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

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment on December 10, 1984. The Convention entered into force on June 26, 1987. It has five signatories – India as well as Brunei, Haiti, Palau and Sudan – and 170 countries have ratified or acceded to it. (Signatories are qualified to ratify, accept or approve a treaty. Ratification is the 'international act' where a State indicates its consent to be bound to a treaty.)The Convention refers to Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which state that no one shall be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, or torture.The roughly 4,500-word Convention is arranged in three parts and contains 33 Articles. Part I (Articles 1-16) covers recommendations to State Parties on the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Part II (Articles 17-24) proposes establishing a Committee against Torture composed of nationals of the State Parties to the Convention, and prescribes the manner in which State Parties shall report the measures they have adopted to observe the rights recognised by the Convention. Part III (Articles 25-33) discusses the process by which the Convention is to be ratified and amended...