How the law and UN define torture
(Filed: 09/12/2005)
Daily Telegraph
Under the United Nations Torture Convention of 1984, torture involves
intentional infliction of pain, by a public official, to obtain information.
The full definition of torture in the convention is: "Any act by which
severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally
inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third
person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third
person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or
coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of
any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation
of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person
acting in an official capacity."
This definition excludes "pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in
or incidental to lawful sanctions", which seems designed to permit the death
penalty.
Torture is also an offence under English law. The International Criminal
Court Act 2001 similarly defines torture as "the intentional infliction of
severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, upon a person in the
custody or under the control of the accused; except that torture shall not
include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to,
lawful sanctions".
The Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture defines torture
more broadly. It includes the "use of methods upon a person intended to
obliterate the personality of the victim or to diminish his physical or
mental capacities, even if they do not cause physical pain or mental
anguish".
Precisely what actions may fall within these definitions is a matter for
courts and inter-governmental bodies to decide and this may vary over time.
Amnesty International, which uses a broader definition of torture, says the
understanding of what constitutes torture is not fixed for all time.
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