by Thokozile Gurganious

Created on: March 11, 2008

The plain answer is no. Under international law, there is freedom from torture, and this right to be free from torture is one of those rights without limitations or exceptions. Torture is prohibited by international law in several conventions, including the Convention Against Torture. Also, torture is also prohibited by international customary law.

Under the UN system,there are several conventions or treaties that prohibit torture. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights,an instrument unanimously agreed upon by the entire world, states that,

"No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights repeats the same prohibition against torture by stating that,

"No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel,inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

Although torture is specifically prohibited under these two UN instruments, the international community viewed torture with such abhorrence that it saw it fit to revisit the issue of torture as the main subject in other fora. In 1975, the international community met and made a declaration on the subject of torture. This declaration of 1975 is called the "Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Being Subjected to Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment." Article 2 of that declaration declares torture an "offense to human dignity and shall be condemned as a denial of the purposes of the Charter of the United Nations and as a violation of the human rights and fundamental freedoms proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights". Article 3 of the said declaration states that,

"No State may permit or tolerate torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Exceptional circumstances such as a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency may not be invoked as a justification of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment".

The declaration further obligates states to criminalize acts of torture, and to train their law enforcement officers and others involved with persons whose liberty has been deprived on the prohibition of torture and other cruel,degrading or inhuman punishment or treatment.

In 1984, the international community enacted a specific convention dealing with the subject of torture.The convention is called the "Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>