1.4 Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Over the years, the United Nations has developed universally applicable stan- dards against torture which were ultimately embodied in international decla- rations and conventions. The adoption, on 10 December 1984 by the General Assembly, of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, was the culmination of the codification process to combat the practice of torture. The Convention entered into force on 26 June 1987. Article 1 defines “torture” as:
“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.”