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Re: Information regarding the training, understanding of and use of
Istanbul Protocol
22/12/2020 23:32
From:
Scott Edmunds <
[email protected]>
To:
FOI requests at Immigration Department <
[email protected]>
Dear Immigration Department,
Thank you for getting back to me and providing some insight into training
program for the Immigration Department staff and medical professionals. You
haven't answered my specific questions trying to gather some specific
detail of this training, so can I ask this again?
Specifically:
1. How many police enforcement and medical professionals have been trained
to use the Istanbul Protocol between January 2010 and October 2020?
2. How often have trainings been conducted? If available,
• Could you please provide the dates of trainings?
• Number of people trained?
• Who delivered the trainings?
• What types of departments and professions were represented at these
trainings and;
• Any documents provided at the trainings or used to develop the trainings?
3. How is the training assessed and how often are refresher courses
offered?
4. How often have medical professionals been instructed by a Government
Department and/ or Tribunal and Court for a report of torture and/ or cruel
and inhumane treatment based on the Istanbul Protocol?
5. Who many reports been prepared for Governments and/ or Tribunals and
Courts?
6. How many Istanbul Protocol compliant reports have been admitted in
criminal and/ or civil litigation proceedings?
Yours faithfully,
Scott Edmunds
-----Original Message-----
Our ref.: L/M (46) in ImmD RALS1/6-20/3/C
Dear Mr. Edmunds,
We refer to your application for access to information of 12 November 2020
on training-related matters for medical and law enforcement professionals
in Hong Kong. Further to our interim replies of 20 November and 1
December 2020, please find our substantive reply below.
As far as the Immigration Department (ImmD) is concerned, ample training
and support, including training on the Istanbul Protocol, are provided for
the staff responsible for screening non-refoulement claims under the
Unified Screening Mechanism (USM). All the case officers responsible for
screening non-refoulement claims will attend a 15-day professional
training course before assuming such duties. The course comprises
lectures given by senior case officers from overseas common law
jurisdictions, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) officials and local law academics. In addition, ImmD
will arrange regular training for case officers to ensure that they have a
thorough understanding of the USM and sufficient knowledge to process
cases, including the latest local and overseas precedents, up-to-date
information on claimants’ countries of origin, etc. Case officers have
received training on the Istanbul Protocol (which is the international
standard for investigating torture cases), the UNHCR procedural standards,
and ways to deal with special needs (e.g. victims of violence, minors), so
as to ensure that they are well trained in handling the special needs of
victims of sex violence, unaccompanied minors, claimants suffering from
post-traumatic stress disorder and female claimants, etc.
If the physical or mental condition of a claimant is in dispute and is
relevant to the consideration of a claim, a medical examination conducted
by qualified medical practitioners may be arranged. Similar to ImmD’s
case officers, the concerned medical practitioners have received training
courses on torture /non-refoulement claims conducted by relevant experts.
We hope you would find the above information useful.
Best Regards,
(FUNG Man-him)
for Director of Immigration
<-- Start of Original Message -->
From Name : IMMD Department
From Address : [email address]
To : [FOI #528 email]
CC :
Subject : Freedom of Information request – Information regarding the
training, understanding of and use of the Istanbul Protocol
Send Time : 01/12/2020 14:38:46
Body :
Our ref.: L/M (46) in ImmD RALS1/6-20/3/C
Dear Mr Edmunds,
We refer to your application for access to information of 12 November 2020
relating to the use of Istanbul Protocol in the assessment of
non-refoulement claim.
We need more time to handle your application. Our Department would revert
to you on or before 1 January 2021 according to paragraph 1.18 of the Code
on Access to Information.
Best Regards,
( KK WONG )
for Director of Immigration
To learn more about the application requirements and procedures of the
most frequently used services provided by the Hong Kong Immigration
Department, you are welcome to visit the Easy Access Playlist at Hong Kong
Immigration Department [1]YouTube Channel. The concerned video clips have
Cantonese voice-over supplemented by Chinese or English subtitles.
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