RES/8/8 Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

Human Rights Council

Resolution 8/8. Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

The Human Rights Council,

Reaffirming that no one should be subjected to torture as defined in article 1 of the

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or

Punishment, or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,

Recalling that freedom from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading

treatment or punishment is a non-derogable right that must be protected under all

circumstances, including in times of international and internal armed conflict or internal

disturbance, and that the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or

degrading treatment or punishment is affirmed in the relevant international instruments,

Recalling also that the prohibition of torture has been recognized as a

peremptory norm of international law,

Recalling further that a number of international, regional and domestic courts

have held the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment to

be customary international law,

Noting that, under the Geneva Conventions of 1949, torture and inhuman

treatment are a grave breach and that, under the Statute of the International Criminal

Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal

for Rwanda and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, acts of torture

can constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes,

Acknowledging the adoption of the International Convention for the Protection of

All Persons from Enforced Disappearances by the General Assembly in its resolution

61/177 of 20 December 2006, as well as Council resolution 7/26 on the International

Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances, and

recognizing that the entry into force of the Convention, as soon as possible, through its

ratification by 20 States, and its implementation will make a significant contribution to

the prevention of torture, including through prohibiting places of secret detention,

Commending the persistent efforts by civil society, in particular non-

governmental organizations, to combat torture and to alleviate the suffering of

victims of torture,

Bearing in mind paragraph 6 of General Assembly resolution 60/251 of 15 March

2006,

Recalling its resolutions 5/1 on institution-building of the Human Rights Council

and 5/2 on the code of conduct for special procedures mandate-holders of the Council of

18 June 2007, and stressing that the mandate-holder shall discharge his or her duties in

accordance with those resolutions and the annexes thereto,

Recalling also all relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and the Economic

and Social Council and reaffirming the Commission on Human Rights resolutions on the

subject,

1. Condemns all forms of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading

treatment or punishment, which are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any

place whatsoever and can thus never be justified, and calls upon all Governments to

implement fully the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or

degrading treatment or punishment;

2. Condemns in particular any action or attempt by States or public officials to

legalize, authorize or acquiesce in torture under any circumstances, including on

grounds of national security or through judicial decisions;

3. Decides to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on torture and

other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment for a further period of

three years:

(a) To seek, receive, examine and act on information from Governments,

intergovernmental organizations, civil society organizations, individuals and

groups of individuals regarding issues and alleged cases concerning torture or other

cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;

(b) To conduct country visits with the consent or at the invitation of

Governments;

(c) To study, in a comprehensive manner, trends, developments and challenges

in relation to combating and preventing torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading

treatment or punishment, and to make recommendations and observations concerning

appropriate measures to prevent and eradicate such practices;

(d) To identify, exchange and promote best practices on measures to prevent,

punish and eradicate torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or

punishment;

(e) To integrate a gender perspective throughout the work of his or her mandate;

(f) To continue to cooperate with the Committee against Torture, the

Subcommittee for the Prevention of Torture and relevant United Nations mechanisms

and bodies and, as appropriate, regional organizations and mechanisms, national

human rights institutions, national preventive mechanisms and civil society, including

non-governmental organizations;

(g) To report on his or her activities, observations, conclusions and

recommendations to the Council, in accordance with its programme of work, and

annually on the overall trends and developments with regard to his or her mandate to

the General Assembly;

4. Welcomes the report of the Special Rapporteur (A/HRC/7/3) and the

recommendations contained therein;

5. Urges States:

(a) To cooperate with and assist the Special Rapporteur in the performance of

his or her task, to supply all necessary information requested by him or her and to react

appropriately and expeditiously to his or her urgent appeals, and those Governments

that have not yet responded to communications transmitted to them by the Special

Rapporteur to answer without further delay;

(b) To give serious consideration to responding favourably to the Special

Rapporteur’s requests to visit their countries;

(c) To ensure appropriate follow-up to the recommendations and conclusions of

the Special Rapporteur;

6. Also urges States:

(a) To implement effective measures to prevent torture and other cruel,

inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, particularly in places of detention and

other places where persons are deprived of their liberty, including education and

training for personnel, who may be involved in the custody, interrogation or treatment

of any individual subjected to any form of arrest, detention or imprisonment;

(b) To take persistent, determined and effective measures to have all allegations

of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment promptly and

impartially examined by the competent national authority, to hold persons who

encourage, order, tolerate or perpetrate acts of torture responsible, to have them brought

to justice and severely punished, including the officials in charge of the place of

detention where the prohibited act is found to have been committed, and to take note, in

this respect, of the Principles on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of

Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Istanbul

Protocol) as a useful tool in efforts to combat torture;

(c) To ensure that no statement established to have been made as a result of

torture is invoked as evidence in any proceedings, except against a person accused of

torture as evidence that the statement was made;

(d) Not to expel, return (“refouler”), extradite or in any other way transfer a

person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that the

person would be in danger of being subjected to torture; the Council recognizes in

this respect that diplomatic assurances, where used, do not release States from their

obligations under international human rights, humanitarian and refugee law, in

particular the principle of non-refoulement;

(e) To ensure that victims of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading

treatment or punishment obtain redress and are awarded fair and adequate

compensation and receive appropriate socio-medical rehabilitation, and in this regard

encourages the development of rehabilitation centres for victims of torture;

(f) To ensure that all acts of torture are offences under domestic criminal

law, and emphasizes that acts of torture are serious violations of international

human rights law and humanitarian law and can constitute crimes against humanity

and war crimes and that the perpetrators are liable to prosecution and punishment;

(g) Not to punish personnel for not obeying orders to commit acts amounting

to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;

(h) To protect medical and other personnel for their role in documenting torture

or any other form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and in treating

victims of such acts;

(i) To ensure appropriate follow-up to conclusions and views on individual

communications of the relevant treaty bodies, including the Committee against

Torture and the Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture;

(j) To adopt a gender-sensitive approach in the fight against torture and

other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, paying special

attention to violence against women;

(k) To become parties to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,

Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment as a matter of priority as well as to

give early consideration to signing and ratifying its Optional Protocol and, once parties,

to designate or establish truly independent and effective national preventive

mechanisms;

7. Reminds States that:

(a) Corporal punishment, including of children, can amount to cruel,

inhuman or degrading punishment or even to torture;

(b) Intimidation and coercion, as described in article 1 of the Convention

against Torture, including serious and credible threats, as well as death threats, to the

physical integrity of the victim or of a third person, can amount to cruel, inhuman or

degrading treatment or to torture;

(c) Prolonged incommunicado detention or detention in secret places may

facilitate the perpetration of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or

punishment and can in itself constitute a form of such treatment, and urges all States to

respect the safeguards concerning the liberty, security and the dignity of the person;

8. Welcomes the reports of the Committee against Torture, submitted in

accordance with article 24 of the Convention;

9. Takes note of the reports of the Secretary-General on the United Nations

Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture and calls upon the Board of the Fund to report to

the Council in accordance with the annual programme of work;

10. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure, within the overall budgetary

framework of the United Nations, the provision of an adequate and stable level of

staffing, as well as the necessary technical facilities for the bodies and mechanisms

involved in combating torture and assisting victims of torture, in order to ensure their

effective performance commensurate with the strong support expressed by Member

States for combating torture and assisting victims of torture;

11. Recognizes the global need for international assistance to victims of

torture, stresses the importance of the work of the Board of Trustees of the Fund and

appeals to all Governments, organizations and individuals to contribute annually to the

Fund, preferably with a substantial increase in the contributions, and encourages

contributions to the Special Fund established by the Optional Protocol to the Convention

to help finance the implementation of the recommendations made by the Subcommittee

on Prevention, as well as education programmes of national preventive mechanisms;

12. Calls upon all Governments, the United Nations High Commissioner for

Human Rights and United Nations bodies and agencies, as well as relevant

intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, to commemorate, on 26 June,

the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, as proclaimed by

the General Assembly in its resolution 52/149 of 12 December 1997;

13. Decides to continue to consider this matter in conformity with its annual

programme of work.

28th meeting 18 June 2008

[Adopted without a vote.]