Medical & Mental Health Professionals
The 2022 UN Istanbul Protocol is a medico-legal instrument that holds psychological evidence to carry equal evidentiary weight to physical evidence. Mental health professionals are not ancillary to human rights investigation — they are foundational to it. The IAJ is actively recruiting licensed psychologists, neuropsychologists, psychiatrists, and other licensed mental health professionals at every level of experience, under a four-tier evaluator model designed to create a meaningful role for every qualified clinician, from early-career licensees to internationally recognized experts.
How This Role Serves the IAJ's Shadow NHRI Function
Paris Principles NHRIs engaged in UNCAT work require medico-legal capacity. The Istanbul Protocol explicitly mandates independent medical and psychological assessment of persons alleging torture or CIDT, conducted by professionals independent of the institutions whose conduct is being assessed. A report that documents symptoms but does not include a professional clinical consistency opinion is non-compliant with the Istanbul Protocol. Psychological expertise is therefore not supplementary to IAJ investigations — it is constitutive of them.
The IAJ has developed the IAJ Psychological Investigation Standard (Version 1.5, March 2026) — a 373-page methodological framework tailored to the United States legal environment, its treaty reservations, gaps in domestic enforcement, and the distinctive pattern of institutional and judicial human rights violations the IAJ investigates. The Standard is one of the most comprehensive forensic psychology resources for human rights documentation anywhere in the world, and is made available to all contributing clinicians.
The IAJ operates through a tiered national model creating roles for clinicians at every stage of professional development. Level designations are internal workflow roles; they do not constitute independent professional credentials and do not supersede state licensure requirements. All four tiers share the Universal Duty to Document — a non-discretionary obligation to record observed signs and reported allegations within one's licensed scope.
Level 1 — Documentation Specialist. Any licensed mental health professional qualifies: LCSWs, LMFTs, LPCs, licensed psychologists, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, and equivalents. Level 1 clinicians receive preliminary accounts, record clinical observations of distress and functional impairment, complete intake and triage documentation, gather chronologies and records, and identify trauma-consistent symptoms for escalation. Every piece of contemporaneous clinical documentation becomes part of the evidentiary record the IAJ preserves for domestic and international accountability review.
Level 2 — Forensic Trainee Evaluator. Licensed clinicians with documented forensic training (including the IAJ's Basic Training Module for Non-Specialists and related modules on Systemic Torture Recognition, Cultural Adaptations, Dissociation and Atypical Behaviour, and the Vicarious Trauma Self-Care Protocol). Under Level 3 supervision, Level 2 evaluators conduct structured clinical interviews, administer validated instruments (PCL-5, PHQ-9, GAD-7, WHODAS 2.0, IES-R, DASS-42, SCL-90-R, IAJ modified Harvard Torture Questionnaire), gather torture and ill-treatment histories, and contribute data collection and behavioral observations to the primary report.
Level 3 — Primary Forensic Evaluator. Doctoral-level licensed psychologists or psychiatrists who conduct and author complete Istanbul Protocol evaluations: trauma history, current complaints, post- and pre-torture history, medical and psychiatric history, mental status examination, social function assessment, psychological testing, Consistency Analysis, Causation Analysis under the IAJ Clinical Attribution Framework, and the mandatory Causality Opinion expressed in IP-compliant consistency language. Level 3 evaluators apply methodology unique to the IAJ Standard — Distress-Induced Harm ("Battery Without Touching"), the Systemic Harm Mapping Tool, the Dual-Track Rule, the IAJ Forensic Certainty Scale, and the Cultural Humility Requirement — and may develop specialized expertise in children, persons with disabilities, LGBTQI+ individuals, elderly persons, male survivors, immigration populations, or neuropsychological assessment.
Level 4 — Forensic Lead and Supervisory Expert. Doctoral-level, board-certified or forensic fellowship-trained clinicians with competence in international human rights law. The IAJ explicitly rejects any requirement that Level 4 experts hold United States licensure; the Istanbul Protocol requires training, competence, independence, and methodological testability, not jurisdiction-specific licensure. Qualified Level 4 experts include former and current members of the UN Committee Against Torture, the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, and UN Special Procedures on torture; members of the IRCT Independent Forensic Expert Group; Physicians for Human Rights appointed experts; academic experts worldwide who have published peer-reviewed scholarship on torture sequelae, trauma assessment, or the Istanbul Protocol; and doctoral clinicians with documented trauma training and Istanbul Protocol familiarity. Level 4 experts conduct the Supervisory Falsification Pass, perform Forum Nullus Analysis, author high-complexity reports, serve on the IAJ Central SFP Panel, and train lower-tier evaluators.
The IAJ also deploys a Collaborative Expert Model pairing a locally licensed Testifying Expert with an international IAJ Forensic Investigator, strategically positioning international expertise within domestic legal proceedings and protecting individual evaluators by distributing methodological responsibility across the collaborative team and the Level 4 Supervisory Lead.
Your Contribution to Standards Evolution and Quality Assurance
Every volunteer in this role contributes directly to the on-going evolution, improvement, and quality assurance of the standards governing the Medical & Mental Health Professionals track — and, as applicable to your scope of work, to every other IAJ standard you touch. The IAJ's methodological frameworks, investigative protocols, tribunal rules, documentation templates, training modules, and published standards are living documents. Volunteers test them, critique them, identify gaps and ambiguities, propose refinements, and in doing so advance the institution's methodological rigour. Contribution to standards development and quality assurance is an expected and welcomed part of every volunteer engagement with the IAJ — not an optional add-on.
What the IAJ Is Looking For
Licensure at Any Level
Current licensure in good standing in any mental health or medical discipline — LCSW, LMFT, LPC, licensed psychologist, psychiatrist, psychiatric nurse practitioner, neuropsychologist, physician, or equivalent. All licensed clinicians qualify at Level 1; doctoral psychologists and psychiatrists qualify at Level 3; board-certified or forensic fellowship-trained doctoral clinicians qualify at Level 4. Experience in forensic psychology, trauma, disability assessment, or human rights work is welcomed but not required at Levels 1 and 2.
Scientific Neutrality
The IAJ investigator pursues truth — neither to confirm nor deny torture or CIDT, but to document clinical findings accurately, consider alternative explanations, and express conclusions with calibrated certainty. Confirmation bias, rescue impulses, advocacy for the complainant, and bias against institutional actors are equally disqualifying.
Cultural Humility
Willingness to document cultural context, culturally specific idioms of distress, and methodological adaptations for cultural, linguistic, or disability-related factors. Western-oriented instruments (PCL-5, PHQ-9, GAD-7) are adjuncts only and must not serve as the primary or sole basis for clinical conclusions. Completion of the IAJ Cultural Validation Checklist is required for every evaluation.
Trauma-Informed Methodology
Understanding of how power, trauma, disability, fear, and institutional coercion shape disclosure, symptom presentation, and apparent inconsistency. Narrative fragmentation, avoidance, and emotional numbing are trauma sequelae, not indicators of fabrication. Interview pacing, breaks, and session integrity are part of the forensic method.
Independence from Institutional Pressure
Commitment to the IAJ Standard's principle that no judicial ruling, institutional characterization, or official record may prevent or influence an independent investigation of torture or CIDT. Courts that label prohibited acts as lawful sanctions are to be documented, not deferred to.
Training Willingness
Willingness to complete IAJ training modules appropriate to the desired level — Istanbul Protocol Application, Systemic Torture Recognition, Cultural Adaptations in Assessments, Dissociation and Atypical Behaviour, Vicarious Trauma Self-Care, and specialized population protocols. The IAJ provides comprehensive training at every level.
What You Will Do
- › Level 1: Receive preliminary accounts, record clinical observations, complete intake and triage, gather chronologies and records, and identify trauma-consistent symptoms for escalation
- › Level 2: Conduct structured Istanbul Protocol interviews under supervision, administer validated assessment instruments, gather structured torture and ill-treatment histories, and contribute to supervising evaluators' reports
- › Level 3: Conduct and author full Istanbul Protocol evaluations including mental status examination, social function assessment, Consistency Analysis, Causation Analysis, and the mandatory Causality Opinion
- › Level 3: Apply IAJ-specific methodology — Distress-Induced Harm causation protocol, Systemic Harm Mapping, the Dual-Track Rule, and the IAJ Forensic Certainty Scale
- › Level 3: Develop specialized expertise in children and torture, persons with disabilities, LGBTQI+ individuals, elderly survivors, male survivors, immigration populations, or neuropsychological assessment
- › Level 4: Perform the Supervisory Falsification Pass on reports before finalization, conduct Forum Nullus Analysis, author high-stakes and complex reports, and train lower-tier evaluators
- › Level 4: Serve on the IAJ Central SFP Panel providing remote asynchronous supervisory review, and engage with the UN Committee Against Torture and UN Special Rapporteurs through IAJ submissions
- › All levels: Contribute to the IAJ evidence database, to pattern analysis across complaints, and to academic publications, standards development, and survey/instrument design arising from the IAJ's investigative work
Credentials & Background
Current licensure in good standing in any clinical mental health or medical discipline qualifies at Level 1 — including LCSWs, LMFTs, LPCs, licensed psychologists at any level, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, physicians, and equivalents. Doctoral-level licensed psychologists and psychiatrists qualify for Level 3 after completing IAJ training. Level 4 is open to board-certified or forensic fellowship-trained doctoral clinicians with international human rights law competence, and specifically to former and current members of the UN Committee Against Torture, UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, UN Special Procedures on torture, the IRCT Independent Forensic Expert Group, and Physicians for Human Rights, as well as academic experts worldwide with peer-reviewed publications on torture sequelae, trauma assessment, or the Istanbul Protocol. The IAJ does not require United States licensure for Level 4 experts. Forensic psychological evaluation conducted for the IAJ is investigative and assessment work, not clinical treatment — it does not constitute the practice of psychotherapy under most state licensing statutes. The IAJ provides jurisdiction-specific guidance on licensure, PSYPACT pathways, temporary practice rules, the Clinician's Self-Care Protocol (IAJ Standard Appendix T), and the Notice of Human Rights Defender Status and Ethical Shield (Appendix J) available to protect clinicians facing professional reprisals.
Apply for This Role
Applications are reviewed by IAJ staff and responded to individually. In your application, reference this role and describe how your background prepares you to contribute to the IAJ's function as a shadow NHRI.