2. All statements or confessions obtained through violation of the provisions contained in paragraph 1 of this article shall be considered null and void. 1. The need to protect against torture in international human rights law is not disputed and guarantees are included in UN and regional treaties.269 Similarly, torture committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilians is a crime against humanity, as identified by the International Criminal Court.270 2. Protection against torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment is essential to the scheme of the application of human rights standards. Taken together with the right to life, it forms the essential elements for guaranteeing human dignity. The prohibition of torture is treated as a pre-emptory norm of international law (jus cogens)271 and is a non-derogable right. As such, and as reaffirmed by Article 2(2) of the UNCAT, Article 4(2) of the ICCPR and Article 4(2) of the Arab Charter, it can never be possible to justify subjecting someone to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment – even in war or a national emergency. A. Definition of torture 3. Article 1 of the UN Convention Against Torture provides a widely-accepted definition of torture. This has a number of elements:  Any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as: a. Obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, b. Punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or c. 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.272 269 Specific instruments relating to torture include the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 1984; European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 1987; Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture 1985. See also Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, 1955; Body of Principles for the Protection of Al Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, 1988; Principles of Medical Ethics relevant to the Role of Health Personnel, particularly Physicians, in the Protection of Prisoners and Detainees against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 1982; Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, 1979. 270 See Geneva Conventions, Common Article 3, Article 75 of Additional Protocol 1 and Article 4 of Additional Protocol 2. Article 7, Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. 271 Human Rights Committee General Comment No.24, CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.6 (1994), para 10. 272 However see the more recent Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998). Its definition is less circumscribed, Torture is defined 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; except that torture shall not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to, lawful sanctions’. 63