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Crimes Against Humanity

Majid's Pages
The Government Online

Definitions of Torture
Who may be Charged?
Methods of Torture
News Item on Torture

International Law on Torture

Laws Conventions
and Covenants

The civilised World has resolved to bring an end to crimes against humanity

Criminals against humanity will be indicted and brought before international justice wherever they are

No more shall there be safe havens for them to hide

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

Majid's Pages The Government Online

Laws, Covenants and Conventions Who may be Charged? Methods of Torture News Item on Torture	International Law on Torture
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?**

Majid's Pages The Government Online

Laws, Covenants and Conventions Definitions of Torture Methods of Torture News Item on Torture	International Law on Torture
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.
Presidents are not exempt	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
No more shall there be avenues of escape.	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

Majid's Pages The Government Online

Laws, Covenants and Conventions Definitions of Torture Who may be Charged? News Item on Torture	International Law on Torture
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. Handcuffing for extended periods, which may last months. Handcuffs are used to cuff together all four limbs in all imaginable permutations and combinations. Putting in stocks: The victim is restrained with his or her ankles and wrists locked in tiny holes in a block of wood. The victim remains bent and does not have the use of his/her hands when eating. Defecation and urination is done on the spot and the victim remains with his or her own human waste for days on end. Victims of the stocks almost invariably suffer from spinal conditions for life, if they survive this ordeal. Hanging by the arms, legs, fingers and toes. Using a bulldozer to haul the cuffed victim on top of a sand dune about 2-3 metres high and letting him roll down on a base of sharp stone chips. This procedure is carried out repeatedly for hours on end. Electric shock. In most cases, the victim is made to stand on a sheet of corrugated iron and low voltage electricity is applied. (This is a common method used for premeditated murder) Gang rape of women prisoners. Sometimes other women inmates are forced to watch this in order to inflict psychological torture on them. (those who have been forced to watch this are known to have hung themselves) Urinating and defecating on victims. Very senior personnel in attendance usually carry this out while the victim is undergoing another method of torture. "Mounting on the angle": The victim�s arms are passed backwards through the vertical bars (about 60 cm apart) of the vent above the door in a prison cell. The wrists are then tightly handcuffed. The body is left dangling for hours at a time. The victim almost invariably has both shoulders and/or elbows dislocated during this exercise. Indiscriminate beating. Often officials wearing military-style boots stomp on the victim. (in one well-documented case, a 17 year old youth was beaten up on the spinal area, in the interrogation room. He was paralysed for life) Lashed to trees in front of cell blocks. Female victims are left in various degrees of nakedness Forcing detainees to stand on a chair for hours with arms outstretched and a heavy object in each palm Made to squat on the toes, with a length of timber between the upper and lower legs, tightly tucked behind the knee. The weight of the body results in the dislocation of the knee by a slow process Amnesty International News Release Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Country-by-Country Ratification Status Report Home