Lotta Carlsson of the Deaconess Foundation appointed a member of the Council of Europe’s Committee against Torture

Lotta Carlsson, the Deaconess Foundation’s project manager and therapist specialising in the rehabilitation of tortured persons, has been appointed as Finland’s representative on the Council of Europe’s Committee against Torture. The appointment was made by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers. The tenure starts on 21 December 2023.

Deaconess Foundation´s project manager Lotta Carlsson.

The Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment is responsible for, among other things, monitoring the human rights of people held in closed institutions. The committee’s work is based on the UN Convention against Torture, which Finland ratified in 1989.

The Committee against Torture has one member from each member state of the Council of Europe. Members’ tenure is four years.

Carlsson was nominated by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which based its decision on interviews conducted by the Finnish delegation to the Council of Europe.

The Deaconess Foundation has been rehabilitating victims of torture since 1993

Carlsson is an expert in the rehabilitation of tortured persons and a therapist specialising in trauma. She has worked at the Deaconess Foundation’s Centre for Psychotraumatology since 2009. She is currently working as a project manager on a project to build training on the Istanbul Protocol for professionals working with refugees.

The Deaconess Foundation has been rehabilitating victims of torture since 1993. The Psychotraumatology Centre primarily carries out patient work, but also trains, consults and mentors authorities, social services professionals and others working with refugees nationwide.

For more information and interview requests, contact:
Jenni Sarolahti, communications manager, jenni.sarolahti@hdl.fi, phone +35850 372 0828)