Torture

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What is Torture?

Under international law, the prohibition against torture is considered a right that is absolute in nature and does not tolerate exceptions. The prohibition is consecrated in the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1984.

Many international instruments have further elaborated the general prohibition according to different situations, people, and scenarios where torture is likely to happen [1]

This guide primarily focuses on the class of ill-treatments that are called torture, although many of these guidelines would also apply to inhuman or degrading treatment and other forms of mistreatment. The question of whether a class of treatments qualifies as torture is often difficult to answer. In one court, a given class of treatments may constitute torture, while in another court, it may not. Ill-treatment may be considered torture or inhuman or degrading treatment, depending on the facts.

International Legal Framework

The United Nations Convention Against Torture

The prohibition against torture is contained in the most important human rights international instruments,2 but the most comprehensive definition of torture is given in the Convention Against Torture (CAT), first adopted by the United Nations on 10 December 1984. The Convention defines torture as:

Any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him, or a third person, information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in, or incidental to, lawful sanctions

Notes

  1. Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials (Article 5); Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment (Principle 6); Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (1957 as amended in 1977) art. 31; Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Being Subjected to Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1975); Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials (1979) - Principles of Medical Ethics Relevant to the Role of Health Personnel, Particularly Physicians, in the Protection of Prisoners and Detainees against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or DegradingTreatment or Punishment (1982); Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power (1985); Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary (1985); Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (the Beijing Rules) (1987); Body of Principles for the Protection of all Persons under any Form of Detention or Imprisonment (1988); Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners (1990); Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers (1990); Guidelines on the Role of Prosecutors (1990); Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty (1990); Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions (1990); Principles of Medical Ethics relevant to the Role of Health Personnel, particularly Physicians, in the Protection of Prisoners and Detainees against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishments (1982).; Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials (1990), Principles 7, 8; Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness and the Improvement of Mental Health Care (1991) Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (1992)