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Alleged police ill-treatment of non-political detainees in the Basque country (Spain) — Prevalence and associated factors
Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine (1998) 5, 56-59 © APS/Harcourt Brace & Co. Ltd 1998
LITERA TURE CITATION A selection of author's abstracts of recent articles from other journals of relevance to the readership of the Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine. F u l l c o p i e s o f t h e s e p a p e r s a r e not a v a i l a b l e f r o m t h e Journal of Clinical
Forensic Medicine. Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine ( 1 9 9 8 ) 5, 5 6 - 5 9
ASSAULT/INJURY
Design: a 2-month prospective study (June and July 1995) of all
Forensic diaphanoscopy - how to investigate invisible subcutaneous hematomas on living subjects
assault victims attending a Scottish Accident and Emergency (A&E) department. SettbN: a large district general A&E department (the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley) seeing 60 000 new patients per year with a catchment population of 200 000. Results: 46 female victims of violence attended the A&E department (20% of the total of 235). In comparison with men, women were more likely to be assaulted in their homes (48% vs 10%; P < 0.001), but were less likely to be assaulted with sharp weapons (7% vs 28%; P = 0.003) and to require admission to hospital (P = 0.005). A total of 19 women (41%) were victims of domestic assault. The victims of domestic assault were more likely to have been drinking (11% vs 31%: P = 0.007) and to have a history of previous assault (63% vs 22%; P = 0.002). This group also had a higher mean deprivation score and rate of unemployment, although the differences were not statistically significant. Conchtsions: A&E staff should be aware of the risk factors associated with domestic assault in order to aid recognition of victims. Using the current British Association for Accident and Emergency Medicine guidelines on domestic violence and closer liaison with police, social services, and general practitioners will help prevent further attacks.
B. Horisberger, T. K r o m p e c h e r International Journal of Legal Medicine 1997; 110(2): 73 78 A significant proportion of subcutaneous haematomas remain undetected after external visual examination of the body. In the case of a cadaver such haematomas can be easily identified through a cutaneous incision but in living persons the diagnosis becomes more complicated. The usual methods, based on diagnostic imaging, do not combine sufficient reliability and feasibility. The results of our investigations demonstrated that forensic diaphanoscopy is a highly sensitive (95%) and specific (97%) means to determine the presence or absence of subcutaneous invisible haematomas. In addition, it is possible to locate such haematomas with great precision, to draw their shape and evaluate their magnitude. The lower limit of detection is of the order of 1 mm. The advantages of this method lie in the fact that it is reliable, non-invasive, has no side-effects, is simple to carry out and allows real time scanning.
Comparative analysis between police batons R Gervais, R Baudin, B. C r u i k s h a n k , D. L. D a h l s t e d t
Alleged police ill-treatment of non-political detainees in the Basque Country (Spain) - Prevalence and associated factors
Forensic Science [nternational 1998; 91(1): 7-17
The main purpose of this study was to compare various sizes of an
B. M o r e n t i n , L. E Callado, J. J. M e a n a
extendible baton with the standard issue PVC duty baton. This project also included a side-handle baton and a traditional, wooden duty baton. Comparison was made on those quantifiable mechanical variables that were deemed significant with respect to trauma and the intended use of the baton as an intermediate weapon. These variable included impact force, impact pressure and movement kinematics while performing striking swings with these police batons. The three ASP expandable batons, the side-handle baton and wooden duty baton all produced smaller impact forces compared to that achieved with the PVC duty baton. In a model of impact pressure, the extendible batons produced, on average, higher impact peak pressures than those produced with the PVC duty baton. Differences were also observed between striking swing speed, frequency and reach among the various batons tested, which could influence an officer's ability to effectively utilize the batons as intermediate weapons.
Forensic Science International 1997; 87(2): 125-136 Epidemiological studies of ill-treatment and torture are difficult to carry out and are usually based on people arrested for political motives. The object of this prospective study was to document the prevalence of allegations of ill-treatment/torture in a sample of detainees who were arrested for non-political motives in the Basque Country (Spain). The influence of demographic and criminological variables was evaluated. A total of 837 interviews and medical-forensic examinations of 578 detainees were analysed with a modified version of the protocol established by the Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims (IRCT/RCT). Alleged ill-treatment occurred with a frequency of 13.3% in 99 subjects, with few cases being considered as torture in the strict sense. The most frequent methods included: coercion (6.8%), deprivation (6.0%) and physical ill-treatment (4.3%). The variables significantly associated with ill-treatment were national/ ethnic identity and the type of offence committed by the detainee. A higher frequency of ill-treatment, together with longer periods of detention, were observed among foreign detainees. The results contrast with those reported in a study of political detainees in the same region, in which complex and intensive torture methods were reported to be more habitual. In conclusion, this study underlines the importance of further developing preventative methods in order to reduce the occurrence of violations of human rights during periods of detention.
Characteristics of female victims of assault attending a Scottish Accident and Emergency department J. Wright, A. K a r i y a Journal of Accident & Emergency Medicine 1997; 14(6): 375-378
Objective: to compare the characteristics of female victims of assault with those of male victims and to see if there is a difference between female victims of domestic assault and females assaulted by strangers or acquaintances. 56
LITERA TURE CITATION A selection of author's abstracts of recent articles from other journals of relevance to the readership of the Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine. F u l l c o p i e s o f t h e s e p a p e r s a r e not a v a i l a b l e f r o m t h e Journal of Clinical
Forensic Medicine. Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine ( 1 9 9 8 ) 5, 5 6 - 5 9
ASSAULT/INJURY
Design: a 2-month prospective study (June and July 1995) of all
Forensic diaphanoscopy - how to investigate invisible subcutaneous hematomas on living subjects
assault victims attending a Scottish Accident and Emergency (A&E) department. SettbN: a large district general A&E department (the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley) seeing 60 000 new patients per year with a catchment population of 200 000. Results: 46 female victims of violence attended the A&E department (20% of the total of 235). In comparison with men, women were more likely to be assaulted in their homes (48% vs 10%; P < 0.001), but were less likely to be assaulted with sharp weapons (7% vs 28%; P = 0.003) and to require admission to hospital (P = 0.005). A total of 19 women (41%) were victims of domestic assault. The victims of domestic assault were more likely to have been drinking (11% vs 31%: P = 0.007) and to have a history of previous assault (63% vs 22%; P = 0.002). This group also had a higher mean deprivation score and rate of unemployment, although the differences were not statistically significant. Conchtsions: A&E staff should be aware of the risk factors associated with domestic assault in order to aid recognition of victims. Using the current British Association for Accident and Emergency Medicine guidelines on domestic violence and closer liaison with police, social services, and general practitioners will help prevent further attacks.
B. Horisberger, T. K r o m p e c h e r International Journal of Legal Medicine 1997; 110(2): 73 78 A significant proportion of subcutaneous haematomas remain undetected after external visual examination of the body. In the case of a cadaver such haematomas can be easily identified through a cutaneous incision but in living persons the diagnosis becomes more complicated. The usual methods, based on diagnostic imaging, do not combine sufficient reliability and feasibility. The results of our investigations demonstrated that forensic diaphanoscopy is a highly sensitive (95%) and specific (97%) means to determine the presence or absence of subcutaneous invisible haematomas. In addition, it is possible to locate such haematomas with great precision, to draw their shape and evaluate their magnitude. The lower limit of detection is of the order of 1 mm. The advantages of this method lie in the fact that it is reliable, non-invasive, has no side-effects, is simple to carry out and allows real time scanning.
Comparative analysis between police batons R Gervais, R Baudin, B. C r u i k s h a n k , D. L. D a h l s t e d t
Alleged police ill-treatment of non-political detainees in the Basque Country (Spain) - Prevalence and associated factors
Forensic Science [nternational 1998; 91(1): 7-17
The main purpose of this study was to compare various sizes of an
B. M o r e n t i n , L. E Callado, J. J. M e a n a
extendible baton with the standard issue PVC duty baton. This project also included a side-handle baton and a traditional, wooden duty baton. Comparison was made on those quantifiable mechanical variables that were deemed significant with respect to trauma and the intended use of the baton as an intermediate weapon. These variable included impact force, impact pressure and movement kinematics while performing striking swings with these police batons. The three ASP expandable batons, the side-handle baton and wooden duty baton all produced smaller impact forces compared to that achieved with the PVC duty baton. In a model of impact pressure, the extendible batons produced, on average, higher impact peak pressures than those produced with the PVC duty baton. Differences were also observed between striking swing speed, frequency and reach among the various batons tested, which could influence an officer's ability to effectively utilize the batons as intermediate weapons.
Forensic Science International 1997; 87(2): 125-136 Epidemiological studies of ill-treatment and torture are difficult to carry out and are usually based on people arrested for political motives. The object of this prospective study was to document the prevalence of allegations of ill-treatment/torture in a sample of detainees who were arrested for non-political motives in the Basque Country (Spain). The influence of demographic and criminological variables was evaluated. A total of 837 interviews and medical-forensic examinations of 578 detainees were analysed with a modified version of the protocol established by the Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims (IRCT/RCT). Alleged ill-treatment occurred with a frequency of 13.3% in 99 subjects, with few cases being considered as torture in the strict sense. The most frequent methods included: coercion (6.8%), deprivation (6.0%) and physical ill-treatment (4.3%). The variables significantly associated with ill-treatment were national/ ethnic identity and the type of offence committed by the detainee. A higher frequency of ill-treatment, together with longer periods of detention, were observed among foreign detainees. The results contrast with those reported in a study of political detainees in the same region, in which complex and intensive torture methods were reported to be more habitual. In conclusion, this study underlines the importance of further developing preventative methods in order to reduce the occurrence of violations of human rights during periods of detention.
Characteristics of female victims of assault attending a Scottish Accident and Emergency department J. Wright, A. K a r i y a Journal of Accident & Emergency Medicine 1997; 14(6): 375-378
Objective: to compare the characteristics of female victims of assault with those of male victims and to see if there is a difference between female victims of domestic assault and females assaulted by strangers or acquaintances. 56