International Human Rights Law

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT)

I. Introduction🔗

The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) was adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on 10 December 1984. It entered into force on 26 June 1987.¹ The Committee against Torture monitors States’ implementation of the Convention.²

Note to reader

For an explanation of the Committee’s powers and other international legal mechanisms that may be available to enforce a State’s obligations under the CAT, please consult the “Ratification and Enforcement of Treaties” chapter, “International Human Rights Law” section.

I.1 Defining Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment under the CAT🔗

Under article 1, ‘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 them or a third person information or a confession;
Punishing them for an act they or a third person have committed or are suspected of having committed;
Intimidating or coerce them or a third person;
For any reason ‘based on discrimination of any kind’.

Other purposes must have something in common with the ones just listed.

Pain or suffering must be 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’. Torture does not include pain or suffering arising ‘only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions’.³ In sum, torture consists of four elements:

Severe pain and suffering, whether physical or mental, inflicted on the victim;
Intentional infliction of the pain or suffering;
The purpose of inflicting the pain or suffering;
Infliction by, at the instigation of, or with the consent of a person acting in an official capacity.

Severe pain or suffering cannot always be assessed objectively. It depends on the negative physical and/or mental repercussions that violence or abuse has on each individual, ‘taking into account all relevant circumstances of each case, including the nature of the treatment, the sex, age and state of health and vulnerability of the victim and any other status or factors’.⁴ The Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment has also suggested that States examine the victim’s social status, discriminatory frameworks that reinforce gender stereotypes and exacerbate harm, and the long-term impact on victims’ physical and psychological well-being, other human rights and their ability to pursue life goals.⁵

According to the Special Rapporteur, the purpose element is always fulfilled in cases of violence against women, if the acts can be shown to be gender-specific (‘in that such violence is inherently discriminatory’). Moreover, if it can be objectively established that an act had a specific purpose, ‘the intent can be implied’.⁶

While the majority of victims of sexual violence are women, the prohibition has evolved to include persons of all genders. Gender-based violence ‘can be committed against any persons because of their sex and socially constructed gender roles’, including women, girls, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, sexual minorities, gender-non-conforming individuals, and men and boys.⁷ As observed by the Special Rapporteur, ‘the purpose and intent elements of the definition of torture are always fulfilled if an act is gender-specific or perpetrated against persons on the basis of their sex, gender identity, real or perceived sexual orientation or non-adherence to social norms around gender and sexuality’.⁸ The Committee has stressed that article 1’s intent and purpose elements ‘do not involve a subjective inquiry into the motivations of the perpetrators, but rather must be objective determinations under the circumstances’.⁹

While some forms of sexual violence may amount to ‘other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’ (“ill-treatment”) rather than torture, a gender-sensitive lens favours treating ‘violations against women, girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons’ as torture, where they carry all elements of this crime, instead of reducing them to ill-treatment only.¹⁰ It is a violation of the CAT to prosecute conduct solely as ill-treatment when the elements of torture are also present.¹¹

Cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment is not defined in the CAT, which only affirms that such treatment does not amount to torture and is ‘committed by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity’. Nevertheless, the Committee has gone to great lengths to emphasise that States must eradicate ill-treatment as well (see obligations III.1 and III.4).

Note to reader

All obligations listed in this chapter apply to CRSV that amounts to either torture or ill-treatment.

As for the requirement that torture and ill-treatment be committed in an official capacity, actions outside direct State control do not necessarily fall beyond the CAT’s scope of protection. As observed by the Special Rapporteur, the language ‘concerning consent and acquiescence by a public official clearly extends State obligations into the private sphere and should be interpreted to include State failure to protect persons within its jurisdiction from torture and ill-treatment committed by private individuals’.¹² Similarly, the Committee has found that States should investigate and prosecute all cases of sexual and gender-based violence, especially those involving State authorities or other entities for whose actions or omissions States are responsible under the Convention.¹³

I.2 To What Kind of Sexual Violence Does the CAT Apply?🔗

All forms of sexual violence mentioned in the Introduction to the Guidebook may amount to torture or ill-treatment.¹⁴ In particular, the Committee has often recalled its jurisprudence that rape constitutes ‘infliction of severe pain and suffering perpetrated for a number of impermissible purposes, including interrogation, intimidation, punishment, retaliation, humiliation and discrimination based on gender’.¹⁵

The Committee has also found that sexual violence that takes place in detention settings (including touching, virginity testing, being stripped naked, invasive body searches, insults and humiliations of a sexual nature)¹⁶ generally violates the CAT. Coercive environments result in a situation of powerlessness where one person exercises total power over another, as is the case in places of detention, and consent cannot be implied.¹⁷ The same may be said of ‘beatings and electrocution in the genital area’, ‘threats of rape’¹⁸ and sexual harassment.¹⁹ Importantly, sexual abuse by the police constitutes torture ‘even when it is perpetrated outside of formal detention facilities’ as long as the victim/survivor is under the authorities’ physical control.²⁰

I.3 When Is Sexual Violence Conflict-Related?🔗

Whether sexual violence is conflict-related does not affect the CAT’s application. Some States have argued that the CAT does not apply in armed conflict on the grounds that the law of armed conflict is lex specialis (i.e., the only law governing a specific field).²¹

The Committee has clarified that the CAT applies ‘at all times, whether in peace, war or armed conflict’, in any territory under a State’s jurisdiction and that application of the CAT’s provisions is without prejudice to any other international instrument.²² This is significant in light of the fact that cases of sexual violence are often not limited to areas of armed conflict but may be happening throughout a country.²³

II. Legal Framework🔗

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment²⁴
Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Committee against Torture
1. General Comments
2. Concluding Observations
3. Decisions under the individual complaints procedure
4. Inquiry reports
Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
1. Reports

Note to reader

On the authoritativeness and the question of bindingness of the Committee’s work, consult the “International Human Rights Law” chapter, “Introduction” section, and the “Introduction” chapter, “Methodology” section.

III. Obligations🔗

Prevention🔗

III.1 States must criminalise CRSV🔗

Under article 2(1), States Parties must prevent torture through effective legislative or other actions.²⁵ States must ensure that the offence of torture is criminalised in line with article 1 of the Convention , as well as article 4, which covers attempts to commit torture and any acts which constitute complicity or participation in torture.²⁶

The obligations to prevent torture under article 2 and ill-treatment under article 16(1) ‘are indivisible, interdependent and interrelated’. The obligation to prevent ill-treatment in practice overlaps with the obligation to prevent torture. Article 16, identifying the means of prevention of ill-treatment, emphasises the adoption of the measures outlined in articles 10 to 13 on education, interrogation, investigation and complaints, but ‘does not limit effective prevention to these articles’. The conditions that give rise to ill-treatment ‘frequently facilitate torture and therefore the measures required to prevent torture must be applied to prevent ill-treatment’.²⁷

Restrictive definitions. Legislation criminalising CRSV cannot be restrictive in the way it defines sexual violence: instead, it should do so ‘in accordance with international standards and jurisprudence related to the prosecution of war crimes of sexual violence’.²⁸ States should not describe rape as referring only ‘to sexual intercourse involving male and female genital organs, excluding other forms of sexual abuse and rape of male victims’,²⁹ or sexual violence as involving only ‘force or threat of immediate attack’.³⁰

Emergencies. The prohibition against torture is absolute and “non-derogable”, meaning that in no circumstances may the prohibition be removed or compromised.³¹ A State Party cannot justify acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction by invoking exceptional circumstances, including a threat of or state of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency. The Committee has rejected efforts by States to justify torture and ill-treatment ‘as a means to protect public safety or avert emergencies’.³² The prohibition of ill-treatment is similarly non-derogable.³³

Reservations. The Committee considers reservations that contradict the object and purpose of the CAT to be impermissible. An example would be reservations to article 14, concerning the right of victims/survivors to obtain redress for acts of torture or ill-treatment.³⁴

Incorporation of the CAT into domestic law. In the criminalisation of torture and ill-treatment, a State should ‘incorporate all the provisions of the Convention in its legislation’. States should not justify a delay in doing so by having a dualist legal system, a combination of policies and legislation put in place to give effect to the CAT, or courts that refer to international conventions only ‘if there is ambiguity in domestic law’.³⁵

III.2 States must ensure that the CAT is applied in their territory and territories under their jurisdiction🔗

III.3 States must address CRSV committed by private actors🔗

Under articles 2 and 16, States must take effective measures to prevent torture and ill-treatment. While the CAT imposes obligations on States Parties and not on individuals, States may bear international responsibility for the acts and omissions of their officials and others, ‘including agents, private contractors, and others acting in official capacity or acting on behalf of the State, in conjunction with the State, under its direction or control, or otherwise under colour of law’.⁴¹

Where State authorities or others acting in official capacity or under colour of law ‘know or have reasonable grounds to believe that acts of torture or ill-treatment are being committed by non-State officials or private actors’, they must exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate, prosecute and punish such actors. If they fail to do so, the State bears responsibility and its officials should be considered ‘as authors, complicit or otherwise responsible’ for consenting to or acquiescing to the prohibited acts: the State’s indifference or inaction is a form of encouragement and/or permission. The Committee has applied this principle to States Parties’ failure ‘to prevent and protect victims from gender-based violence, such as rape, domestic violence, female genital mutilation, and trafficking’.⁴²

States Parties should prohibit, prevent and redress torture and ill-treatment in all contexts of custody or control, such as in prisons, hospitals, schools, institutions that engage in the care of children, the aged, persons with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities, in military service, and other institutions, as well as contexts where the failure of the State to intervene encourages and enhances the danger of privately inflicted harm.⁴³ For example, where detention centres are privately owned or run, ‘personnel are acting in an official capacity on account of their responsibility for carrying out the State function’. They should not derogate from their obligation as State officials to monitor and take all effective measures to prevent torture and ill-treatment’.⁴⁴

The CAT does not limit the international responsibility that States or individuals can incur for perpetrating torture and ill-treatment under international customary law and other treaties.⁴⁵

III.4 States must not expel, return (“refouler”) or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that the person would be in danger of being subjected to CRSV🔗

Enshrined in article 3, the principle of ‘non-refoulement’ is absolute: persons must not be deported to another State where there are ‘substantial grounds’ for believing that they would be in danger of being subjected to torture ‘either as an individual or as a member of a group that may be at risk’.⁴⁶ The risk of torture must be assessed on grounds ‘that go beyond mere theory or suspicion’. However, the risk need not be highly probable, ‘but it must be personal and present’⁴⁷ Substantial grounds exist whenever the risk of torture is ‘foreseeable, personal, present and real’.⁴⁸

Any person who, if deported, may be at risk of torture, should be allowed to remain ‘so long as the risk persists’. This is particularly true for victims/survivors, who suffer physical and psychological harm that may require sustained availability of and access to specialised rehabilitation services. ‘Once such a state of health and the need for treatment have been medically certified, they should not be removed to a State where adequate medical services for their rehabilitation are not available or guaranteed’.⁴⁹

Furthermore, a person at risk should not be deported to a State where the person may subsequently be deported to a third State where ‘there are substantial grounds for believing that the person would be in danger of being subjected to torture’.⁵⁰

Competent administrative and/or judicial authorities should examine each case ‘individually, impartially and independently’, in conformity with essential procedural safeguards, ‘notably the guarantee of a prompt and transparent process, a review of the deportation decision and a suspensive effect of the appeal’. The person should be informed of the intended deportation in a timely manner. Collective deportation, ‘without an objective examination of the individual cases with regard to personal risk’, should be considered as a violation of the principle of non-refoulement.⁵¹

Two elements are relevant in determining whether ‘substantial grounds’ exist:

The existence in the State concerned of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights;
The risk of torture is personal.

The existence of a pattern of gross violations of human rights in the receiving State. To determine whether there are grounds for believing that a person would be in danger of being subjected to torture if deported, the competent authorities must 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’.⁵² Such violations include, but are not limited to:

Widespread use of torture and impunity of its perpetrators;
Harassment and violence against minority groups;
Situations conducive to genocide;
Widespread gender-based violence;
Widespread use of sentencing and imprisonment of persons exercising fundamental freedoms; and
Situations of international and non-international armed conflicts’.⁵³

A receiving State should have demonstrated certain essential measures to prevent and prohibit torture throughout the entire territory under its jurisdiction, control or authority, such as:

Clear legislative provisions on the absolute prohibition of torture and its punishment with adequate penalties that are not subject to statutes of limitations, amnesty or pardon;
Measures to put an end to impunity for acts of torture, violence and other illegal practices committed by public officials. The prosecution of public officials allegedly responsible for acts of torture and other ill-treatment and their punishment.⁵⁴

When assessing whether ‘substantial grounds’ exist, States must consider a receiving State’s human rights situation ‘as a whole and not of a particular area of it’. The notion of ‘local danger’ does not provide for measurable criteria and fully mitigate the personal danger of being tortured. The so-called ‘internal flight alternative’ (i.e., ‘the deportation of a person or a victim of torture to an area of a State where the person would not be exposed to torture’)⁵⁵ is not reliable or effective, especially where lack of protection is generalised.⁵⁶ Conflict often makes it impossible ‘to identify particular areas of the country which could be considered safe for the complainants’.⁵⁷

The existence of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights in a country does not, on its own, determine ‘that a person would be in danger of being subjected to torture upon his return to that country’. Specific grounds must exist that indicate that the individual concerned would be personally at risk. However, the absence of such a pattern does not mean that a person ‘cannot be considered to be in danger of being subjected to torture in his or her specific circumstances’.⁵⁸

Personal risk. For there to be substantial grounds, the risk must be personal to the person in danger of being subjected to torture if deported. Indications of personal risk may include:

Ethnic background;
Political affiliation or political activities of the person, and/or the person’s family members;
Arrest and/or detention without guarantee of a fair treatment and trial;
Sentence in absentia (i.e., a person being sentenced while not physically present at the relevant proceedings);
Sexual orientation and gender identity;
Desertion from the national armed forces or armed groups;
Previous torture;
Incommunicado detention or other forms of arbitrary and illegal detention in the country of origin;
Clandestine escape from the country of origin following threats of torture;
Religious affiliation;
Violations of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion;
Risk of expulsion to a third country where the person may be in danger of being subjected to torture; and
Violence against women, including rape.⁵⁹

Measures to prevent non-refoulement. States Parties should take preventive measures against possible violations of the principle of non-refoulement,⁶⁰ such as:

Ensuring the right of each person concerned to have the case examined individually, to be fully informed of the reasons why they may be deported, and to know the rights legally available to appeal such a decision;
Providing all foreign nationals at risk of deportation, including those from ‘safe’ countries of origin, with access to fair procedures, including a detailed and thorough interview to assess the risk that they may be subjected to torture and ill-treatment in their country of origin in view of their personal circumstances;⁶¹
Providing the person concerned with access to a lawyer, to free legal aid when necessary, and to representatives of international organisations of protection;
Developing procedures ‘in a language that the person understands or with the assistance of interpreters and translators’;
Referring the person alleging previous torture to an independent medical examination free of charge, in accordance with the Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Istanbul Protocol, as revised);
Ensuring the right of appeal by the person against a deportation order to an independent administrative and/or judicial body within a reasonable period of time from the notification of that order and with the suspensive effect of the appeal on the enforcement of the order;
Providing effective training for all officials who deal with persons under deportation procedures on respect for the principle of non-refoulement;
Providing effective training for medical and other personnel dealing with detainees, migrants and asylum seekers in identifying and documenting signs of torture, taking into account the Istanbul Protocol;⁶²
Rapid and appropriate identification of persons at risk, including survivors of torture and ill-treatment, and of sexual and gender-based violence, and providing them with health-care and psychological services;⁶³
Refraining from adopting dissuasive measures or policies, ‘such as detention in poor conditions for indefinite periods, refusing to process claims for asylum or prolonging them unduly, or cutting funds for assistance programmes for asylum seekers’.⁶⁴

Ill-treatment. While article 3 provides protection against the removal of a person in danger of being subjected to torture (rather than ill-treatment) in the State to which the person would be deported, the article is without prejudice to article 16(2). This is especially the case where a person to be removed would enjoy additional protection, under other international instruments or national law, not to be deported to a State where they would face the risk of ill-treatment.⁶⁵

Furthermore, under article 16, States still have a duty to prevent ill-treatment. Before making an assessment relating to the principle of non-refoulement, States should consider ‘whether the nature of the other forms of ill-treatment that a person facing deportation is at risk of experiencing could likely change so as to constitute torture’.⁶⁶

Extradition treaties. A conflict may arise between the obligations that States Parties have undertaken under article 3 and those they have undertaken under a multilateral or bilateral extradition treaty, especially when the treaty was concluded before the ratification of the CAT with a State which is not a Party to the CAT and, therefore, not bound by the provisions of article 3. In this case, ‘the relevant extradition treaty should be applied in accordance with the principle of non-refoulement’.⁶⁷

States Parties to the CAT that subsequently enter into an extradition treaty should ensure that there is no conflict between the CAT and that treaty and, if there is, include a clause that, ‘in case of conflict, the Convention will prevail’.⁶⁸

Diplomatic assurances. The term ‘diplomatic assurances’ refers to a formal commitment by a receiving State that a person will be treated in accordance with conditions set by the sending State and international human rights standards. Diplomatic assurances from a State Party to the CAT to which a person is to be deported should not be used as a loophole to undermine the principle of non-refoulement ‘where there are substantial grounds for believing that the person would be in danger of being subjected to torture in that State’.⁶⁹

Non-State actors. States parties should refrain from deporting individuals to another State ‘where there are substantial grounds for believing that they would be in danger of being subjected to torture or other ill-treatment at the hands of non-State entities’,⁷⁰ including groups that are unlawfully exercising actions that inflict severe pain or suffering for purposes prohibited by the CAT, and over which the receiving State has no or only partial control in fact, ‘or whose acts it is unable to prevent or whose impunity it is unable to counter’.⁷¹

III.5 Special protection against CRSV is owed to individuals and groups made vulnerable by discrimination or marginalisation🔗

The principle of non-discrimination is fundamental to the interpretation and application of the CAT.⁷² Non-discrimination is included within the definition of torture in article 1(1), which explicitly prohibits specified acts when carried out for ‘any reason based on discrimination of any kind’. Accordingly, the protection of certain minority or marginalised individuals or populations especially at risk of torture ‘is a part of the obligation to prevent torture or ill-treatment’.⁷³

While implementing the CAT, States should ensure that their laws are not discriminatory and in practice applied in a sensitive, inclusive manner to all persons, ‘regardless of race, colour, ethnicity, age, religious belief or affiliation, political or other opinion, national or social origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, mental or other disability, health status, economic or Indigenous status, reason for which the person is detained, including persons accused of political offences or terrorist acts, asylum-seekers, refugees or others under international protection, or any other status or adverse distinction’.⁷⁴

Women. The criminalisation of abortion, ‘moral crimes’ like adultery and extramarital relationships, and witchcraft and sorcery, among other acts – offences that are aimed at or that solely and disproportionately affect women and girls – contributes to prison overcrowding, which has a negative impact on all aspects of detainees’ lives and gives rise to ill-treatment or torture.⁷⁵ Punishment for these crimes and other treatment suffered as a result of, for example, the criminalisation of abortion, may also amount to torture or ill-treatment.⁷⁶ States should review and/or repeal such laws and practices.

LGBTQI+ persons. Laws criminalising lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex persons foster a climate in which violence against them ‘by both State and non-State actors is condoned and met with impunity’.⁷⁷ They are disproportionately subjected to practices (including ‘conversion therapy’,⁷⁸ anal testing,⁷⁹ ‘corrective rape’ and other forms of sexual violence) that amount to torture and ill-treatment for not conforming to socially constructed gender expectations. Lesbians and transgender women are at particular risk of mistreatment because of gender inequality and power relations within families and communities. Discrimination and violence against LGBTQI+ persons also extends into the family sphere and can include placement in psychiatric institutions, forced marriage and honour-based violence. States should review and/or repeal such laws and practices.⁸⁰

Persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities face multiple and intersecting barriers that may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. Many are neglected or detained in psychiatric and social care institutions, psychiatric wards, boot camps and medical or other settings where they are subjected to severe abuses amounting to torture or ill-treatment, including mental and physical abuse and sexual violence.⁸¹ In the case of children with disabilities in health-care settings, an actual or perceived disability may diminish the weight given to the child’s views in determining their best interests, or may encourage carers or public authorities to make decisions in their stead. In health-care settings, women and girls with disabilities are deemed ‘”unfit” to bear children’ because of discriminatory notions and are at risk of forced sterilisation.⁸²

States should review and repeal the following laws and practices:

In the context of health care, making decisions for people with disabilities without their consent on the basis of their ‘best interests’, and masking serious violations and discrimination against them as health professionals’ ‘good intentions’;⁸³
Solitary confinement and prolonged restraint of persons with disabilities in psychiatric institutions. Both prolonged seclusion and restraint may constitute torture and ill-treatment. Seclusion and restraint may also lead to other non-consensual treatment, such as forced medication and electroshock procedures;⁸⁴
Forced interventions, including forced sterilisation, involuntary treatment and other psychiatric interventions in health-care facilities, which are forms of torture and ill-treatment. Forced interventions, wrongfully justified by theories of incapacity and therapeutic necessity, are alleged as being in the ‘best interest’ of the person concerned;⁸⁵
Involuntary commitment to psychiatric institutions. States should investigate torture and ill-treatment of persons with disabilities in institutions, and initiate social reforms and alternative community-based support systems in parallel with deinstitutionalisation of persons with disabilities.⁸⁶

Ethnic minorities. Ethnic minorities are particularly at risk of torture and ill-treatment. States should intensify their efforts to combat discrimination against them. The Committee has recommended that States:

Combat racial discrimination, xenophobia and related violence, ensure prompt, impartial and thorough investigations into all such motivated violence and prosecute and punish perpetrators with appropriate penalties;
Publicly condemn racial discrimination, xenophobia and related violence and send a clear and unambiguous message that racist or discriminatory acts within the public administration, ‘especially with regard to law enforcement personnel’, are unacceptable.⁸⁷

Migrants. One of the greatest risks to migrants, particularly unaccompanied children and other persons in vulnerable circumstances, is that of human trafficking.⁸⁸ Under articles 2 and 16, States should take specific measures to prevent it by:

Adopting criminal legislation that contains a legal definition of trafficking in human beings that properly covers all forms of exploitation, including slavery, slavery-like practices and servitude;⁸⁹
Focusing ‘on developing sustainable pathways for safe, orderly and regular migration based on protection, human rights and non-discrimination’;⁹⁰
Restricting the use of entertainment visas to ensure they are not used to facilitate trafficking, allocating sufficient resources for this purpose, and vigorously pursuing enforcement of criminal laws in this regard;⁹¹
Developing and applying criteria for evaluating the vulnerability of victims/survivors of trafficking;
Providing specialised training to law enforcement officials, border guards, immigration officials, prosecutors, labour inspectors, medical professionals and other relevant actors on detecting and identifying victims/survivors of trafficking in persons, with a specific focus on persons in vulnerable circumstances;
Investigating cases of trafficking in all its forms, prosecuting the perpetrators and, if convicted, punishing them with appropriate sanctions;⁹²
Increasing efforts to address ‘the root causes of trafficking in persons’;
Strengthening international cooperation, in particular with countries of origin, trafficking and transit, to ensure successful prosecutions;⁹³
Providing victims/survivors with effective protection and redress, including compensation, and as full rehabilitation as possible;⁹⁴
Assisting victims/survivors through counselling and reintegration measures;
Ensure that adequate human and financial resources are allocated to policies and programmes in this area;
Ensure that adequate support services are provided to victims/survivors, including those who do not cooperate with the authorities;
Consider granting victims/survivors of human trafficking ‘temporary residence permits’.⁹⁵

III.6 Special protection against CRSV is owed to detainees🔗

If left unchecked, detention situations (such as prisons and reception centres) may facilitate the commission of torture and ill-treatment. States must not only prevent torture and ill-treatment,⁹⁶ but also ‘keep under systematic review interrogation rules, instructions, methods and practices as well as arrangements for the custody and treatment of persons subjected to any form of arrest, detention or imprisonment’.⁹⁷

States should:

Ensure that military personnel are not in any way involved in the arrest and detention of civilians;⁹⁸
Prevent ‘detention in secret places of detention’ and eradicate ‘the practice of incommunicado detention’;⁹⁹
Maintain an official register (preferably digitised)¹⁰⁰ of detainees ‘in any territory under its jurisdiction’.¹⁰¹ Registers should be kept up to date at all stages of their deprivation of liberty, including during transfers to different places of detention.¹⁰² Registers should also be in line with the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment;¹⁰³
Inform detainees, ‘in a language they understand’, of:
1. The reasons for arrest and the charges laid against them;¹⁰⁴
2. Their right to be informed of their rights;¹⁰⁵
3. Their right promptly to receive independent, qualified legal assistance of their choice or, if necessary, adequate and free legal aid from the moment of apprehension and for consultations in private;¹⁰⁶
4. Their right to access independent medical assistance immediately after their arrival at a detention facility and routinely,¹⁰⁷ without conditioning such access on the permission or request of officials.¹⁰⁸ Medical examinations should be conducted out of hearing and out of sight of police officers and prison staff, unless the doctor concerned expressly requests otherwise;¹⁰⁹
5. Their right to promptly contact a family member or any other person of their choice.¹¹⁰
6. The right to be promptly brought before an independent judicial authority.¹¹¹

States should prevent conditions of detention which amount to ill-treatment by:¹¹²

Adopting practices that are in conformity with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules);¹¹³
Maintaining medical files and registers. Medical reports of injuries indicating ill-treatment should be sent without delay to an independent mechanism responsible for carrying out an investigation. Health-care professionals should not be exposed to undue pressure or reprisals for fulfilling their duties;¹¹⁴
Taking immediate steps to reduce overcrowding in prisons;
Ensuring that minors and women ‘are segregated from adults and men’, and those in pretrial detention ‘are segregated from convicted prisoners’;¹¹⁵
Having same sex guards ‘when privacy is involved’.¹¹⁶ States should attend to ‘the special needs of women deprived of their liberty’ in keeping with the Nelson Mandela Rules and the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-Custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules)¹¹⁷ and, in particular, ensure that women prisoners ‘are guarded by female prison warders only’;¹¹⁸
Improving the detention regime for prisoners, ‘especially vocational and physical activities’, and facilitate their reintegration into society;¹¹⁹
‘Install video surveillance in all areas of custody facilities where detainees may be present’, except in cases where detainees’ right to privacy or to confidential communication with their lawyer or a doctor may be violated;¹²⁰
Videotape all interrogations, utilising investigative procedures such as the Istanbul Protocol.¹²¹

Judicial overview. States should bring all places of detention ‘under judicial control’,¹²² coordinate ‘the judicial supervision of conditions of detention between competent organs’ and thoroughly investigate all allegations of abuse or ill-treatment committed in detention facilities. In particular, States should draw up ‘a comprehensive plan to address the issue of inter-prisoner violence and sexual violence in all detention facilities’ and ensure their effective investigation.¹²³

To facilitate this, States should provide the judicial system with additional financial and human resources to reduce the time taken to bring cases to court.¹²⁴

States should ensure detainees and persons at risk of torture and ill-treatment have access to ‘judicial and other remedies that will allow them to have their complaints promptly and impartially examined, to defend their rights, and to challenge the legality of their detention or treatment’.¹²⁵ States should:

Ensure detainees’ right to be brought before a judge without delay and to challenge the legality of their detention at any stage of the proceedings;
Provide judges with the authority to assess the legality of detention during habeas corpus hearings and to ‘apply less restrictive alternatives to detention’;
Ensure the mandatory presence of defence counsel of the detainee’s choice at the habeas corpus hearing. Hearings should be public and accessible to independent monitors.¹²⁶

Independent monitoring of places of detention. States should establish impartial mechanisms for monitoring and visiting places of detention and confinement¹²⁷ (not to be confused with national preventive mechanisms,¹²⁸ discussed under obligation III.12). Regular visits should be carried out to all prisons and places of detention by a body independent of the authority in charge of places of detention or imprisonment. The body should have the power to receive and investigate prisoners’ complaints and to visit the premises to monitor all forms of violence in custody, ‘including sexual violence against both men and women, and all forms of inter-prisoner violence, including proxy violence that occurs with the acquiescence of officials’.¹²⁹

The visiting body should ensure that action is taken to follow up on the results of the monitoring process and that the findings are made public, excluding any personal data, unless prisoners have given their express consent.¹³⁰ States should also ensure that forensic doctors and, when needed, female inspectors trained to detect signs of torture or other ill-treatment, including sexual violence, are present during those visits.¹³¹

States should permit the International Committee of the Red Cross¹³² and other non-governmental organisations¹³³ to undertake visits to places of detention in the State Party. States that have ratified the Optional Protocol should also allow the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment access to their territory and provide it with full and unrestricted information concerning situations of detention,¹³⁴ and establish National Preventative Mechanisms.¹³⁵

Body searches. Body searches, in particular strip and invasive body searches, are common practices and can constitute ill-treatment ‘when conducted in a disproportionate, humiliating or discriminatory manner’. Inappropriate touching and handling during searches are common, ‘as are routine vaginal examinations of women charged with drug offences’. These practices have a disproportionate impact on women, ‘particularly when conducted by male guards’. When conducted for a prohibited purpose or for any reason based on discrimination and leading to severe pain or suffering, ‘strip and invasive body searches amount to torture’.¹³⁶

The Committee has recommended that States:

Ensure that body searches are strictly regulated and limited, and conducted in private in a non-intrusive manner by trained staff of the same sex, with full respect for the dignity and gender identity of the individual concerned and in line with rules 50 to 53 and 60 of the Nelson Mandela Rules;¹³⁷
Use alternatives when possible, ‘such as electronic detection scanning methods’.¹³⁸

Preventive detention. States should reduce the length of preventive detention and restrict it to those cases ‘where it is deemed to be strictly necessary’. Instead, States should ‘apply alternative non-custodial measures’.¹³⁹ Time limits for preventive detention must ‘conform to fair trial standards’.¹⁴⁰

Pretrial detention. States should bring the practice of pretrial detention into conformity with international standards on fair trials. Pretrial detention should be used as an exceptional measure for a limited period of time, and the trial should take place ‘within a reasonable time’.¹⁴¹

States should separate pretrial detainees from convicted prisoners, including in women’s prisons, and minors from adults, in all places of detention.¹⁴²

Migrants. States should ensure that all asylum-seekers ‘have access to a fair and prompt asylum procedure’ in an individualised manner, and adopt comprehensive legislation on political asylum.¹⁴³ To ensure that stateless persons whose asylum claims have been refused, as well as asylum seekers, irregular migrants and refugees, are not held in detention indefinitely, States should establish statutory time limits for detention and access to an effective judicial remedy to review the necessity of the detention.¹⁴⁴

Children. The Committee has expressed concern at reports that child detainees are not always separated from adults and the conditions of their detention. The State Party should:

Raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to an internationally acceptable level (at least, but preferably higher than, 12);¹⁴⁵
Promote non-custodial and non-judicial measures, such as diversion, probation, mediation, counselling or community service, wherever possible, for all child offenders.¹⁴⁶ Child offenders should be deprived of their liberty only as a last resort and for the shortest amount of time possible. Their detention should be reviewed periodically, with a view to putting an end to.¹⁴⁷ If detention is unavoidable, States should adopt all necessary measures ‘to establish separate detention centres for persons below the age of 18;¹⁴⁸
Refrain from subjecting young offenders to preventive detention, except in exceptional and extraordinary cases according to specific and strict criteria defined by law, in line with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (the Beijing Rules), the United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (the Riyadh Guidelines) and the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty;¹⁴⁹
Offer prison staff training ‘on the rights and special needs of children’ and hire qualified officers specially trained to work with juveniles;¹⁵⁰
Establish an effective, specialised and well-functioning juvenile justice system in compliance with international standards, including the Beijing Rules, the Riyadh Guidelines and the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty;¹⁵¹
Ensure that children deprived of their liberty under the juvenile justice system ‘maintain regular contact with their families and, in particular, inform parents where their children are being held’;¹⁵²
Ensure that children in conflict with the law are tried in juvenile courts by specialised judges;¹⁵³
Develop new educational and rehabilitation programmes aimed at reducing juvenile reoffenders and encouraging pro-social behaviour, and provide adequate recreational activities to help children deprived of their liberty reintegrate into society;¹⁵⁴
In the case of unaccompanied children and young asylum-seekers, ensure that, when the age of an unaccompanied child is uncertain, verification is made before placing the child in detention. The State Party should pay particular attention to young asylum-seekers and use detention as a last resort. The State Party should also provide unaccompanied minors with assistance, accommodation and follow-up and, in particular, ‘provide adequate housing and education for young returnees awaiting expulsion’;¹⁵⁵
Take measures to bring the conditions of detention in conformity with the Beijing Rules, the Riyadh Guidelines and the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of Their Liberty;¹⁵⁶
Protect minors from any violence, including sexual violence, in places of deprivation of liberty, investigate those cases impartially through an independent body, prosecute and punish those responsible and provide the victims with adequate remedies.¹⁵⁷

III.7 States must educate their population on CRSV🔗

The obligation to take effective preventive measures goes beyond the measures enumerated in the CAT.¹⁵⁸ For example, the Committee has emphasised that the general population should be educated on the history, scope, and necessity ‘of the non-derogable prohibition of torture and ill-treatment’. States should:

Conduct major information campaigns to raise awareness among the population (including parties to a conflict) that acts of sexual violence are offences under criminal law, to break the taboos on sex crimes and to eliminate the stigmatisation and exclusion of victims/survivors;¹⁵⁹
Raise awareness about violence against women and children. States should ensure that children are educated about violence against women and children by ‘training teachers, using new educational technology and developing training courses, curricula and textbook content’;¹⁶⁰
Widely disseminate reports submitted by States to the Committee and the Committee’s concluding observations,¹⁶¹ in appropriate languages (including Indigenous)¹⁶² and through official websites, media and non-governmental organisations.¹⁶³

Training of law enforcement personnel and others. Under article 10, States must fully include the prohibition against torture in the training of law enforcement personnel, civil or military, medical personnel, public officials (including border guards and migration officials),¹⁶⁴ and other persons who may be involved in the custody, interrogation or treatment of any individual who has been arrested, detained or imprisoned. States should:

Conduct regular training courses for physicians, lawyers, prosecutors, national security guards, military personnel, border guards, judges and other law enforcement personnel, including members of the police force and prison staff, to ensure that all have a thorough knowledge of the CAT and are aware that breaches will not be tolerated, will be investigated and that perpetrators will be prosecuted. Further, all relevant staff, including forensic and medical staff and law enforcement personnel, should receive specific training on how to detect signs of torture;¹⁶⁵
Develop and implement training programmes on non-coercive investigation techniques, in line with the Méndez Principles;¹⁶⁶
Draft a handbook describing interrogation techniques in keeping with the Nelson Mandela Rules, and prohibit techniques that violate the Rules;
Raise awareness among law enforcement personnel of legislation prohibiting sexual violence, ‘in particular against women and children’;¹⁶⁷
Establish human rights offices within police forces, and units of officers specifically trained to handle cases of gender-based and sexual violence;¹⁶⁸
Ensure that officials and personnel providing redress receive methodological training to prevent re-traumatisation of victims/survivors of torture or ill-treatment. For health and medical personnel, training should include ‘the need to inform victims of gender-based and sexual violence and all other forms of discrimination of the availability of emergency medical procedures, both physical and psychological’;¹⁶⁹
Encourage the participation of non-governmental and human rights organisations in the training of law enforcement personnel.¹⁷⁰

Minorities. Eliminating employment discrimination and conducting ongoing sensitisation training in contexts where torture or ill-treatment is likely to be committed is key to preventing such violations.¹⁷¹ States should promote the hiring of persons belonging to minority groups and women, ‘particularly in the medical, educational, prison/detention, law enforcement, judicial and legal fields, within State institutions as well as the private sector’.¹⁷² Diversification of the police force is helpful in the prevention of torture, ill-treatment and deaths in custody.¹⁷³

III.8 States must monitor the measures taken to eradicate CRSV and report on them to the Committee🔗

Under article 19, States must submit reports to the Committee on the measures they have taken to give effect to the CAT within one year after its entry into force. Thereafter, States must submit supplementary reports every four years ‘on any new measures taken and such other reports as the Committee may request’.

In their reports, States should provide detailed information on preventive measures, ‘disaggregated by relevant status’,¹⁷⁴ and all other measures adopted to implement the CAT or the Committee’s recommendations, including institutional developments, plans or programmes.¹⁷⁵ In addition, they should:

Indicate the resources allocated to their implementation plans of the CAT;¹⁷⁶
Provide information, including statistics, ‘on the number of complaints filed against public officials on torture and ill-treatment, as well as information about the results of the proceedings, at both the penal and disciplinary levels’. This information should be disaggregated by sex, age and ethnicity of the complainant and indicate which authority undertook the investigation;¹⁷⁷
Provide statistics ‘on redress, including compensation, and means of rehabilitation’ for victims/survivors of torture and ill-treatment;¹⁷⁸
Include statistical data ‘on the unresolved cases related to war-time rape and other sexual violence’ where applicable;¹⁷⁹
Provide information to the Committee on any cases in which the CAT has been invoked by national courts;¹⁸⁰
Collect and publish data on the locations, capacity and occupancy rates, and the numbers of convicted and remand detainees in all places of detention in the State Party, as well as on the number and causes of deaths in custody;¹⁸¹
‘Compile data, disaggregated by age and ethnicity, on all forms of violence against women’ to ‘facilitate the identification of targeted action to prevent and combat effectively torture, ill-treatment and all forms of violence against girls and women’;¹⁸²
Compile statistical data, disaggregated by age, sex and ethnicity of victims, ‘on complaints, investigations, prosecutions and convictions in cases of hate crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons’ to ‘raise awareness to counter prejudice and stereotypes, and adopt relevant policies to combat and prevent hate crimes’;¹⁸³
Provide the Committee with statistical data ‘regarding cases of child abuse, the investigations, prosecutions, sentences imposed and redress or rehabilitation offered to victims’,¹⁸⁴ and particularly on the measures taken by the State Party ‘to combat practices such as the sale, prostitution and trafficking of minors’;¹⁸⁵
Include information on their progress in promoting the hiring of persons belonging to minority groups and women, ‘disaggregated by gender, race, national origin, and other relevant status’.¹⁸⁶

III.9 States should regulate the arms trade🔗

III.10 States should recognise the competence of the Committee to hear individual complaints and ratify other instruments of international law🔗

III.11 States should cooperate with international actors to eliminate CRSV🔗

III.12 States must establish National Preventive Mechanisms (NPMs) to eliminate CRSV🔗

Justice and Accountability🔗

III.13 States must establish impartial and effective complaints mechanisms to receive complaints of CRSV🔗

III.14 States must investigate CRSV🔗

Under article 12, States Parties must undertake prompt, effective and impartial investigations when there are reasonable grounds to believe that torture or ill-treatment has been committed in any territory under their jurisdiction. The authorities should do so even in the absence of a formal complaint. Under article 13, investigations must allow individuals to have their case promptly and impartially examined. States should ensure that investigations include as a standard measure an independent physical and psychological forensic examination of the victim/survivor as provided in the Istanbul Protocol.²²³

In cases of sexual violence, including suspected sexual violence against children, the Committee has urged States to automatically initiate effective and impartial investigations and court proceedings.²²⁴ When sexual violence has allegedly been committed by a State’s security forces, an independent body should lead the investigation.²²⁵

CRSV committed by officials. States should closely monitor their officials and those acting on their behalf and punish those responsible, especially ‘senior military and civilian officials authorizing, acquiescing or consenting, in any way, to acts of torture committed by their subordinates’,²²⁶ ‘with particular attention to the legal responsibility of both the direct perpetrators and officials in the chain of command’.²²⁷

States should:

Ensure that all officials credibly accused of torture or ill-treatment are suspended from duty pending the investigation of the allegations against them;
Ensure that all officials found to have engaged in torture or ill-treatment are immediately terminated from service;
Ensure that all responsible officials are subject to criminal prosecution in addition to any disciplinary penalties;
Provide the Committee with information on the penalties applied to all officials found to have committed torture or ill-treatment.²²⁸

CRSV in the armed forces. The Committee has expressed concern at acts amounting to torture or ill-treatment within the army, such as hazing,²²⁹ rape, and other forms of sexual violence.²³⁰ While noting the establishment of hotlines and mobile monitoring units to address such problems, it has also suggested that States:

Promptly, impartially and effectively investigate all allegations of sexual violence, and ‘establish the liability of direct perpetrators and those in the chain of command’;²³¹
Protect complainants and witnesses from acts of retaliation or reprisals, including intimidation, following their complaint or testimony;
Provide veterans who are survivors of military sexual assault with equal access to disability compensation.²³²

Peacekeepers. Following allegations of sexual abuse by United Nations peacekeepers, their States of nationality should:

Investigate the allegations and report to the Committee on their findings and measures taken in response, including the resulting number of indictments, prosecutions and convictions, and measures to prevent further occurrences;
Cooperate with the relevant United Nations departments.²³³

III.15 States must prosecute CRSV🔗

Under article 5(1), a State must take measures to prosecute torture or ill-treatment:

When committed in any territory under its jurisdiction;
When the alleged perpetrator is a national of that State; and/or
When the victim is a national of that State.²³⁴

In the course of prosecution, States should:

Eliminate the impunity enjoyed by perpetrators of CRSV, whether they are State officials or non-State actors,²³⁵ and promptly and effectively bring them to justice;²³⁶
Ensure that judges do not dismiss allegations of torture or ill-treatment.²³⁷ Judges have a duty, when they have reason to believe that a person appearing before them has been subjected to torture or duress, to actively ask the detainees about their treatment and to request a forensic examination;²³⁸
Increase the number of judges specialising ‘in sexual violence in areas where the issue is present and strengthen their capacity’;²³⁹
Ensure that criminal penalties are proportionate to the gravity of the acts committed, and that they are effectively enforced.²⁴⁰

Extradition to other States. Under article 8, torture and ill-treatment must be included as extraditable offences in any extradition treaty between States Parties. For the purpose of extradition between States Parties, torture and ill-treatment must be treated 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 prosecute such offences.²⁴¹

However, if a State refuses to extradite perpetrators of torture and ill-treatment to another State,²⁴² the former State must take measures to prosecute such offences when the alleged offender is present in any territory under its jurisdiction.²⁴³

Extradition to the International Criminal Court. The Committee has noted with concern bilateral agreements between States protecting one another’s nationals in their territories and refusing to transfer them to the International Criminal Court in cases concerning war crimes or crimes against humanity amounting to ill-treatment or torture. States should review the terms of such agreements.²⁴⁴

Independence of the judiciary. Judges’ lack of independence is an impediment when there are grounds for believing that torture or ill-treatment has been committed. States should adopt measures to guarantee the independence, impartiality and effectiveness of the judiciary in accordance with the relevant international norms,²⁴⁵ including the Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary. ²⁴⁶ For example, States should:

Provide all prosecutors and judges, including foreign judges,²⁴⁷ with adequate remuneration and guaranteed tenure until retirement or expiration of their term of office;²⁴⁸
Increase the representation of women in the judiciary, if necessary;²⁴⁹
Guarantee the safety of justice officials and address attacks and reprisals directed against them;²⁵⁰
Increase the justice system’s capacity to investigate and prosecute corruption;
Establish an adequately funded witness and whistle-blower protection programme;
Undertake training and capacity-building programmes for the police and other law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges on anti-corruption legislation and relevant professional codes of ethics;
Ensure transparency in the conduct of public officials;
Report back to the Committee on progress achieved, and the difficulties encountered, in combating corruption;²⁵¹
Ensure that judges are ‘fully independent from the executive and legislative branches of Government’;²⁵²
Review the appointment, promotion and dismissal of judges in line with the relevant international standards, including the Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary.²⁵³

Independence of lawyers. The Committee has noted with great concern reports that lawyers who have offered their services to petitioners, human rights defenders and other dissidents have been harassed by personnel allegedly hired by State authorities. In such cases, States should:

Ensure respect for the right to freedom of association and to the independent practice of law, in accordance with the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers;²⁵⁴
Abolish any legal provisions which undermine the independence of lawyers and investigate all attacks against lawyers and petitioners;
Investigate acts of intimidation and impediments to the independent work of lawyers.²⁵⁵

Past human rights violations. States should effectively and impartially investigate ‘all outstanding cases’ of alleged torture and ill-treatment;²⁵⁶ prosecute and, where applicable, punish the perpetrators; and provide compensation to the victims/survivors or their families.²⁵⁷ Further, they should:

Establish a mechanism, including a judicial mechanism, to address allegations of torture and other serious human rights violations, including sexual violence,²⁵⁸ in an impartial, public and transparent manner.²⁵⁹ The mechanism should include independent judicial and prosecutorial institutions led by individuals known for their integrity and impartiality at the national and international levels;²⁶⁰
Map all pending criminal investigations into serious human rights violations perpetrated during and after the conflict, as well as the findings of the bodies that documented such cases,²⁶¹ publicly disseminate such findings,²⁶² and collect data on the progress made in establishing the truth about past torture and other serious human rights violations;²⁶³
Where necessary, empower specialised forensic teams to exhume and analyse human remains, and accelerate their identification and handing over to relatives;²⁶⁴
Ensure that information allegedly establishing the involvement of State agents in conduct prohibited by the CAT is not arbitrarily withheld from the public. Journalists and human rights defenders should not face intimidation or reprisals for disclosing such information;
Undertake other initiatives, including expanding the mandate of historical investigations units, to address allegations of CRSV;
Provide victims/survivors of torture and ill-treatment with protection,²⁶⁵ redress, including fair and adequate compensation, and as full a rehabilitation as possible.²⁶⁶

Religious and traditional bodies. The use of religious and/or traditional bodies such as a ‘morality police’ to enforce the law may undermine the effective implementation of the CAT.²⁶⁷ States should:

Supervise these bodies’ actions and ensure that fundamental legal safeguards apply to all persons who come into contact with them. States should establish a legal aid mechanism to guarantee that any person has an enforceable right to a lawyer and other due process guarantees, and that all suspects may defend themselves and lodge complaints of abusive treatment in violation of national law and the CAT when necessary;
Ensure that such bodies exercise a defined jurisdiction, are properly trained and operate in conformity with the CAT, ‘and that their acts are subject to review by ordinary judicial authorities’;²⁶⁸
Ensure that cases of rape are not ‘settled amicably, through financial compensation, under the supervision of tribal or village chiefs’. Cases of rape should be dealt with as criminal offences;²⁶⁹
Ensure that customary laws and practices are not invoked to justify violating the absolute prohibition of torture;²⁷⁰
Ensure that State officials do not recognise or carry out judgments of parallel judicial mechanisms that exculpate perpetrators ‘from crimes committed in the name of so-called “honour”, that call for women to be subjected to corporal punishment’ or are otherwise inconsistent with the CAT.²⁷¹

Military courts. The Committee has noted with concern reports that cases of torture and ill-treatment committed by military personnel in their official capacity against civilians have been tried in military courts. States should:

Ensure ‘that initial investigations, the collection of evidence and the recovery of corpses are the responsibility of the civil authorities’;²⁷²
Ensure that cases involving torture and ill-treatment committed by military personnel against civilians are always heard in civil courts, even when are service-related;²⁷³
Take all possible measures to prohibit military courts from exercising jurisdiction over civilians.²⁷⁴

III.16 States must provide CRSV victims/survivors with access to justice🔗

States must provide CRSV victims/survivors with access to justice.²⁷⁵ Specific obstacles that impede access to justice and should be removed include, but are not limited to:

Inadequate national legislation. States should review and improve their national laws ‘in accordance with the Committee’s concluding observations and views adopted on individual communications’.²⁷⁶ Examples of inadequate national legislation are domestic laws and policies that permit exemption from punishment of a rapist ‘if he marries the victim’,²⁷⁷ legislation that allows for the incarceration of female detainees for crimes linked to domestic violence and polygamy,²⁷⁸ and restrictive and discriminatory legislation and policies relating to redress for civilian victims of war, including survivors of war-time sexual violence;²⁷⁹
Inadequate measures ‘for securing the custody of alleged perpetrators’;²⁸⁰
State secrecy laws, which severely undermine ‘the availability of information about torture, criminal justice and related issues’. Their broad application prevents the disclosure of crucial information that would enable the Committee to identify possible patterns of abuse requiring attention;²⁸¹
Delays in processing CRSV claims;²⁸²
Evidential burdens and procedural requirements that interfere with the right to redress.²⁸³ States should:
1. Make readily available to victims/survivors all evidence of acts of torture or ill-treatment, upon request;²⁸⁴
2. Ensure that all proceedings apply gender-sensitive procedures which avoid re-victimisation and stigmatisation of victims of torture or ill-treatment. Rules of evidence and procedure on gender-based violence must afford equal weight to the testimony of women and girls, and prevent the introduction of discriminatory evidence and harassment of victims/survivors and witnesses;²⁸⁵
3. Ensure that national courts do not require evidence of physical resistance to sexual violence by the victims/survivors to show lack of consent;²⁸⁶
The failure to provide sufficient legal aid and protection measures for victims/survivors and witnesses. Proceedings should not impose a financial burden on victims/survivors that would prevent or discourage them from seeking justice. Special measures should be adopted to ensure access by persons belonging to groups which have been marginalised or ‘made vulnerable’.²⁸⁷ States should:
1. Prevent interference with victims/survivors’ privacy and protect victims, their families and witnesses and others who have intervened on their behalf against intimidation and retaliation at all times ‘before, during and after judicial, administrative or other proceedings that affect the interests of victims’;²⁸⁸
2. Provide witnesses at serious risk with long-term or permanent protection measures, including changing their identity or relocating them within or outside States;
3. Give more attention to the psychological needs of witnesses to minimise possible re-traumatisation of victims/survivors in court proceedings;
4. Ensure that witnesses ‘have appropriate means to travel to and from the court’. States should provide escorts for their travel, as necessary;²⁸⁹
The associated stigma, and the physical, psychological and other related effects of torture and ill-treatment. In particular, the Committee has been concerned about the culture of silence and stigma surrounding sexual violence and its victims/survivors;²⁹⁰
The failure of a State Party to execute judgments providing reparative measures for a victim/survivor of torture, handed down by national, international or regional courts;²⁹¹
Any religious or traditional justification that would violate the absolute prohibition of torture and ill-treatment.²⁹²

Amnesties and other impediments. Amnesties or other impediments that interfere with the prompt and fair prosecution of perpetrators of torture or ill-treatment, such as routine reduction of sentences and replacement of imprisonment by fines,²⁹³ ‘pose impermissible obstacles to a victim’ in their efforts to seek justice and obtain redress. Amnesties should be rejected.²⁹⁴

Statutes of limitations. Statutes of limitations should not be applied to torture and ill-treatment. On account of ‘the continuous nature’ of the effects of torture, passage of time does not attenuate the harm and in some cases ‘the harm may increase as a result of post-traumatic stress’. States Parties should ensure that all victims/survivors of torture or ill-treatment, regardless of when the violation occurred or whether it is attributable to a former regime, are able to seek justice and obtain redress.²⁹⁵

Immunities. Granting immunity ‘to any State or its agents or to non-State actors for torture or ill-treatment’ is in direct conflict with States’ obligation to provide access to justice and redress to victims/survivors. Under no circumstances should arguments of national security be used to deny redress for victims.²⁹⁶

Defence of superior order. An order of a superior or public authority can never be invoked as a justification of torture.²⁹⁷ Subordinates may not seek refuge in superior authority and should be held to account.

At the same time, those exercising superior authority, including public officials, cannot avoid accountability for torture or ill-treatment committed by subordinates ‘where they knew or should have known that such impermissible conduct was occurring, or was likely to occur, and they failed to take reasonable and necessary preventive measures’. Competent, independent and impartial prosecutorial and judicial authorities should fully investigate the responsibility of any superior officials.

Persons who resist what they view as unlawful orders or who cooperate in the investigation of torture or ill-treatment, including by superior officials, should be protected against retaliation.²⁹⁸

Child-friendly proceedings. States should establish procedures to address the needs of children, ‘taking into account the best interests of the child’ and the child’s right to express their views freely in all matters affecting them. The views of the child should be given due weight ‘in accordance with the age and maturity of the child’.²⁹⁹

III.17 States whose decision to return individuals has been questioned under article 22 should provide such individuals with safeguards🔗

In all individual communications submitted to the Committee by or on behalf of individuals claiming to be victims of a violation of the prohibition of non-refoulement, the burden of proof is upon the author of the communication. The author must submit substantiated arguments showing that the danger of being subjected to torture ‘is foreseeable, present, personal and real’.

However, when complainants are in a situation where they cannot reasonably elaborate on their case, ‘such as when they have demonstrated that they have no possibility of obtaining documentation relating to their allegation of torture or have been deprived of their liberty’, the burden of proof is reversed. The State must then investigate the allegations and verify the information on which the communication is based.³⁰⁰ In its procedure of assessment, the State should:

Provide the person with fundamental guarantees and safeguards, especially if the person has been deprived of liberty or is in a particularly vulnerable situation, ‘such as the situation of an asylum seeker, an unaccompanied minor, a woman who has been subjected to violence or a person with disabilities’;³⁰¹
Guarantee linguistic, legal, medical, social and, when necessary, financial assistance, as well as the right to recourse against a decision of deportation within a reasonable time frame. In particular, States should always ensure an examination by a qualified medical doctor to prove the torture that the complainant has suffered, regardless of the authorities’ opinion on the credibility of the allegation. The authorities should be able to assess the risk of torture on the basis of the medical and psychological examinations;³⁰²
Refrain from following a standardised credibility assessment process to determine the validity of a non-refoulement claim. Victims/survivors of torture frequently suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, which can result in a broad range of symptoms, including involuntary avoidance and dissociation. These symptoms may affect the ability of the person to disclose relevant details or to relay a consistent story. In case of factual contradictions and inconsistencies, States Parties should appreciate that ‘complete accuracy can seldom be expected from victims of torture’,³⁰³ particularly if inconsistencies do not raise doubts about the general veracity of the claims,³⁰⁴ do not concern core elements of the account or are supported by ‘a satisfactory explanation.³⁰⁵

Humanitarian Response🔗

III.18 States must provide CRSV victims/survivors with appropriate care🔗

Under article 14, States should guarantee prompt, appropriate care to victims/survivors of torture or ill-treatment, and:

Provide better protection, including access to safe houses, State-funded social rehabilitation services, shelters and crisis centres, identity documents without prior authorization of a male family member, medical care and psychological support.³⁰⁶ States should ‘ensure that all women who have been subjected to sexual violence have access to appropriate services offering physical and psychological rehabilitation and social reintegration’;³⁰⁷
Provide access to an independent doctor where there may be a need for assessment and documentation of injuries, or other health-related consequences stemming from torture or ill-treatment, ‘including forms of sexual violence and abuse’. Qualified medical personnel trained in and applying the Istanbul Protocol should be available in places where persons who have been deprived of their liberty are kept;³⁰⁸
Ensure the effective functioning of a free 24-hour State-funded helpline for women who are experiencing violence;³⁰⁹
Establish a database on the number of victims of torture and ill-treatment who have benefitted from health programmes.³¹⁰

Reproductive health services. The Committee has identified reproductive decisions as a context in which victims/survivors of sexual violence, particularly women and girls, are at risk of human rights violations.³¹¹ States should:

Ensure that health professionals immediately and unconditionally treat persons seeking emergency medical care, in accordance with the guidelines issued by the World Health Organization;³¹²
Guarantee that victims/survivors have full access to health services specialised in family planning and the prevention and diagnosis of sexually transmitted infections;³¹³
Provide free health coverage in cases of rape;³¹⁴
Ensure effective access to abortion services when not doing so may result in severe pain and suffering, such as when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, when the life or health of the pregnant person is at risk, and in cases of fatal foetal impairment.³¹⁵ States should also conduct a broad public campaign to raise awareness about cases when therapeutic abortions are legal and how to access them;³¹⁶
Ensure that neither patients who resort to abortions nor the medical professionals who perform them face criminal sanctions, and that women and girls have effective access to post-abortion care, regardless of whether they have had an abortion legally or illegally;³¹⁷
Exonerate and release from prison women convicted as a result of obstetric emergencies;³¹⁸
Legalise the distribution of oral emergency contraception to victims of rape;³¹⁹
In accordance with the Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity,³²⁰ combat discriminatory gender stereotypes fostering discrimination and abuses in the provision of health-care services to women, girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons.³²¹

Rehabilitation. Under article 14, States must ensure that victims/survivors of torture and ill-treatment have an enforceable right to as full rehabilitation as possible. Rehabilitation ‘should be holistic’ and include, beyond legal and social services, medical and psychological care.

Rehabilitation refers to the restoration of function or the acquisition of new skills required as a result of the changed circumstances of a victim/survivor in the aftermath of torture or ill-treatment. It seeks to enable the maximum possible self-sufficiency and function for the individual concerned, and may involve adjustments to the person’s physical and social environment. Rehabilitation for victims/survivors should aim to restore, as far as possible, ‘their independence, physical, mental, social and vocational ability; and full inclusion and participation in society’.

‘As full rehabilitation as possible’ refers to the need to restore and repair the harm suffered by a victim whose life situation, including dignity, health and self-sufficiency ‘may never be fully recovered as a result of the pervasive effect of torture’. Rehabilitation is not contingent on the resources States may have available ‘and may not be postponed’.³²² States should:

Adopt a long-term, integrated approach and ensure that specialist services for victims of torture or ill-treatment ‘are available, appropriate and readily accessible’. These should include:
1. A procedure for the assessment and evaluation of individuals’ therapeutic and other needs, based on the Istanbul Protocol;
2. Inter-disciplinary measures, such as medical, physical and psychological rehabilitative services;
3. Re-integrative and social services;
4. Community and family-oriented assistance and services;
5. Vocational training; and
6. Education;³²³
Holistically take into consideration the strength and resilience of the victim/survivor. States should prioritise the creation of ‘a context of confidence and trust in which assistance can be provided’. Confidential services should be provided as required;³²⁴
Simultaneously provide medical and psychosocial services for victims/survivors in the direct aftermath of torture and ill-treatment;³²⁵
Ensure that rehabilitation services and programmes take into account a victim/survivor’s culture, personality, history and background. Services and programmes should be accessible to all victims ‘without discrimination’;
Provide access to rehabilitation programmes as soon as possible in the aftermath of torture or ill-treatment, following an assessment by qualified independent medical professionals. Access to rehabilitation programmes ‘should not depend on the victim pursuing judicial remedies’;
Ensure the victim’s participation in the selection of the service provider;
Make services available in the relevant languages;
Establish systems for assessing the effective implementation of rehabilitation programmes and services, including by using indicators and benchmarks;
Ensure that article 14 is fulfilled through either the direct provision of rehabilitative services by the State, or through the funding of private medical, legal and other facilities, including those administered by non-governmental organisations, in which case the State must ensure ‘that no reprisals or intimidation are directed at them’;³²⁶
Compile data, disaggregated by age, sex and ethnicity, on the number of CRSV victims/survivors to assess their needs and develop the best rehabilitation services.³²⁷

Reparations🔗

III.19 States must provide redress to CRSV victims/survivors🔗

Under article 14, States must provide victims/survivors of torture and ill-treatment with redress and an enforceable right to fair and adequate compensation, ‘including the means for as full rehabilitation as possible’.³²⁸ Further, in accordance with the Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law (Basic Principles and Guidelines), redress ‘must be adequate, effective and comprehensive’.³²⁹ Generally, States should:

Promptly provide victims/survivors with redress, even in the absence of a complaint, when there are reasonable grounds to believe that torture or ill-treatment has taken place;³³⁰
Consider ‘the specificities and circumstances of each case’. Redress should be tailored ‘to the particular needs of the victim’ and proportionate ‘to the gravity of the violations committed against them’.³³¹ Disciplinary action alone should not be regarded ‘as an effective remedy’;³³²
Ensure that a civil proceeding and the victim/survivor’s claim for reparation are not dependent on the conclusion of a criminal proceeding. Civil liability should be available independently of criminal proceedings, and the necessary legislation and institutions for such purposes should be in place;³³³
Where existing civil proceedings are unable to provide adequate redress to victims/survivors, implement mechanisms that are readily accessible to them, including ‘a national fund to provide redress for victims of torture’;³³⁴
Ensure that judicial remedies are always available to victims/survivors, irrespective of what other remedies may be available;
Enable victim/survivor participation in the provision of redress, for example through consultation or inclusion as staff,³³⁵ in accordance with the Nairobi Declaration on Women’s and Girls’ Right to a Remedy and Reparation;³³⁶
Ensure that the procedures for seeking redress are transparent;³³⁷
Refrain from implementing development measures or providing humanitarian assistance as a substitute for redress. The failure of a State Party to provide the individual victim/survivor with redress may not be justified by invoking a State’s level of development. Subsequent governments as well as successor States still have the obligation to guarantee access to the right of redress;³³⁸
Establish an adequately funded,³³⁹ effective reparation scheme at the national level to provide redress to victims of war crimes, ‘including sexual violence’, and clearly define criteria ‘for obtaining the status of victims of war crimes’ and the specific rights and entitlements guaranteed to victims throughout the State Party.³⁴⁰ States should ensure that all forms of sexual violence are covered by the law on reparation;³⁴¹
Ensure that staff working to provide CRSV victims/survivors with redress receive regular capacity-building, including on ethical and trauma-informed engagement with victims/survivors;³⁴²
Ensure that culturally sensitive collective reparation measures are available for groups with shared identity, such as minority and Indigenous groups. However, ‘collective measures do not exclude the individual right to redress’;³⁴³
Ensure the availability of ‘child-sensitive measures for reparation which foster the health and dignity of the child’;³⁴⁴
Fully develop and disseminate public policies regarding full and complete redress, ‘regardless of geographical location, the socio-economic situation of victims, gender, and real or perceived affiliation with current or former opposition groups’;³⁴⁵
Establish a system ‘to oversee, monitor, evaluate, and report on their provision of redress measures and necessary rehabilitation services to victims of torture or ill-treatment’.³⁴⁶

The term ‘redress’ in article 14 encompasses ‘the concepts of “effective remedy” and “reparation”‘. Redress entails restitution, compensation, rehabilitation (as defined in obligation III.18), satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition.³⁴⁷

Restitution. Restitution is a form of redress designed to re-establish the victim’s situation before the violation of the CAT was committed, taking into consideration the specificities of each case. The preventive obligations under the CAT require States to ensure ‘that a victim receiving such restitution is not placed in a position where he or she is at risk of repetition of torture or ill-treatment’. While restitution may not possible due to the nature of a violation, the State must provide the victim with full access to redress. For restitution to be effective, States should address any structural causes of the violation, including discrimination related to, for example, ‘gender, sexual orientation, disability, political or other opinion, ethnicity, age and religion, and all other grounds of discrimination’.³⁴⁸

Compensation. The right to prompt, fair and adequate compensation for torture or ill-treatment is multi-layered: compensation ‘should be sufficient to compensate for any economically assessable damage resulting from torture or ill-treatment, whether pecuniary or non-pecuniary’.

This may include:

Reimbursement of medical expenses paid and provision of funds to cover future medical or rehabilitative services needed by the victim/survivor to ensure as full rehabilitation as possible;
Pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage resulting from the physical and mental harm caused;
Loss of earnings and earning potential due to disabilities caused by the torture or ill-treatment; and
Lost opportunities such as employment and education.

Adequate compensation awarded by States Parties to a victim/survivor of torture or ill-treatment should cover legal or specialist assistance, and other costs associated with bringing a claim for redress.³⁴⁹

Monetary compensation alone may not be sufficient redress for a victim of torture and ill-treatment.³⁵⁰ In such cases, States should ensure that victim/survivors receive medical and psychological care immediately and free of charge, and to offer public official apologies to them.³⁵¹

Satisfaction and the right to truth. Satisfaction should include the following remedies:

Investigation and criminal prosecution of torture and ill-treatment;
Effective measures to halt continuing violations;
Verification of the facts, and full and public disclosure of the truth. Disclosure should not cause further harm or threaten the safety and interests ‘of the victim, the victim’s relatives, witnesses, or persons who have intervened to assist the victim or prevent the occurrence of further violations’;
The search for the whereabouts of the disappeared, for the identities of the children abducted, and for the bodies of those killed, and assistance in the recovery, identification, and reburial of victims’ bodies ‘in accordance with the expressed or presumed wish of the victims or affected families’;
An official declaration or judicial decision ‘restoring the dignity, the reputation and the rights of the victim and of persons closely connected with the victim’;
Judicial and administrative sanctions ‘against persons liable for the violations’;
Public apologies, ‘including acknowledgement of the facts and acceptance of responsibility’;
Commemorations and tributes to the victims/survivors.³⁵²

Guarantees of non-repetition. To guarantee non-repetition of torture or ill-treatment, States should adopt measures to combat impunity for violations of the CAT, which may also allow States to fulfil their obligations to prevent torture under article 2.

Guarantees of non-repetition offer important potential for the transformation of social relations that may be the underlying causes of violence. Effective guarantees include the measures that States should adopt to implement all obligations listed in this chapter.³⁵³

Previous4. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)Next6. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

Footnotes

H Danelius, 'Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment: Introductory Note' (UN Audiovisual Library of International Law, June 2008) <https://legal.un.org/avl/ha/catcidtp/catcidtp.html\> accessed 2 March 2023.
Established under CAT, art 17.
CAT, art 1.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 4 (2017) on the Implementation of Article 3 of the Convention in the Context of Article 22' (4 September 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/4 para 17.
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment' (5 January 2016) UN Doc A/HRC/31/57 para 68.
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Manfred Nowak: Promotion and Protection of All Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, including the Right to Development' (15 January 2008) UN Doc A/HRC/7/3 para 68.
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment' (5 January 2016) UN Doc A/HRC/31/57 para 7.
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment' (5 January 2016) UN Doc A/HRC/31/57 para 8.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 9.
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment' (5 January 2016) UN Doc A/HRC/31/57 para 8.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 10.
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Manfred Nowak: Promotion and Protection of All Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, including the Right to Development' (15 January 2008) UN Doc A/HRC/7/3 para 31.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fourth Periodic Report of Iceland' (9 June 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/ISL/CO/4 para 20(a); CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Third Periodic Report of Cuba' (9 June 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/CUB/CO/3 para 45.
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Manfred Nowak: Promotion and Protection of All Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, including the Right to Development' (15 January 2008) UN Doc A/HRC/7/3 para 38; CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Ethiopia' (20 January 2011) UN Doc CAT/C/ETH/CO/1 para 32; CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Japan' (3 August 2007) UN Doc CAT/C/JPN/CO/1 para 25; CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Serbia' (19 January 2009) UN Doc CAT/C/SRB/CO/1 para 21; CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Third Periodic Report of Senegal, Adopted by the Committee at Its Forty-Ninth Session (29 October-23 November 2012)' (17 January 2013) UN Doc CAT/C/SEN/CO/3 para 15.
Communication No. 717/2015 A.Sh. et al v Switzerland, Decision of the Committee against Torture under Article 22 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (21 June 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/63/D/717/2015 para 9.7; Communication No. 262/2005 V.L. v Switzerland, Decision of the Committee against Torture under Article 22 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (22 January 2007) UN Doc CAT/C/37/D/262/2005 para 8.10.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Mexico' (6 February 2007) UN Doc CAT/C/MEX/CO/4, CAT/C/GUY/CO/1, CAT/C/TGO/CO/1 and CAT/C/BDI/CO/1.
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Manfred Nowak: Promotion and Protection of All Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, including the Right to Development' (15 January 2008) UN Doc A/HRC/7/3 para 28.
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment: Visit to Ukraine' (17 January 2019) UN Doc A/HRC/40/59/Add.3 para 56.
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Manfred Nowak: Promotion and Protection of All Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, including the Right to Development' (15 January 2008) UN Doc A/HRC/7/3 para 44.
Communication No. 717/2015 A. Sh. et al v Switzerland, Decision of the Committee against Torture under Article 22 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (21 June 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/63/D/717/2015 para 9.7; Communication No. 262/2005 V.L. v Switzerland, Decision of the Committee against Torture under Article 22 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (22 January 2007) UN Doc CAT/C/37/D/262/2005 para 8.10.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: United States of America' (25 July 2006) UN Doc CAT/C/USA/CO/2 para 14.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: United States of America' (25 July 2006) UN Doc CAT/C/USA/CO/2 para 14.
Communication No. 322/2007 Eveline Njamba and Kathy Balikosa v Sweden, Decision of the Committee against Torture under Article 22 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (3 June 2010) UN Doc CAT/C/44/D/322/2007 para 9.5
See also Universal Declaration of Human Rights, art 5; UN General Assembly, 'Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Being Subjected to Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment' (9 December 1975) UN Doc A/RES/3452(XXX); International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art 7; Convention on the Rights of the Child, arts 37(a) and 39; Geneva Conventions, especially common art 3.
CAT, art 2.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 9.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 3.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Bosnia and Herzegovina' (20 January 2011) UN Doc CAT/C/BIH/CO/2-5 para 9.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Japan' (3 August 2007) UN Doc CAT/C/JPN/CO/1 para 25.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Bosnia and Herzegovina' (20 January 2011) UN Doc CAT/C/BIH/CO/2-5 para 9.
CAT, art 2(2).
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 5.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 3.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 43.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Sixth Periodic Report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland' (7 June 2019) UN Doc CAT/C/GBR/CO/6 paras 8-9.
CAT, art 2(1).
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 16.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 16.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 7.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Sixth Periodic Report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland' (7 June 2019) UN Doc CAT/C/GBR/CO/6 para 30. See also CAT, arts 5-9 on prosecuting torture and extraditing perpetrators to other States.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 15.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 paras 15 and 18.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 15.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 17.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 15.
CAT, art 3.
Communication No. 279/2005 C.T. and K.M. v Sweden, Decision of the Committee against Torture under Article 22 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (7 December 2006) UN Doc CAT/C/37/D/279/2005 para 7.3; General Comment 1 para 6.
Communication No. 717/2015 A. Sh. et al v Switzerland, Decision of the Committee against Torture under Article 22 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (21 June 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/63/D/717/2015 para 9.4.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 4 (2017) on the Implementation of Article 3 of the Convention in the Context of Article 22' (4 September 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/4 paras 12 and 22.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 4 (2017) on the Implementation of Article 3 of the Convention in the Context of Article 22' (4 September 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/4 paras 12 and 22.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 4 (2017) on the Implementation of Article 3 of the Convention in the Context of Article 22' (4 September 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/4 para 13.
CAT, art 3(2).
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 4 (2017) on the Implementation of Article 3 of the Convention in the Context of Article 22' (4 September 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/4 para 43 and see also para 29.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 4 (2017) on the Implementation of Article 3 of the Convention in the Context of Article 22' (4 September 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/4 para 48.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 4 (2017) on the Implementation of Article 3 of the Convention in the Context of Article 22' (4 September 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/4 paras 46-47.
Communication No. 717/2015 A.Sh. et al v Switzerland, Decision of the Committee against Torture under Article 22 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (21 June 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/63/D/717/2015 para 9.8.
Communication No. 322/2007 Eveline Njamba and Kathy Balikosa v Sweden, Decision of the Committee against Torture under Article 22 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (3 June 2010) UN Doc CAT/C/44/D/322/2007 para 9.5.
Communication No. 41/1996 Pauline Muzonzo Paku Kisoki v Sweden, Views of the Committee against Torture under article 22, paragraph 7, of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (13 May 1996) UN Doc CAT/C/16/D/41/1996 para 9.2.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 4 (2017) on the Implementation of Article 3 of the Convention in the Context of Article 22' (4 September 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/4 para 45.
CAT, art 3.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Eighth Periodic Report of Sweden' (20 December 2021) UN Doc CAT/C/SWE/CO/8 para 22(a); CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fourth Periodic Report of Iceland' (9 June 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/ISL/CO/4 para 32(b).
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 4 (2017) on the Implementation of Article 3 of the Convention in the Context of Article 22' (4 September 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/4 paras 18(a)-(g).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fourth Periodic Report of Iceland' (9 June 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/ISL/CO/4 para 32(d).
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 4 (2017) on the Implementation of Article 3 of the Convention in the Context of Article 22' (4 September 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/4 para 14.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 4 (2017) on the Implementation of Article 3 of the Convention in the Context of Article 22' (4 September 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/4 para 26.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 4 (2017) on the Implementation of Article 3 of the Convention in the Context of Article 22' (4 September 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/4 para 16.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 4 (2017) on the Implementation of Article 3 of the Convention in the Context of Article 22' (4 September 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/4 para 23.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 4 (2017) on the Implementation of Article 3 of the Convention in the Context of Article 22' (4 September 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/4 para 24.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 4 (2017) on the Implementation of Article 3 of the Convention in the Context of Article 22' (4 September 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/4 paras 19-20.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 4 (2017) on the Implementation of Article 3 of the Convention in the Context of Article 22' (4 September 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/4 para 30.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 4 (2017) on the Implementation of Article 3 of the Convention in the Context of Article 22' (4 September 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/4 para 30.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 32.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 21; CAT, arts 2 and 16.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 32; see also CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Serbia' (19 January 2009) UN Doc CAT/C/SRB/CO/1 para 16 and CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Sri Lanka' (8 December 2011) UN Doc CAT/C/LKA/CO/3-4 para 20.
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment' (5 January 2016) UN Doc A/HRC/31/57 para 14.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of Ireland' (31 August 2017) UN Doc CAT/C/IRL/CO/2 para 31.
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment' (5 January 2016) UN Doc A/HRC/31/57 para 15.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of China' (3 February 2016) UN Doc CAT/C/CHN/CO/5 para 55-56.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Initial Report of Lebanon' (30 May 2017) UN Doc CAT/C/LBN/CO/1 para 15(c).
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment' (5 January 2016) UN Doc A/HRC/31/57 para 57.
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Juan E. Méndez' (1 February 2013) UN Doc A/HRC/22/53 paras 57-59.
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Juan E. Méndez' (1 February 2013) UN Doc A/HRC/22/53 paras 48 and 80.
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Juan E. Méndez' (1 February 2013) UN Doc A/HRC/22/53 para 61.
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Juan E. Méndez' (1 February 2013) UN Doc A/HRC/22/53 para 63; CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Canada' (25 June 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/CAN/CO/6 para 19(d).
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Juan E. Méndez' (1 February 2013) UN Doc A/HRC/22/53 para 64.
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Juan E. Méndez' (1 February 2013) UN Doc A/HRC/22/53 para 68; CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Serbia' (19 January 2009) UN Doc CAT/C/SRB/CO/1 para 16.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Italy' (16 July 2007) UN Doc CAT/C/ITA/CO/4 paras 21(a)-(b).
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment' (23 November 2018) UN Doc A/HRC/37/50 para 31.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fourth Periodic Report of Iceland' (9 June 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/ISL/CO/4 para 22(b).
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment' (23 November 2018) UN Doc A/HRC/37/50 para 71.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Japan' (3 August 2007) UN Doc CAT/C/JPN/CO/1 para 25.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fourth Periodic Report of Iceland' (9 June 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/ISL/CO/4 para 20(a); CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Third Periodic Report of Cuba' (9 June 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/CUB/CO/3 para 22.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Belgium' (19 January 2009) UN Doc CAT/C/BEL/CO/2 paras 25(a)-(g).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fourth Periodic Report of Iceland' (9 June 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/ISL/CO/4 para 20(a); CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Third Periodic Report of Cuba' (9 June 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/CUB/CO/3 para 22.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Belgium' (19 January 2009) UN Doc CAT/C/BEL/CO/2 paras 25(a)-(g).
CAT, arts 2 and 16.
CAT, art 11.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Burundi' (15 February 2007) UN Doc CAT/C/BDI/CO/1 para 10.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Initial Report of the United Arab Emirates' (22 August 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/ARE/CO/1 para 18; UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Manfred Nowak, Addendum: Study on the Phenomena of Torture, Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in the World, including an Assessment of Conditions of Detention' (5 February 2010) UN Doc A/HRC/13/39/Add.5 para 259(f); UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment on His Mission to Sri Lanka' (22 December 2016) UN Doc A/HRC/34/54/Add.2 para 118(e).
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment on His Mission to Sri Lanka' (22 December 2016) UN Doc A/HRC/34/54/Add.2 para 118(c).
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: United States of America' (25 July 2006) UN Doc CAT/C/USA/CO/2 para 16.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Initial Report of the State of Palestine' (23 August 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/PSE/CO/1 para 21(b).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Third Periodic Report of Montenegro' (2 June 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/MNE/CO/3 para 9(e).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of Namibia' (1 February 2017) UN Doc CAT/C/NAM/CO/2 para 11(a).
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 13.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 13; CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of Namibia' (1 February 2017) UN Doc CAT/C/NAM/CO/2 para 11(c); CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of Tajikistan, Adopted by the Committee at Its Forty-Ninth Session (29 October - 23 November 2012)' (21 January 2013) UN Doc CAT/C/TJK/CO/2 para 8(d); CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Initial Report of the State of Palestine' (23 August 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/PSE/CO/1 para 21(a)(ii).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of Tajikistan, Adopted by the Committee at Its Forty-Ninth Session (29 October - 23 November 2012)' (21 January 2013) UN Doc CAT/C/TJK/CO/2 para 8(e).
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 13.
CAT Committee 'Concluding Observations on the Third Periodic Report of Montenegro' (2 June 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/MNE/CO/3 para 9(d); CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Sixth Periodic Report of Australia' (5 December 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/AUS/CO/6 para 13(c).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of Uzbekistan' (14 January 2020) UN Doc CAT/C/UZB/CO/5 para 30(a)(iv).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of Uzbekistan' (14 January 2020) UN Doc CAT/C/UZB/CO/5 para 28(a); CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Initial Report of the State of Palestine' (23 August 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/PSE/CO/1 para 21(a)(vi).
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Burundi' (15 February 2007) UN Doc CAT/C/BDI/CO/1 para 17.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Burundi' (15 February 2007) UN Doc CAT/C/BDI/CO/1 para 17.
AT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Third Periodic Report of Serbia' (20 December 2021) UN Doc CAT/C/SRB/CO/3 para 18; CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Third Periodic Report of Montenegro' (2 June 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/MNE/CO/3 para 9(d).
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Burundi' (15 February 2007) UN Doc CAT/C/BDI/CO/1 para 17.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 14.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Seventh Periodic Report of Peru' (18 December 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/PER/CO/7 para 25(f).
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Togo' (28 July 2006) UN Doc CAT/C/TGO/CO/1 para 20.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Bosnia and Herzegovina' (20 January 2011) UN Doc CAT/C/BIH/CO/2-5 para 19(e).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of Tajikistan, Adopted by the Committee at Its Forty-Ninth Session (29 October - 23 November 2012)' (21 January 2013) UN Doc CAT/C/TJK/CO/2 para 9(c).
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 14.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Burundi' (15 February 2007) UN Doc CAT/C/BDI/CO/1 para 10.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Bosnia and Herzegovina' (20 January 2011) UN Doc CAT/C/BIH/CO/2-5 paras 19(a)-(b).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Third Periodic Report of Senegal, Adopted by the Committee at Its Forty-Ninth Session (29 October - 23 November 2012)' (17 January 2013) UN Doc CAT/C/SEN/CO/3 para 10(b).
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 13.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of Uzbekistan' (14 January 2020) UN Doc CAT/C/UZB/CO/5 paras 32(a)-(c).
CAT Committee, 'Observations of the Committee against Torture on the Revision of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners' (28 March 2014) UN Doc CAT/C/51/4 para 57.
See also Optional Protocol, art 4.
CAT Committee, 'Observations of the Committee against Torture on the Revision of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners' (28 March 2014) UN Doc CAT/C/51/4 para 57.
CAT Committee, 'Observations of the Committee against Torture on the Revision of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners' (28 March 2014) UN Doc CAT/C/51/4 para 57.
CAT Committee, 'Observations of the Committee against Torture on the Revision of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners' (28 March 2014) UN Doc CAT/C/51/4 para 58.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of Uzbekistan' (14 January 2020) UN Doc CAT/C/UZB/CO/5 para 44(f).
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Burundi' (15 February 2007) UN Doc CAT/C/BDI/CO/1 para 19.
Optional Protocol, arts 12 and 14.
Optional Protocol, part IV.
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment' (5 January 2016) UN Doc A/HRC/31/57 para 23.
CAT Committee, 'Observations of the Committee against Torture on the Revision of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners' (28 March 2014) UN Doc CAT/C/51/4 para 31; CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Seventh Periodic Report of Guatemala' (26 December 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/GTM/CO/7 para 41(d). See also CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Seventh Periodic Report of Greece' (3 September 2019) UN Doc CAT/C/GRC/CO/7 para 37 and CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fourth Periodic Report of Belgium' (25 August 2021) UN Doc CAT/C/BEL/CO/4 para 22.
CAT Committee, 'Observations of the Committee against Torture on the Revision of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners' (28 March 2014) UN Doc CAT/C/51/4 para 31.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Italy' (16 July 2007) UN Doc CAT/C/ITA/CO/4 para 6.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Nicaragua' (10 June 2009) UN Doc CAT/C/NIC/CO/1 para 14.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Guyana' (7 December 2006) UN Doc CAT/C/GUY/CO/1 para 11; CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Nicaragua' (10 June 2009) UN Doc CAT/C/NIC/CO/1 para 14.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Initial Report of Somalia' (2 December 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/SOM/CO/1 para 24(c).
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Italy' (16 July 2007) UN Doc CAT/C/ITA/CO/4 para 10.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Third Periodic Report of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia' (5 June 2015) UN Doc CAT/C/MKD/CO/3 para 19(b).
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Guyana' (7 December 2006) UN Doc CAT/C/GUY/CO/1 para 18; UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Juan E. Méndez' (5 March 2015) UN Doc A/HRC/28/68 para 85(g). Compare to Committee on the Rights of the Child, 'General Comment No. 10 (2007): Children's Rights in Juvenile Justice' (25 April 2007) UN Doc CRC/C/GC/10 paras 32 and 33.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Initial Report of Malawi' (9 December 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/MWI/CO/1 para 26.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fourth Periodic Report of Uruguay' (4 October 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/URY/CO/4 para 23(a).
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Nicaragua' (10 June 2009) UN Doc CAT/C/NIC/CO/1 para 24(b).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Combined Sixth and Seventh Periodic Reports of Norway, Adopted by the Committee at Its Forty-Ninth Session (29 October to 23 November 2012)' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/NOR/CO/6-7 para 9.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Nicaragua' (10 June 2009) UN Doc CAT/C/NIC/CO/1 para 24(f); CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Third Periodic Report of Serbia' (20 December 2021) UN Doc CAT/C/SRB/CO/3 para 24(c).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of Belarus' (7 June 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/BLR/CO/5 para 28(b).
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Nicaragua' (10 June 2009) UN Doc CAT/C/NIC/CO/1 para 24(e).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fourth Periodic Report of Mauritius' (22 December 2017) UN Doc CAT/C/MUS/CO/4 para 26(b).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Third Periodic Report of Serbia' (20 December 2021) UN Doc CAT/C/SRB/CO/3 para 24(c).
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: The Netherlands' (3 August 2007) UN Doc CAT/C/NET/CO/4 para 9.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Guyana' (7 December 2006) UN Doc CAT/C/GUY/CO/1 para 14.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of Belarus' (7 June 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/BLR/CO/5 para 28(c).
CAT, arts 3-15; CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 25.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Chad' (4 June 2009) UN Doc CAT/C/TCD/CO/1 para 20(a).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of Namibia' (1 February 2017) UN Doc CAT/C/NAM/CO/2 para 29.
CAT, art 19.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Combined Fifth and Sixth Periodic Reports of Peru, Adopted by the Committee at Its Forty-Ninth Session (29 October - 23 November 2012)' (21 January 2013) UN Doc CAT/C/PER/CO/5-6 para 25.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo' (3 June 2019) UN Doc CAT/C/COD/CO/2 para 45.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Honduras' (23 June 2009) UN Doc CAT/C/HND/CO/1 para 13.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Burundi' (15 February 2007) UN Doc CAT/C/BDI/CO/1 para 16(a).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Initial Report of Malawi' (9 December 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/MWI/CO/1 para 16(b).
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Togo' (28 July 2006) UN Doc CAT/C/TGO/CO/1 paras 18(b)-(c).
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 35.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 35.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Burundi' (15 February 2007) UN Doc CAT/C/BDI/CO/1 para 16(d).
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 24.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 24.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Guyana' (7 December 2006) UN Doc CAT/C/GUY/CO/1 para 9.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 25.
CAT Committee, 'List of Issues Prior to Submission of the Fifth Periodic Report of Cameroon' (11 June 2015) UN Doc CAT/C/CMR/QPR/5 para 34.
CAT Committee, 'List of Issues Prior to Submission of the Fifth Periodic Report of Cameroon' (11 June 2015) UN Doc CAT/C/CMR/QPR/5 para 34.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Ethiopia' (20 January 2011) UN Doc CAT/C/ETH/CO/1 para 18.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Third Periodic Report of Senegal, Adopted by the Committee at Its Forty-Ninth Session (29 October - 23 November 2012)' (17 January 2013) UN Doc CAT/C/SEN/CO/3 para 26.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Bosnia and Herzegovina' (20 January 2011) UN Doc CAT/C/BIH/CO/2-5 para 9.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Sixth Periodic Report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland' (7 June 2019) UN Doc CAT/C/GBR/CO/6 para 9.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of Uzbekistan' (14 January 2020) UN Doc CAT/C/UZB/CO/5 para 40(g).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Third Periodic Report of Senegal, Adopted by the Committee at Its Forty-Ninth Session (29 October - 23 November 2012)' (17 January 2013) UN Doc CAT/C/SEN/CO/3 para 26.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Sixth Periodic Report of Bosnia and Herzegovina' (22 December 2017) UN Doc CAT/C/BIH/CO/6 para 37(c).
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Mauritius' (15 June 2011) UN Doc CAT/C/MUS/CO/3 para 17.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Third Periodic Report of Senegal, Adopted by the Committee at Its Forty-Ninth Session (29 October - 23 November 2012)' (17 January 2013) UN Doc CAT/C/SEN/CO/3 para 15.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 24.
CAT, arts 2 and 16.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Guyana' (7 December 2006) UN Doc CAT/C/GUY/CO/1 para 7.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Guyana' (7 December 2006) UN Doc CAT/C/GUY/CO/1 para 15.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 28.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Mexico' (6 February 2007) UN Doc CAT/C/MEX/CO/4 para 11.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 28.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Ethiopia' (20 January 2011) UN Doc CAT/C/ETH/CO/1 para 39.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of Sri Lanka' (27 January 2017) UN Doc CAT/C/LKA/CO/5 para 44.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of Namibia' (1 February 2017) UN Doc CAT/C/NAM/CO/2 para 27.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Costa Rica' (7 July 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/CRI/CO/2 para 22.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Sri Lanka' (8 December 2011) UN Doc CAT/C/LKA/CO/3-4 para 24.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Initial Report of Iraq' (7 September 2015) UN Doc CAT/C/IRQ/CO/1 para 26.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Ethiopia' (20 January 2011) UN Doc CAT/C/ETH/CO/1 para 40.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Belgium' (19 January 2009) UN Doc CAT/C/BEL/CO/2 para 25.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Mexico' (6 February 2007) UN Doc CAT/C/MEX/CO/4 para 11.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Ethiopia' (20 January 2011) UN Doc CAT/C/ETH/CO/1 para 36.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Initial Report of the Congo' (28 May 2015) UN Doc CAT/C/COG/CO/1 para 22(b).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Initial Report of the Congo' (28 May 2015) UN Doc CAT/C/COG/CO/1 para 18(b).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Third Periodic Report of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia' (5 June 2015) UN Doc CAT/C/MKD/CO/3 para 18(b).
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Guyana' (7 December 2006) UN Doc CAT/C/GUY/CO/1 para 10.
Optional Protocol, art 3; CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Algeria' (26 May 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/DZA/CO/3 para 8.
See Optional Protocol, arts 17-22.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Bosnia and Herzegovina' (20 January 2011) UN Doc CAT/C/BIH/CO/2-5 para 25. See also CAT Committee, 'Guidelines on National Preventive Mechanisms' (9 December 2010) UN Doc CAT/OP/12/5.
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Manfred Nowak, Addendum: Study on the Phenomena of Torture, Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in the World, including an Assessment of Conditions of Detention' (5 February 2010) UN Doc A/HRC/13/39/Add.5 para 259(b).
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Algeria' (26 May 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/DZA/CO/3 para 8.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of Uzbekistan' (14 January 2020) UN Doc CAT/C/UZB/CO/5 para 46(f).
Optional Protocol, art 23.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of Estonia, Adopted by the Committee at Its Fiftieth Session (6-31 May 2013)' (17 June 2013) UN Doc CAT/C/EST/CO/5 para 20(e).
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 23.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo' (3 June 2019) UN Doc CAT/C/COD/CO/2 para 23(b).
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Bosnia and Herzegovina' (20 January 2011) UN Doc CAT/C/BIH/CO/2-5 para 21.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Bosnia and Herzegovina' (20 January 2011) UN Doc CAT/C/BIH/CO/2-5 para 21.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Ethiopia' (20 January 2011) UN Doc CAT/C/ETH/CO/1 para 18.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fourth Periodic Report of Uruguay' (4 October 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/URY/CO/4 para 21(a).
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Ethiopia' (20 January 2011) UN Doc CAT/C/ETH/CO/1 para 18.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Togo' (28 July 2006) UN Doc CAT/C/TGO/CO/1 para 20; see also CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of Sri Lanka' (27 January 2017) UN Doc CAT/C/LKA/CO/5 para 18.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 25.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo' (3 June 2019) UN Doc CAT/C/COD/CO/2 paras 33(a) and 35(a). See also CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on The Second Periodic Report of Serbia' (3 June 2015) UN Doc CAT/C/SRB/CO/2 para 10.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of Sri Lanka' (27 January 2017) UN Doc CAT/C/LKA/CO/5 para 12.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: United States of America' (25 July 2006) UN Doc CAT/C/USA/CO/2 para 19.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 7.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of Uzbekistan' (14 January 2020) UN Doc CAT/C/UZB/CO/5 para 13(b); see also CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Seventh Periodic Report of Guatemala' (26 December 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/GTM/CO/7 para 27(a) and CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of Sri Lanka' (27 January 2017) UN Doc CAT/C/LKA/CO/5 para 14.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of Tajikistan, Adopted by the Committee at Its Forty-Ninth Session (29 October - 23 November 2012)' (21 January 2013) UN Doc CAT/C/TJK/CO/2 para 12.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Combined Third to Fifth Periodic Reports of the United States of America' (19 December 2014) UN Doc CAT/C/USA/CO/3-5 para 30.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of Tajikistan, Adopted by the Committee at Its Forty-Ninth Session (29 October - 23 November 2012)' (21 January 2013) UN Doc CAT/C/TJK/CO/2 para 12.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Combined Third to Fifth Periodic Reports of the United States of America' (19 December 2014) UN Doc CAT/C/USA/CO/3-5 para 30(b)-(c).
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Sri Lanka' (8 December 2011) UN Doc CAT/C/LKA/CO/3-4 para 23.
If the State considers it appropriate. See CAT, art 5(c).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Initial Report of Iraq' (7 September 2015) UN Doc CAT/C/IRQ/CO/1 para 13.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Sixth Periodic Report of Bosnia and Herzegovina' (22 December 2017) UN Doc CAT/C/BIH/CO/6 para 17(a).
CAT, art 12.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of Sri Lanka' (27 January 2017) UN Doc CAT/C/LKA/CO/5 para 10(e).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo' (3 June 2019) UN Doc CAT/C/COD/CO/2 para 33(c).
CAT, art 4(2); CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Burundi' (15 February 2007) UN Doc CAT/C/BDI/CO/1 para 8; CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Seventh Periodic Report of Peru' (18 December 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/PER/CO/7 para 33(a).
CAT, art 5(2).
CAT, art 8.
See also CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Initial Report of Timor-Leste' (15 December 2017) UN Doc CAT/C/TLS/CO/1 para 9(c).
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Benin' (19 February 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/BEN/CO/2 para 16.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Burundi' (15 February 2007) UN Doc CAT/C/BDI/CO/1 para 12.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Initial Report of the United Arab Emirates' (22 August 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/ARE/CO/1 para 24.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Initial Report of the United Arab Emirates' (22 August 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/ARE/CO/1 para 24.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Initial Report of Bangladesh' (26 August 2019) UN Doc CAT/C/BGD/CO/1 para 28(c).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Initial Report of the United Arab Emirates' (22 August 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/ARE/CO/1 para 24.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Seventh Periodic Report of Guatemala' (26 December 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/GTM/CO/7 para 27(c).
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Cambodia' (20 January 2011) UN Doc CAT/C/KHM/CO/2 para 12.
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Manfred Nowak, Addendum: Study on the Phenomena of Torture, Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in the World, including an Assessment of Conditions of Detention' (5 February 2010) UN Doc A/HRC/13/39/Add.5 para 259(c).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of Tajikistan, Adopted by the Committee at Its Forty-Ninth Session (29 October - 23 November 2012)' (21 January 2013) UN Doc CAT/C/TJK/CO/2 para 17.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Third Periodic Report of Cuba' (9 June 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/CUB/CO/3 para 15.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: China' (12 December 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/CHN/CO/4 para 18.
See also CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Seventh Periodic Report of Guatemala' (26 December 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/GTM/CO/7 para 27(a).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Seventh Periodic Report of Ecuador' (11 January 2017) UN Doc CAT/C/ECU/CO/7 para 24.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of Sri Lanka' (27 January 2017) UN Doc CAT/C/LKA/CO/5 paras 15-16.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Combined Fifth and Sixth Periodic Reports of Peru, Adopted by the Committee at Its Forty-Ninth Session (29 October - 23 November 2012)' (21 January 2013) UN Doc CAT/C/PER/CO/5-6 para 16.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of Sri Lanka' (27 January 2017) UN Doc CAT/C/LKA/CO/5 paras 15-16.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of Sri Lanka' (27 January 2017) UN Doc CAT/C/LKA/CO/5 paras 15-16.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Initial Report of Timor-Leste' (15 December 2017) UN Doc CAT/C/TLS/CO/1 para 9(a).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Seventh Periodic Report of Peru' (18 December 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/PER/CO/7 para 33(b).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Combined Fifth and Sixth Periodic Reports of Peru, Adopted by the Committee at Its Forty-Ninth Session (29 October - 23 November 2012)' (21 January 2013) UN Doc CAT/C/PER/CO/5-6 para 16.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on The Second Periodic Report of Serbia' (3 June 2015) UN Doc CAT/C/SRB/CO/2 para 11(c).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Sixth Periodic Report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland' (7 June 2019) UN Doc CAT/C/GBR/CO/6 paras 41(c) and (e).
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Indonesia' (2 July 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/IDN/CO/2 para 15.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Indonesia' (2 July 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/IDN/CO/2 para 15.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Chad' (4 June 2009) UN Doc CAT/C/TCD/CO/1 para 20.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Chad' (4 June 2009) UN Doc CAT/C/TCD/CO/1 para 20(e).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of Afghanistan' (12 June 2017) UN Doc CAT/C/AFG/CO/2 para 40.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Colombia' (4 May 2010) UN Doc CAT/C/COL/CO/4 para 16.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Mexico' (6 February 2007) UN Doc CAT/C/MEX/CO/4 para 14.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Initial Report of the State of Palestine' (23 August 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/PSE/CO/1 para 49.
See CAT, arts 12-14.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 4.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Guatemala' (25 July 2006) UN Doc CAT/C/GTM/CO/4 para 19.
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Addendum: Mission to Papua New Guinea' (7 February 2011) UN Doc A/HRC/16/52/Add.5 para 69.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Sixth Periodic Report of Bosnia and Herzegovina' (22 December 2017) UN Doc CAT/C/BIH/CO/6 para 19(c).
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 38.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: China' (12 December 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/CHN/CO/4 para 16.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of Iraq' (15 June 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/IRQ/CO/2 para 21(b).
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 38.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 30.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 33. See also CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of Iraq' (15 June 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/IRQ/CO/2 para 21.
Communication No. 698/2015 Z.K. and A.K. v Switzerland, Decision Adopted by the Committee under Article 22 of the Convention (30 July 2020) UN Doc CAT/C/63/D/698/2015 para 9.5.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 29.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 31.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Bosnia and Herzegovina' (20 January 2011) UN Doc CAT/C/BIH/CO/2-5 paras 17(a)-(c).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of Colombia' (29 May 2015) UN Doc CAT/C/COL/CO/5 para 14.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 38.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 5.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Sixth Periodic Report of Bosnia and Herzegovina' (22 December 2017) UN Doc CAT/C/BIH/CO/6 para 17(c).
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 41; CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 5.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 40.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 42.
CAT, art 2(3).
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 26.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 36.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 4 (2017) on the Implementation of Article 3 of the Convention in the Context of Article 22' (4 September 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/4 para 38.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 4 (2017) on the Implementation of Article 3 of the Convention in the Context of Article 22' (4 September 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/4 para 40.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 4 (2017) on the Implementation of Article 3 of the Convention in the Context of Article 22' (4 September 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/4 para 41.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 4 (2017) on the Implementation of Article 3 of the Convention in the Context of Article 22' (4 September 2018) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/4 para 42.
Communication No. 41/1996 Pauline Muzonzo Paku Kisoki v Sweden, Views of the Committee against Torture under article 22, paragraph 7, of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (13 May 1996) UN Doc CAT/C/16/D/41/1996 para 9.3.
Communication No. 863/2018 X. v Netherlands, Decision Adopted by the Committee under Article 22 of the Convention (3 January 2020) UN Doc CAT/C/68/D/863/2018 para 8.8.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Initial Report of Iraq' (7 September 2015) UN Doc CAT/C/IRQ/CO/1 para 24(b); CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Sixth Periodic Report of Latvia' (24 December 2019) UN Doc CAT/C/LVA/CO/6 para 27(b).
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Mexico' (6 February 2007) UN Doc CAT/C/MEX/CO/4 para 19.
CAT Committee, 'Observations of the Committee against Torture on the Revision of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners' (28 March 2014) UN Doc CAT/C/51/4 para 17.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Third Periodic Report of Slovakia' (8 September 2015) UN Doc CAT/C/SVK/CO/3 para 14(c).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Combined Fifth and Sixth Periodic Reports of Peru, Adopted by the Committee at Its Forty-Ninth Session (29 October - 23 November 2012)' (21 January 2013) UN Doc CAT/C/PER/CO/5-6 para 18(d).
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 2 on the Implementation of Article 2 by States Parties' (24 January 2008) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/2 para 22.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Nicaragua' (10 June 2009) UN Doc CAT/C/NIC/CO/1 para 16.
CAT Committee, 'Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Ecuador' (7 December 2010) UN Doc CAT/C/ECU/CO/4-6 para 18(f).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Combined Fifth and Sixth Periodic Reports of Peru, Adopted by the Committee at Its Forty-Ninth Session (29 October - 23 November 2012)' (21 January 2013) UN Doc CAT/C/PER/CO/5-6 para 15(a).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Third Periodic Report of El Salvador' (19 December 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/SLV/CO/3 para 31.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Combined Fifth and Sixth Periodic Reports of Peru, Adopted by the Committee at Its Forty-Ninth Session (29 October - 23 November 2012)' (21 January 2013) UN Doc CAT/C/PER/CO/5-6 para 15(e).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Third Periodic Report of El Salvador' (19 December 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/SLV/CO/3 para 31. See also CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Combined Fifth and Sixth Periodic Reports of Peru, Adopted by the Committee at Its Forty-Ninth Session (29 October - 23 November 2012)' (21 January 2013) UN Doc CAT/C/PER/CO/5-6 para 15(d).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Third Periodic Report of El Salvador' (19 December 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/SLV/CO/3 para 31.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Combined Fifth and Sixth Periodic Reports of Peru, Adopted by the Committee at Its Forty-Ninth Session (29 October - 23 November 2012)' (21 January 2013) UN Doc CAT/C/PER/CO/5-6 para 15(b).
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment' (5 January 2016) UN Doc A/HRC/31/57 para 48.
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment' (5 January 2016) UN Doc A/HRC/31/57 paras 72(g)-(j).
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 paras 11-12.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 13.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 13.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 14.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 15.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Sixth Periodic Report of Bosnia and Herzegovina' (22 December 2017) UN Doc CAT/C/BIH/CO/6 para 19(d).
See also CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 1.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 6.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 27.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 6.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 26.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 26.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 29.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 30. See also CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of Iraq' (15 June 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/IRQ/CO/2 para 21(c).
UNHRC, 'Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Manfred Nowak: Promotion and Protection of All Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, including the Right to Development' (15 January 2008) UN Doc A/HRC/7/3 para 75.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 29.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 37.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of Iraq' (15 June 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/IRQ/CO/2 para 21(a).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Sixth Periodic Report of Bosnia and Herzegovina' (22 December 2017) UN Doc CAT/C/BIH/CO/6 paras 19(a)-(b).
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Combined Fifth and Sixth Periodic Reports of Peru, Adopted by the Committee at Its Forty-Ninth Session (29 October - 23 November 2012)' (21 January 2013) UN Doc CAT/C/PER/CO/5-6 para 16.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of Iraq' (15 June 2022) UN Doc CAT/C/IRQ/CO/2 para 21(d).
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 32.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 36.
CAT Committee, 'Concluding Observations on the Combined Fifth and Sixth Periodic Reports of Peru, Adopted by the Committee at Its Forty-Ninth Session (29 October - 23 November 2012)' (21 January 2013) UN Doc CAT/C/PER/CO/5-6 para 18(a).
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 paras 45-46.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 2.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 8.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 10.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 9. See also Communication No. 854/2017 A. v Bosnia and Herzegovina, Decision Adopted by the Committee under Article 22 of the Convention (11 September 2019) UN Doc CAT/C/67/D/854/2017 para 7.6.
Communication No. 854/2017 A. v Bosnia and Herzegovina, Decision Adopted by the Committee under Article 22 of the Convention (11 September 2019) UN Doc CAT/C/67/D/854/2017 para 9.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 16.
CAT Committee, 'General Comment No. 3 (2012) on the Implementation of Article 14 by States Parties' (13 December 2012) UN Doc CAT/C/GC/3 para 18.

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT)

I. Introduction🔗

I.1 Defining Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment under the CAT🔗

I.2 To What Kind of Sexual Violence Does the CAT Apply?🔗

I.3 When Is Sexual Violence Conflict-Related?🔗

II. Legal Framework🔗

III. Obligations🔗

Prevention🔗

III.1 States must criminalise CRSV🔗

III.2 States must ensure that the CAT is applied in their territory and territories under their jurisdiction🔗

III.3 States must address CRSV committed by private actors🔗

III.4 States must not expel, return (“refouler”) or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that the person would be in danger of being subjected to CRSV🔗

III.5 Special protection against CRSV is owed to individuals and groups made vulnerable by discrimination or marginalisation🔗

III.6 Special protection against CRSV is owed to detainees🔗

III.7 States must educate their population on CRSV🔗

III.8 States must monitor the measures taken to eradicate CRSV and report on them to the Committee🔗

III.9 States should regulate the arms trade🔗

III.10 States should recognise the competence of the Committee to hear individual complaints and ratify other instruments of international law🔗

III.11 States should cooperate with international actors to eliminate CRSV🔗

III.12 States must establish National Preventive Mechanisms (NPMs) to eliminate CRSV🔗

Justice and Accountability🔗

III.13 States must establish impartial and effective complaints mechanisms to receive complaints of CRSV🔗

III.14 States must investigate CRSV🔗

III.15 States must prosecute CRSV🔗

III.16 States must provide CRSV victims/survivors with access to justice🔗

III.17 States whose decision to return individuals has been questioned under article 22 should provide such individuals with safeguards🔗

Humanitarian Response🔗

III.18 States must provide CRSV victims/survivors with appropriate care🔗

Reparations🔗

III.19 States must provide redress to CRSV victims/survivors🔗

Footnotes

Partners

In collaboration with