I. The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment 1. The prohibition of torture and other forms of mistreatment is universally The Convention helped to recognized and included in the main international and regional documents effectively enforce the concerned with human rights as an absolute, irrevocable provision that applies in all places and at all times, in peacetime and in wartime. It is also considered as an established rule of international law which is binding on all states, regardless of universal recognition of the ban on torture and other forms of mistreatment whether or not they are parties to the aforesaid human rights instruments. To enforce the prohibition more effectively, specific mechanisms have been set up to combat torture, among them the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 10, 1984 and came into force on June 26, 1987. 147 states are now party to this Convention, including Spain, which ratified it on October 19, 1987 (Official Journal issue 268, dated November 9, 1987). 2. Article 1 of the Convention defines “torture” as “any act by which severe pain Torture is understood to or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for mean the intentional 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 inflicting of severe suffering for the purposes of punishment or coercion, associated with a public official 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”. So for there to be “torture” three elements must be present: the inflicting of severe physical or mental suffering; association by any means with a public official; and the intention of inflicting punishment or coercion. 3. In defining other prohibited treatment, pro-human rights organisations draw Delimitation of a hierarchy a distinction between the ideas of “torture”, “inhuman treatment” and “degrading of unlawful acts topped by treatment” which has been delimited by international jurisprudence, so that “torture” tops the hierarchy of unlawful behaviour, with “inhuman treatment” in second place and “degrading treatment” in third place. torture, followed by inhuman treatment and degrading treatment 4. The Convention was a great step forward, in that it reinforced the commitment The Convention reinforced of the States Parties and called on them to enact legislative, administrative and the commitment of States judicial measures, among others, to prevent, suppress and make reparation for Parties torture, such as penalising and pursuing torture as a criminal offence and prohibiting the use in evidence of any information obtained under torture. THE OMBUDSMAN OF SPAIN 13