EDITORIAL The G eneral M eeting and C ongress o f the W orld C onfederation for Physical T herapy (W C PT ) has com e and gone, and the twenty S outh A frican participants will have given feedback of their experi­ e nces to o th e r m em bers of the Society. F o u rte en o f o u r m em bers delivered papers o r presented posters, and the C ongress c.'ganisers thanked the South A fricans for their participation in both the formal presentations and the informal discussion groups, and congratulated o u r delegates on the high standard m aintained. T he proceedings of the G eneral M eeting a re presented in detail in this jo urnal while the Congress is briefly sum m arised. Inform ation regarding the Special Interest G roup discussions is requested and delegates who a ttended these are urged to give som e feed-back to the N ational Executive Com m ittee. T he stand o f the SASP which was planned, executed and assem ­ bled by Sheena Irw in-C arruthers m ade a great impact and it was a pity that so few o f the 20 South A fricans offered th eir assistance in m anning the stand. It is im portant to m ake o u r presence felt at international events and to answ er queries regarding o u r Society and o u r country. It should be seen as an h o n o u r to re p re se n t o u r Society a nd not as an a pparent chore. W e did learn a lot a bout public relations from o th e r m em ber organisations. F o r example, Norway produced a special edition in English of their jo u rn al which they gave to all participants, while o th e r countries gave out stickers and p a m p h ­ lets regarding th eir countries a n d /o r Societies. W e will need to come up with som e good ideas fo r the next Congress to be held in W ash­ ington from 25 - 30 Ju n e 1995. Let us get to g eth e r to form ulate ideas for this event and start planning now. This will enable us to act as am bassadors and give back som ething to o u r Society. T he social program m e of C ongress was very hectic and p a rtici­ p ants w ere kept on their toes. It started with an impressive opening cerem ony and welcoming party on the Sunday for approxim ately 3000 delegates. O n M onday a reception was held at the Science M useum which was a tte n d ed by H e r Majesty, Q ueen E lizabeth II and His Royal Highness, Prince Philip o f E dinburgh. F o u r of the South A fricans w ere selected to m eet officially with th eir Royal Highnesses which was a great honour. D elegates were also most impressed by the M inister of H e a lth ’s welcoming address at a function at L ancaster H ouse, at which she GUIDELINES CONCERNING TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING _______TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT_______ A s approved by the Twelfth General Meeting o f W C PT Preamble It is the privilege o f the physiotherapist to practise his/her p ro fe s­ sion in the service o f humanity, to preserve and restore bodily and -m e n ta l health w ithout distinction as to persons, to com fort and to ease the suffering o f his o r h e r patients. T he utm ost respect for hum an life is to be m aintained even u n d e r threat, and no use m ade of any medical knowledge contrary to the laws o f humanity. F o r the purpose o f this D eclaration, to rtu re is defined as the deliberate, system atic o r w anton infliction of physical o r m ental suffering by one o r m ore persons acting alone o r on the o rd e rs of any authority, to force a n o th e r person to yield inform ation, to m ake a confession, o r for any o th e r reason. Declaration 1. T he physiotherapist shall not countenance, c o ndone o r participate in the practice of to rtu re o r cruel, inhum an o r degrading p ro c e ­ dures, w hatever the offence of which the victim o f such procedures spoke most knowledgeably a bout physiotherapy and physiothera­ pists. In addition several special interest group suppers w ere held w here one could m eet inform ally to discuss m atters of com m on interest with physiotherapists from all over the world. This was a most valuable experience and m any new friendships were form ed. At a m eeting of E d ito rs.h e ld during C ongress it was interesting to note that many Societies employed full tim e editorial staff, who were not physiotherapists. O u r Society is indeed fo rtu n ate to have people who have given of their tim e a nd effort over the years without thought of any com pensation. Som e o f the problem s experienced by o u r jo u rn al w ere also known by o th e r editorial staff, especially as regards the unwillingness o f physiotherapists to w rite articles for their own journals. Even sa d d e r is the fact that when articles a re reviewed and re tu rn e d to a u th o rs for m in o r a m endm ents um brage is taken and the articles a re often n ot resubm itted. A u th o rs should realise that a great deal o f time is spent by the review c om m ittee in going through the articles and making suggestions as to how the article may be improved. W e have been aim ing for a top class scientific journal and th ere fo re do need a bank o f good articles for publication. But even m ore im portant is the need fo r physiotherapists to accept the fact that they have a vast source o f inform ation to sh a re but they do need som e editorial assistance as they a re usually far b e tte r p ra cti­ tioners than they a re scribes. English was the official language at the G eneral M eeting and at Congress, which was not always easy fo r those delegates fo r whom English may only be a third o r fo urth language. A sim ilar problem is being experienced by m em bers of o u r Society w here only a b o u t 33% of m em bers have English as th e ir hom e language. However, in o rd e r to be able to com m unicate with o n e a n o th e r at m eetings, lectures and courses, o ne com m on language is essential and that is the reason fo r m aking English the official language o f the SASP. T his m eans that if th e re is even one physiotherapist who is unable to u n derstand the language being used, the m eeting o r lectu re will have to be conducted in English. It is going to re q u ire an effort on the part of the m ajority of o u r m em bers to use English only, but hopefully this will c rea te even g re a te r unity in o u r Society w hen we a re able to com m unicate effectively with each o th er. ♦ is suspected, accused o r guilty and w hatever the victim ’s beliefs o r motives and in all situations, including arm ed conflict and civil strife. 2. T he physiotherapist shall not provide any premises, instrum ents, substances o r knowledge to facilitate the practice o f to rtu re o r o th e r forms o f cruel, inhum an o r degrading trea tm e n t o r to d im ­ inish the ability o f the victim to resist such treatm ent. 3. T he physiotherapist shall not be present during any procedure during which to rtu re o r o th e r form s o f cruel, inhum an o r d e g rad ­ ing trea tm e n t a re used o r th rea te n e d . 4. T he p hysiotherapist’s fundam ental role is to alleviate the distress o f his o r h e r fellow men, and no m otive w h e th er personal, collec­ tive o r political shall prevail against this higher purpose. 5. The W orld C o n federation for Physical T herapy will su p p o rt and s h o u ld e n c o u r a g e th e i n te r n a t i o n a l c o m m u n ity , th e n a tio n a l physiotherapy associations and fellow physiotherapists to su p p o rt the physiotherapist and his o r her family in the face of th re a ts o r reprisals resulting from a refusal to condone the use o f to rtu re o r o th e r forms o f cruel, inhum an o r degrading treatm ent. 6. E ducation and inform ation regarding the prevention and p ro h ib i­ tion of to rtu re and o th e r cruel inhum an o r degrading trea tm e n t o r punishm ent should be included in the u n d e rg ra d u a te and postgraduate training of physiotherapists. ♦ Bladsy 62 Fisioterapie, November 1991, dee147 no 4 R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 3. )