27 2. that the Act is wholly silent about the need for rehabilitation, which must be seen as an integral part of a reparative process; 3. that the assessment of injuries is overly dependent upon the competence and discretion of individual doctors; 4. that the schedule of injuries does not reflect the types of injuries likely to occur as a consequence of torture, and, furthermore, has no explicit reference to psychological disorders due to trauma or criteria for the assessment of disability due to such disorders; 5. that no clear procedure for the making of claims is laid down by the Act. Consequently, the AMANI Trust would wish to make several broad recommendations, as follows: 1. that the Act should be amended to make explicit reference to various kinds of victims not currently defined within the Act: namely, survivors of torture and organised violence, both primary and secondary; 2. that the Act be amended to provide a clear structure for the assessing and awarding of compensation claims, which should include assessments by medical doctors, psychologists, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and social workers; 3. that the assessment process should be victim-friendly, and cognisant of the special difficulties that torture survivors may experience in being assessed. Here it is important that the assessment process ensures privacy, simplicity of application, cultural appropriateness, latitude in the evidential burden, access to legal representation, legal aid, and a right of appeal against decisions; 4. that the Act be amended to ensure a right to free rehabilitative services for all torture survivors. Acknowledgements: The assistance of Ms Gwen McInnis, law student from Syracuse University, is gratefully acknowledged for much of the research. The Documentation Centre of the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims was, as always, a good support in finding important documents. Mrs Rhoda Immerman and Professor Geoffrey Feltoe provided useful comments upon the draft, but the mistakes and the responsibility for the interpretation are mine.