Representing Victims of Torture
People are tortured or otherwise ill-treated in at least 111 countries around the world. In 61 of those countries human rights abusers can torture with impunity. While an individual may be tortured for many reasons -- to force a confession, for punishment, to intimidate or coerce, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind -- the majority of torture cases occur during police interrogation. This guide provides the criminal defense with an overview of how to identify and represent individuals who have been tortured either for confessions or for extra-judicial punishment.
Overall, all forms of ill-treatment are prohibited under international law. This means that even where treatment is not severe enough in legal terms to constitute torture or inhuman or degrading treatment, the state may still be found to have violated the prohibition on ill-treatment. Ill-treatment may be considered torture or inhuman and degrading treatment, depending on the facts. This guide primarily focuses on the class of treatments that are called torture, although many of these guidelines would also apply to inhuman and degrading treatment and other forms of mistreatment.
The question of whether any class of treatments is torture is often difficult to answer. In one court a given class of treatments may constitute torture, while in another court, they may not. ...More
