Torture is an indictable crime against humanity pursuant to Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Torture as well as other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, when practiced as State policy, are violations of Customary International Law.

The prohibition on torture, at least, may also have been absorbed into international law as a general principle common to major legal systems.

The prohibition is included in all comprehensive international instruments.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 5 states that:

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

A similar provision is included in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 7; the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 3; the American Convention on Human Rights, Article 5; the African Charter of Human and Peoples' Rights, Article 5.

The Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Being Subjected to Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Comment (g), was adopted unanimously by the General Assembly of the United Nations

Definitions of Torture

Under Customary International Law of Human Rights a State violates international law if, as a matter of state policy, it practices, encourages, or condones torture or prolonged arbitrary detention

Under Customary International Law, torture has been defined as:

"Any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted by or at the instigation of a public official on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or confession, punishing him for an act he has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating him or other persons."

Article 1(1) of the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Being Subjected to Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, provides:

"Torture constitutes an aggravated and deliberate form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

These definitions are also embodied in the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Punishment, approved by the General Assembly by consensus on December 10, 1984.

Article 7 Paragraph 2 Clause (e) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court 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"

Who may be Charged?

Under the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court Article 7 Paragraph 1 Clause f, persons suspected of torture, within the definition of crimes against humanity may be charged before the International Criminal Court.

Under Article 14 Paragraph 1 of the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court, a State Party may refer to the Prosecutor a situation in which one or more crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court appear to have been committed. Such crimes may or may not be committed within the jurisdiction of the referring State Party.

Under Article 27 of the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court, suspects may be indicted whether or not he or she is or has been a Head of State or Government, a member of a Government or parliament, an elected representative or a government official

In short, the traditional means of dodging justice used by criminals against humanity, particularly those who are in power, have now disappeared forever

Methods of Torture

The following is a list of methods of torture employed in one particular jurisdiction. The perpetrators of these crimes against humanity are now liable to be prosecuted under International Law.

• Solitary confinement by itself or together with one or more of the following methods of torture. Most solitary confinement cells are made of corrugated iron with barely enough room to move the body. There is no room to lie down. In the sun, the temperatures in these cells could exceed 40 degrees Celsius.