Who we are

In 1996, At the time When a blind eye was turned to torture and victims were marginalized, four Spirited friends and human rights defenders decided to take the challenge of establishing a rehabilitation center for victims of torture and trauma survivors in Lebanon. 

The center’s first premises in Tripoli emerged from the need to rebuild the lives of Torture and War Trauma survivors and to restore the harm suffered by the victim whose dignity, health, mental health and self-sufficiency may not be fully recovered without the adequate, effective and comprehensive rehabilitation. 

Fast Forward to 2002, Restart Center’s founding members determined that the Mental health and psychosocial support to victims needs to be extended beyond the center’s scope to reach persons deprived of their liberty in places of detention. 

This expansion was accompanied by originating advocacy and lobbying efforts on the national, regional and international levels for the rights of persons deprived of their liberty aiming at breaking the circle of torture and obtaining total redress for survivors of torture and ill treatment. 

Restart center’s methodical experience built over the years is now governed by a holistic rehabilitation approach, guided by a solid code of ethics, impartiality, transparency and accountability in mental health services with the full respect of “do no harm” principle.

The core which started with passionate colleagues has grown to become today a non- profit organization with more than 180 dedicated doctors, psychologists, nurses, social workers, specialists, administrative and financial teams, all driven by the same mission and values to serve the vision of a world free of torture and carry out risks and dangers to achieve their objectives without any personal, political or financial interest.