The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or

Punishment (commonly known as the United Nations Convention against Torture) is

an international human rights treaty, under the review of the United Nations, that aims to
prevent torture and other acts of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment around the
world.
The Convention requires states to take effective measures to prevent torture in any territory under
their jurisdiction, and forbids states to transport people to any country where there is reason to
believe they will be tortured.
The text of the Convention was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December
1984[1] and, following ratification by the 20th state party,[2] it came into force on 26 June 1987.[1] 26
June is now recognized as the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, in honor of the
Convention. Since the convention's entry into force, the absolute prohibition against torture and other
acts of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment has become accepted as a principle
of customary international law. As of October 2016, the Convention has 160 state parties.[1]

Definition of torture
Article 1.1 of the Convention defines torture as:
For the purpose of this Convention, the term "torture" means 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.
The words "inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions" remain vague and very broad. It is extremely
difficult to determine what sanctions are 'inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions' in a particular
legal system and what are not. The drafters of the Convention neither provided any criteria for
making such determination nor did it define the terms. The nature of the findings would so differ from
one legal system to another that they would give rise to serious disputes among the Parties to the
Convention. It was suggested that the reference to such rules would make the issue more
complicated, for it would endow the rules with a semblance of legal binding force. This allows state
parties to pass domestic laws that permit acts of torture that they believe are within the lawful
sanctions clause. However, the most widely adopted interpretation of the lawful sanctions clause is
that it refers to sanctions authorized by international law. Pursuant to this interpretation, only
sanctions that are authorized by international law will fall within this exclusion. The interpretation of

the lawful sanctions clause leaves no scope of application and is widely debated by authors,
historians, and scholars alike.[6]

Ban on torture[edit]
Article 2 prohibits torture, and requires parties to take effective measures to prevent it in any
territory under their jurisdiction. This prohibition is absolute and non-derogable. "No exceptional
circumstances whatsoever"[7] may be invoked to justify torture, including war, threat of war,
internal political instability, public emergency, terrorist acts, violent crime, or any form of armed
conflict.[5] In other words, torture cannot be justified as a means to protect public safety or prevent
emergencies.[7] Subordinates who commits acts of torture cannot abstain themselves from legal
responsibility on the grounds that they were just following orders from their superiors.[5]
The prohibition on torture applies to anywhere under a party's effective jurisdiction inside or outside
of its borders, whether on board its ships or aircraft or in its military occupations, military
bases, peacekeeping operations, health care industries, schools, day care centers, detention
centers, embassies, or any other of its areas, and protects all people under its effective control,
regardless of nationality or how that control is exercised.[5]
The other articles of part I lay out specific obligations intended to implement this absolute prohibition
by preventing, investigating, and punishing acts of torture.[5]

Ban on refoulement[edit]
Article 3 prohibits parties from returning, extraditing, or refouling any person to a state "where there
are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture." [8] The
Committee against Torture has held that this danger must be assessed not just for the initial
receiving state, but also to states to which the person may be subsequently expelled, returned or
extradited.[9]

Ban on cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment[edit]

Article 16 requires parties to prevent "other acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment which do not amount to torture as defined in article 1" in any territory under their
jurisdiction. Because it is often difficult to distinguish between cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment
or punishment and torture, the Committee regards Article 16's prohibition of such act as similarly
absolute and non-derogable.