Danish Institute against Torture

This article addresses a timely and important issue: terrorism recruitment and disengagement in the digital era. It explores the intricate dynamics of social networks and peer contagion and their role in processes of recruitment and disengagement in terrorism activities in Indonesia. It emphasizes on how close relations and peers significantly influence young individual behavior, often facilitated through digital spaces; social media, encrypted chat groups, and other content-sharing platforms, and explores potential avenues for prevention and disengagement. The research is based on in-depth interviews with 20 former inmates convicted of acts of terrorism between 2023 and 2025 in the greater Jakarta and west Java region, Indonesia. The finding highlights that social networks serve as critical outreach platforms, especially for the young people, for disseminating extremist ideologies, sharing biased information and propaganda content, and serve to promote recruitment for violent activities. It demonstrates how communication and information sharing via digital spaces platforms plays a crucial role in shaping the processes that lead young individuals towards violent ideologies and practices. In addition, we observed that on one hand peer influence plays a pivotal role in enabling recruitment but on the other hand for prevention and disengagement efforts; although, antisocial and violent behavior spreads more readily than prosocial behavior among peers. Analysis indicate that a clear understanding of the structure of these social networks and their dynamics, as well as the mechanisms of peer contagion is essential for developing effective preventive strategies and targeted interventions. Importantly, these findings have broader practical implications, which not only provides insights of contextual complexities of recruitment and disengagement that could inform future research , but also for policymakers and practitioners who could translate this knowledge into policies and develop interventions that strengthen protective social ties, foster trust and support among peers, and guide the responsible use of digital spaces in Indonesia, and beyond. Ultimately, this study recommends revising the terrorism law in Indonesia regarding digital literacy and responsible supervision of digital space to prevent the spread of radicalism through digital space.

Abstract Marseille is a city that has long been sensationalistically associated in the public imagination with crime and drug dealing. This article begins by tracing the history of drug dealing and gang violence in the city, from its 19th century origins to the rise of what has been called the “French Connection” in the 1960s and 1970s, when Marseille played a central role in the global heroin trade. The city’s criminality subsequently became more local in scope in the 1980s and 1990s, and the second part of the article draws on recent research carried out in the Marseille cité of Félix-Pyat, a poor neighbourhood widely associated with gang violence and drug dealing, to explore the consequences of the changing nature of crime in the city for process of “criminal governance”. When considered historically and in relation to our previous research on gangs in Nicaragua and South Africa, we suggest that it might be appropriate to talk about there being “varieties” of criminal governance that come together as “assemblages” than can be constituted in fundamentally different ways.

Abstract This chapter grapples with the issue of power in Myanmar prisons. It is about punishment, the disciplinary system, and the ubiquity of violence. Taking point of departure in the idea that power is not pregiven or intrinsic but is produced in practice, we look at how power is exercised in everyday lived experience through practices of punishment and discipline that are laced with violence. Our orientation is to power as diffusely distributed and exercised and performed in ways that are often accepted as habitual and natural by all parties. The often-brutal structures and practices we describe conspire to generate the compliance and subjection of the prisoner and the production of an orderly prison. Our examination and delineation of these practices complete our characterisation of prisons in Myanmar as bureaucratic, martial, and violent marketplaces with authoritarian pretensions.

In this article, drawing on two decades studying prisons and prison reform practices in (mostly) southern countries undergoing transition, I examine the challenges facing anti-torture professionals and prison reformers working in the global south and critically interrogate the assumptions of dominant models of reform. Rights and health-based entry points to the prevention of torture and inhumane treatment and prison reform are argued to be necessary but insufficient. I propose the concept ‘compromised circumstances’ to counter the structural biases that diminish and erase ordinary everyday experience. The ‘compromised circumstances’ of countries torn by conflict, inequality, poverty and mundane violence call for innovative interventions based on reflexive social scientific description and analysis. The inevitable sense of dizziness and uncertainty such circumstances induce must be embraced not denied. A dynamic, organic and relational entry point to reform is required.

Maternal stress during pregnancy is associated with differential DNA methylation in offspring and disrupted cortisol secretion. This study aimed to determine methylation signatures of cortisol levels in children, and whether associations differ based on maternal post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Blood epigenome‐wide methylation and fasting cortisol levels were measured in 118 offspring of mothers recruited from the Kosovo Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims. Mothers underwent clinically administered assessment for PTSD using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Correlations between offspring methylation and cortisol levels were examined using epigenome‐wide analysis, adjusting for covariates. Subsequent analysis focussed on a priori selected genes involved in the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis stress signalling. Methylation at four sites were correlated with cortisol levels (cg15321696, r = −0.33, cg18105800, r = +0.33, cg00986889, r = −0.25, and cg15920527, r = −0.27). In adjusted multivariable regression, when stratifying based on prenatal PTSD status, significant associations were only found for children born to mothers with prenatal PTSD (p < 0.001). Several sites within HPA axis genes were also associated with cortisol levels in the maternal PTSD group specifically. There is evidence that methylation is associated with cortisol levels, particularly in offspring born to mothers with prenatal PTSD. However, larger studies need to be carried out to independently validate these findings.

ABSTRACT Background: Victims of torture and organized violence are among the most vulnerable refugees. The nature of torture promotes shame, secrecy and silencing of the survivors, and there is a need for studies to provide a testimony to the experiences of survivors. Objective: To contribute to the global knowledge base by exploring the nature and frequency of different types of torture as reported by survivors and to explore potential associations between basic sociodemographic variables and the likelihood of reporting different kinds of torture and of attending treatment for PTSD. Method: This study is based on archival data from 27 years of clinical practice treating survivors of torture and organized violence (N = 1249) in a specialist outpatient clinic. Data was coded from patient files by two research assistants. Statistical analysis included independent samples t-tests, Pearson Chi Square tests and regression. Results: The study found strong associations between gender of survivors and the reporting of different kinds of torture, most strongly with respect to sexual torture. Furthermore, the study found significant differences between survivors belonging to an ethnic minority and survivors who belonged to the majority populations within their countries of origin with regards to the extent of the torture, they report being subjected to. Patients who received treatment reported more torture experiences than those who did not. Conclusions: Findings from the present study document the experiences of different torture methods as reported by survivors, and suggest that belonging to an ethnic minority population is associated with an increased risk of being subjected to more severe torture, which has implications for both research and interventions aimed at treating survivors of torture.

This Protocol originates from a joint project regarding documentation of psychological torture initiated by the Public Committee against Torture in Israel (PCATI), REDRESS and DIGNITY - Danish Institute Against Torture (DIGNITY) in 2015 after the Copenhagen Conference on Psychological Torture. The project is a vehicle to establish a common understanding between health and legal professions as to how to best ensure the most accurate documentation of torture. Historically, sleep deprivation has been used for different objectives but, primarily, to cause stress and duress for the purpose of extracting information and confessions. Detention centers with poor conditions is another context in which sleep deprivation, as a consequence of sleep disruption, takes place. This is often due to overcrowding, insufficient or no mattresses, and poor conditions of transportation between the courts and detention facilities. The aim of the Protocol is to improve documentation of sleep deprivation used in such settings (most often during interrogation) and therefore to clarify the facts of the case so that stronger legal claims can subsequently be submitted to local and international complaints mechanisms. The Protocol has been developed based on a methodology involving: compilation and review of legal and health knowledge on sleep deprivation, also in non-torture contexts; drafting by first author; discussion in the group of international experts; pilot- testing by PCATI; and evaluation by the three organizations and the group of experts. Despite generic elements of sleep deprivation, the context in a specific country will determine many aspects of the factual situation. Each context differs and as such this Protocol could serve as a guideline or a checklist of elements to be considered in a specific context. We hope that this Protocol will assist in the discussions between the various stakeholders and provide guidance on what can be documented and how to document sleep deprivation.

The Istanbul Protocol (IP) principles and guidelines have served as international norms for the effective investigation and documentation of torture and ill-treatment since 1999. Given the widespread use of the IP and recent calls to update or enhance its norms, we conducted a large-scale study among stakeholders to understand current practices as well as opinions on additional IP norm setting. Between February 20, 2017 and April 7, 2017, we conducted an online survey of IP users using a combination of criterion and chain sampling. The survey instrument included the following domains of inquiry: 1) respondent characteristics (demographics, anti-torture work, country conditions, and IP training); 2) IP use, importance and practices, and; 3) opinions on additional IP norm setting. The survey was distributed to 177 individuals and 250 organizational representatives with response rates of 78% and 47% respectively. The respondents came from a variety of clinical, legal, academic, and advocacy disciplines from around the world. The respondents indicated that they use the IP for a wide range of anti-torture activities: investigation and documentation, advocacy, training and capacity building, policy reform, prevention, and treatment and rehabilitation of torture survivors. The vast majority (94% of individual respondents and 84% of organizations) reported that the IP is important to their anti-torture work. A majority of individual (60%) and organizational (59%) respondents reported that updating or adding clarifications to the IP would help to address the challenges they face and provided specific suggestions. However, 41% of individuals and 21% of organizational respondents also reported concerns that additional IP norm setting could have negative consequences. The IP provides critical guidance for a wide range of torture prevention, accountability, and redress activities and can be enhanced through the development of additional updates and clarifications to respond to the current needs of torture survivors and stakeholders.

This chapter assesses the extent to which UN Security Council Resolutions 1325 on WPS takes into account the international human rights framework against torture and ill-treatment of women and girls, notably the obligations of prohibition, prosecution, punishment, and protection against different forms of torture, including sexual violence and rape. Moreover, it examines whether the obligations under the UN Convention against Torture vis-à-vis women and girls are reflected in post-conflict situations, especially peacekeeping operations. This chapter ultimately seeks to determine how UN human rights mechanisms with a specific mandate relating to torture have addressed situations specific to women and girls in conflict and post-conflict situations.