A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

iii. The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment
The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment (CAT) was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly on December 10, 1984 and
entered into force on June 26, 1987. 83 As of December 16, 2008, 146 states were parties to the
Convention. 84 Under the Convention “torture means 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. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent
in or incidental to lawful sanctions.” 85 “Each State Party [to the Convention] shall take effective
legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under
its jurisdiction.” 86
The Convention also expressly specifies that torture is not justified in any circumstance
(e.g., internal political instability, public emergency, etc.) or for any reason (e.g., order from superior,
order from public authority, etc.). 87 The fact that international protection against torture may not be
suspended is consistent with the ICCPR, which also does not permit suspension of the right to be
free from torture. 88
The Committee against Torture was established to supervise and implement the
Convention. 89 The Committee receives reports from states and considers communications (i.e.,
complaints) from states and individuals. 90 The Convention only authorizes the Committee to visit
countries where torture is practiced with the consent of the State Party concerned, but efforts have
been made since 1991 to draft an optional protocol that would establish a preventive system of
regular visits to places of detention. 91 Liberia acceded to CAT on September 22, 2004.
iv. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 18, 1979 and entered
into force on September 3, 1981. 92 As of June 11, 2009, 186 states are party to the Convention. 93
The Convention defines discrimination against women as “any distinction, exclusion or restriction
made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition,
enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men
and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural,
civil or any other field.” 94 States Parties agree to embody the principle of equality of gender in
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