The Treatment and Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture (TRC), is a Palestinian non-governmental, non-profit organization, which was established to provide psychosocial services to survivors of politically-motivated torture and violence, to their families and to their communities. TRC, the only Center of its kind in the West Bank, was founded by a Palestinian psychiatrist (currently TRC's Director) in 1997, under the umbrella of the Mandela Institute for Political Prisoners. In 1999, the Center moved to an independent premises and is currently supported by a Board of Directors and Board of International Advisors. Since its founding, the Center has gradually expanded its work to include training, outreach, public awareness, research, crisis intervention and prevention activities as well as international networking with similar centers worldwide. TRC's main office is in Ramallah and in late 2003, TRC established offices in the north (Jenin) and south (Hebron) of the West Bank in order to facilitate Outreach Services.  TRC's current technical staff includes one Consultant Psychiatrist, thirteen Psychologists, eleven Social Workers and three Psychiatrists/General Practitioners.  TRC's administrative staff is made up of a technical operations manager, a project coordinator, a media coordinator, an executive secretary, an IT coordinator, a training assistant, an accountant, an administrative and financial manager and a messenger as well as a team of volunteers recruited from TRC's trainees. As of December 2004, TRC has assisted 2,611 patients. TRC has also reached thousands of individuals through crisis intervention activities, the Outreach Program and Public Awareness activities. Furthermore, TRC has provided mental health and human rights training to over 500 trainees.

The Center was conceived under the conditions of nearly 50 years of Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, which has included a policy of mass imprisonment and systematic torture (despite the fact that Israel is a signatory to the United Nations Convention against Torture), as well as consistent violence, abuse and ill and degrading treatment on a regular, daily basis committed outside of prisons. In addition, the various oppressive measures present in the system of occupation have always negatively affected the daily lives of all Palestinians and created an atmosphere of constant stress. The Center's activities became all the more relevant and urgent after the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada (uprising against the Israeli occupation) in September 2000, which continues to the present. Thousands of new victims (martyrs, detainees, victims of torture, families of the bereaved, wounded, victims of war consequences) are being created by the occupying Israeli forces on a daily basis.  Palestinians endure personal and mass trauma as a part of daily reality, therefore,  the already abysmal human rights situation has become substantially worse and further threatens the mental health of all Palestinians.  

Since the current Intifada began on September 28, 2000, statistics reveal that over 28,000 Palestinians have been arrested and detained.  In the first year of the Intifada alone, Israel arrested 1,900 Palestinians.  According to the Mandela Institute, there were 7,793 Palestinian security detainees or prisoners as of September 30, 2004, 352 were under the age of 18. 

Until a landmark decision on September 6, 1999 by the Israeli High Court outlawing the use of arbitrary torture as an interrogation method, Israeli was the only ‘democratic’ state in the world that sanctioned torture by law.  Methods applied by interrogators of Palestinian detainees include violent shaking, isolation, beating, kicking, sleep deprivation, agonizing positioning and infliction of pain for prolonged periods.  However, the High Court ruling stopped short of the absolute ban on torture and ill-treatment required by international law and infamous forms of physical and psychological punishment persist.  On November 11, 2001:  Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), and the World Organization Against Torture – issued a joint document, accusing Israel of having resumed systematic torture of Palestinian detainees.  It is blatantly clear here at TRC that interrogators of Palestinian detainees are adhering to all forms of torture. TRC's statistics prove that 40% of those subjected to torture suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

It is unfortunate, but also worth mentioning that since the arrival of the Palestinian Authority in 1994, instances of torture have also occurred in Palestinian prisons.

Thus, the sheer numbers of victims, the trauma of torture and long-term incarceration has permeated the entire Palestinian society on both the individual and collective levels. It is apparent that all Palestinians have been negatively affected by torture and that the society as a whole suffers from the effects of it.  In addition to this, all Palestinians continue to be subjected to a myriad of human rights violations that represent the relentless daily reality of the Occupation, as well as to the current acute violence and to the siege including curfews and closures currently being imposed on the Palestinian territories by the Israeli army. These factors have left the entire Palestinian population very vulnerable to trauma and stress related disorders.

All of TRC's activities combine to work towards the underlying goal of increasing support systems available to torture survivors and to survivors of other types of politically-motivated violence, in order to reduce, as far as is possible, the intended effects of these acts on individuals, family and community. This issue is addressed on several different levels:

1. Direct psychosocial assistance is offered to survivors and their families.
2. Support services are provided in the community (schools, women's groups, community groups, etc.) by TRC's Crisis Intervention team.
3. The lack of mental health professionals in Palestine is addressed through the training of health, social services and education professionals and paraprofessionals.
4. The general stigma surrounding mental health and lack of awareness concerning the effects of torture are addressed through a wide range of public awareness activities. 

Through this multi-tiered, community-based approach, support systems on the individual/family, community and service-provider levels are all strengthened, in order to offer sufferers the greatest opportunities for successful recovery and successful reintegration into family and community. In addition, TRC is regularly involved in activities which promote human rights and the prevention of human rights abuses.

• Board of Directors
• Board of Advisors