A/59/324 human needs, suffocation with a wet cloth and death threats. In this respect, the Special Rapporteur wishes to stress that the definition contained in the Convention cannot be altered by events or in accordance with the will or interest of States. The Special Rapporteur also wishes to recall that the prohibition applies equally to torture and to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 17. The Special Rapporteur has recently received information on certain methods that have been condoned and used to secure information from suspected terrorists. They notably include holding detainees in painful and/or stressful positions, depriving them of sleep and light for prolonged periods, exposing them to extremes of heat, cold, noise and light, hooding, depriving them of clothing, stripping detainees naked and threatening them with dogs. The jurisprudence of both international and regional human rights mechanisms is unanimous in stating that such methods violate the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment. In 1997, the Committee against Torture concluded that “methods [including]: (1) restraining in very painful conditions, (2) hooding under special conditions, (3) sounding of loud music for prolonged periods, (4) sleep deprivation for prolonged periods, (5) threats, including death threats, (6) violent shaking, and (7) using cold air to chill ... are, in the Committee’s view, breaches of article 16 and also constitute torture as defined in article 1 of the Convention. This conclusion is particularly evident where such methods of interrogation are used in combination”.2 Similarly, in the Loayza Tamayo case, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled that, “even in the absence of physical injuries, psychological and moral suffering, accompanied by psychic disturbance during questioning, may be deemed inhuman treatment. The degrading aspect is characterized by the fear, anxiety and inferiority induced for the purpose of humiliating and degrading the victim and breaking his physical and moral resistance … That situation is exacerbated by the vulnerability of a person who is unlawfully detained … Any use of force that is not strictly necessary to ensure proper behaviour on the part of the detainee constitutes an assault on the dignity of the person … in violation of Article 5 of the American Convention. The exigencies of the investigation and the undeniable difficulties encountered in the anti-terrorist struggle must not be allowed to restrict the protection of a person’s right to physical integrity.” 18. The Special Rapporteur wishes to remind the General Assembly that, according to the Human Rights Committee, the right of persons deprived of their liberty to be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, although not specified in the list of non-derogable rights, cannot be made subject to lawful derogation under article 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.3 19. According to allegations received, acts of torture and ill-treatment have been reportedly inflicted on suspected terrorists by private contractors. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur wishes to recall that, according to the Human Rights Committee, “the positive obligations on States parties to ensure Covenant rights will only be fully discharged if individuals are protected by the State, not just against violation of Covenant rights by its agents, but also against acts committed by private persons or entities that would impair the enjoyment of Covenant rights insofar as they are amenable to application between private persons or entities. There may be circumstances in which a failure to ensure Covenant rights as required by article 2 would give rise to violations by States Parties of those rights, as a result of States Parties’ permitting or failing to take appropriate measures or to exercise due 6