Convention Against Torture (CAT)
What is Torture?
-Torture (from Latin tortus: to twist, to torment) is the act of intentionally inflicting severe physical or psychological suffering or discomfort on someone by another as a punishment or in order to fulfill some demand through the victim.
Torture can vary in types by the conditions it has effects on i.e.; Physical, Mental, Emotional or Sexual.
United Nations Convention against Torture (UNCAT)
Divisions of UNCAT
-Part 1 (Article 1-16) :
Contains a definition of torture (Article 1), and commits parties to taking effective measures to prevent any act of torture in any territory under their jurisdiction.
-Part 2 (Article 17-24)
Governs reporting and monitoring of the Convention and the steps taken by the parties to implement it. It establishes the Committee against Torture (Article 17), and empowers it to investigate allegations of systematic torture (Article 20)
-Part 3 (Article 25-33)
Governs ratification, entry into force, and amendment of the Convention. It also includes an optional arbitration mechanism for disputes between parties (Article 30).
Major Provisions
- Article 1.1 (Definition)
For the convention, the term ‘Torture’ is “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.
- Article 2 (Ban on Torture)
This article 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" 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. In other words, torture cannot be justified as a means to protect public safety or prevent emergencies. Subordinates who commit acts of torture cannot abstain themselves from legal responsibility on the grounds that they were just following orders from their superiors.
(Note: Non-Derogable rights are Rights that cannot be suspended even during a State of Emergency)
- Article 3 (Ban on refoulement)
This article 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. 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.
(Note: Refouling is the act in which a ‘country receiving asylum seekers’ returns them to another country in which they would be in likely danger of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion)
- Article 16 (Ban on cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment)
This article 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.
Additional Information
The End