Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

 

Part I

Article 1

1. For the purposes of this Convention, 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.

2. This article is without prejudice to any international instrument or
national legislation which does or may contain provisions of wider
application.

Article 2

1. Each State Party shall take effective legislative, administrative,
judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory
under its jurisdiction.

2. No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a
threat or war, internal political instability or any other public
emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.

3. An order from a superior officer or a public authority may not be
invoked as a justification of torture.

Article 3

1. No State Party shall expel, return (“refouler”) or extradite a person to
another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he
would be in danger of being subjected to torture.

2. For the purpose of determining whether there are such grounds, the
competent authorities shall take into account all relevant considerations
including, where applicable, the existence in the State concerned of a
consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights.

Article 4

1. Each State Party shall ensure that all acts of torture are offences
under its criminal law. The same shall apply to an attempt to commit
torture and to an act by any person which constitutes complicity or
participation in torture.

2. Each State Party shall make these offences punishable by appropriate
penalties which take into account their grave nature.

Article 5

1. Each State Party shall take such measures as may be necessary to
establish its jurisdiction over the offences referred to in article 4 in
the following cases:

(a) When the offences are committed in any territory under its
jurisdiction or on board a ship or aircraft registered in that State;

(b) When the alleged offender is a national of that State;

(c) When the victim os a national of that State if that State considers
it appropriate.

2. Each State Party shall likewise take such measures aa may be necessary
to establish its jurisdiction over such offences in cases where the alleged
offender is present in any territory under its jurisdiction and it does not
extradite him pursuant to article 8 to any of the States mentioned in
Paragraph 1 of this article.

3. This Convention does not exclude any criminal jurisdiction exercised in
accordance with internal law.

Article 6

1. Upon being satisfied, after an examination of information available to
it, that the circumstances so warrant, any State Party in whose territory a
person alleged to have committed any offence referred to in article 4 is
present, shall take him into custody or take other legal measures to ensure
his presence. The custody and other legal measures shall be as provided in
the law of that State but may be continued only for such time as is
necessary to enable any criminal or extradition proceedings to be
instituted.

2. Such State shall immediately make a preliminary inquiry into the facts.

3. Any person in custody pursuant to paragraph 1 of this article shall be
assisted in communicating immediately with the nearest appropriate
representative of the State of which he is a national, or, if he is a
stateless person, to the representative of the State where he usually
resides.

4. When a State, pursuant to this article, has taken a person into custody,
it shall immediately notify the States referred to in article 5, paragraph
1, of the fact that such person is in custody and of the circumstances
which warrant his detention. The State which makes the preliminary inquiry
contemplated in paragraph 2 of this article shall promptly report its
findings to the said State and shall indicate whether it intends to
exercise jurisdiction.

Article 7

1. The State Party in territory under whose jurisdiction a person alleged
to have committed any offence referred to in article 4 is found, shall in
the cases contemplated in article 5, if it does not extradite him, submit
the case to its competent authorities for the purpose of prosecution.

2. These authorities shall take their decision in the same manner as in the
case of any ordinary offence of a serious nature under the law of that
State. In the cases referred to in article 5, paragraph 2, the standards of
evidence required for prosecution and conviction shall in no way be less
stringent than those which apply in the cases referred to in article 5,
paragraph 1.

3. Any person regarding whom proceedings are brought in connection with any
of the offences referred to in article 4 shall be guaranteed fair treatment
at all stages of the proceedings.

Article 8

1. The offences referred to in article 4 shall be deemed to be included as
extraditable offences in any extradition treaty existing between States
Parties. States Parties undertake to include such offences as extraditable
offences in every extradition treaty to be concluded between them.

2. If a State Party which makes extradition conditional on the existence of
a treaty receives a request for extradition from another State Party with
which it has no extradition treaty, it may consider this Convention as the
legal basis for extradition in respect of such offenses. Extradition shall
be subject to the other conditions provided by the law of the requested
State.

3. States Parties which do not make extradition conditional on the
existence of a treaty shall recognize such offences as extraditable
offences between themselves subject to the conditions provided by the law
of the requested state.

4. Such offences shall be treated, for the purpose of extradition between
States Parties, as if they had been committed not only in the place in
which they occurred but also in the territories of the States required to
establish their jurisdiction in accordance with article 5, paragraph 1.

 

Conclusion

Notes

See Also

References and Further Reading

About the Author/s and Reviewer/s

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment 2, Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment 3, Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment 4, Conventions: Chronological Index 1971-1990, Human Rights conventions, Human rights international conventions, International law topics, International law: the refugee, Refugee & Asylum Law, United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugee, United Nations Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees.

Human Rights Conventions: CAT – Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

Further Reading


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