oedematous (edematous)
- Swollen.
- Parasthesias
- A skin sensation such as burning, itching, tingling, with no apparent casuse.
- Pathognomonic
- A pathological finding that has only one cause.
- Perianal
- Around the anus.
- Petechiae
- Clusters of very small bruises.
- Psychosomatic symptoms
- Apparently physical symptoms that have a psychological cause.
- Retinal haemorrhage
- Bleeding into the back of the eye.
- Sequelae
- The consequences of a medical problem.
- Striae distensae
- Stretch marks of the skin.
- Subdural bleeding
- Bleeding between certain layers of fibrous tissue covering the brain.
- Tonic-clonic fits
- The common form of epileptic convulsions or seizures.
- Transference
- Feelings that a survivor of torture has towards the clinician that relate to past experiences, but which are misunerstood and towards the clinician personally.
- Urethral meatus
- The aperture at the end of the penis through which urine is voided.
Legal Terms
- Allegation
- A claim (as yet neither proved nor disproved) that an incident of torture has occurred.
- Applicant
- Person making an application under an individual complaint procedure.
- Application
- Submission asking a judicial body to consider a case under an individual complaint procedure.
- Arrest
- The act of apprehending a person for the alleged commission of an offence or by the action of an authority.
- Asylum
- Asylum is sought by individuals who do not wish to return to a country, usually their own, where they are at risk. If granted, it means being allowed to remain in a country which is not their own. It may be temporary or permanent.
- Corroboration
- Evidence which supports or confirms the truth of an allegation.
- CPT
- Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture.
- Declaration
- A particularly formed resolution, usually of the United Nations General Assembly, which is not as such legally-binding, but sets out standards which states undertake to respect.
- Derogate
- To temporarily suspend or limit.
- Detention
- Depriving a person of personal liberty except as a result of conviction for an offence.
- Domestic law or legal system
- National law or legal system; law or legal system which is specific to a particular country.
- Enforcement (of obligations)
- Making the obligations effective; ensuring that they are respected.
- Fact-finding
- Carrying out an investigation to discover the facts.
- Incommunicado detention
- Being held by the authorities without being allowed any contact with the outside world.
- Individual complaint
- A complaint relating to a specific set of facts affecting an individual or individuals.
- Instrument
- A general term to refer to international law documents, whether legally binding or not.
- Judicial procedure
- A procedure before a judicial body.
- NGO
- Non-governmental organisation.
- Perpetrator
- The person who has carried out an act.
- Reparation
- Measures to repair damage caused, eg. compensation.
- Sanction
- A penalty imposed for a state’s failure to respect its legal obligation.
- State responsibility
- Holding a state accountable under international law.
- Treaty
- International law document which sents out legally-binding obligations for states.
- War Crimes
- Grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions 1949, committed in the course of an armed conflict against persons or property protected by the Conventions, and other criminal violations of the rules of war.
Clarifications of Terms
- Use of the term “patient”
- Individuals who allege torture and ill treatment are sometimes referred to as “patients” even in the context of medico-legal evaluations.
- Physicians/Clinicians
- The terms “physician” and “clincician” are often used interchangably in this Curriculum. Keep in mind that psychological evidence may be evaluated by physicians, psychologists and clinical social workers. Physical evidence, however, is evaluated by physicians (medical doctors) only.
