Part 3 97 information or a confession, and the severity of the pain inflicted is higher than in other forms of ill-treatment. The threshold of severity distinguishing between torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment is not clearly defined. However, it has been lowered in recent years, and acts that did not necessarily amount to torture in the past are now being considered as such.115 This determination of what constitutes torture or other ill-treatment remains based on the specific circumstances of each case, taking into account criteria such as the duration of the treatment, its physical and mental effects, as well as the gender, age and the state of health of the victim.116 For all practical purposes, however, the distinction is to a large degree not important. When the term “torture” is used alone in the rest of this section, it also includes other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment are all absolutely forbidden under international human rights law. Particular practices used in the counter-terrorism context have been identified as constituting torture and ill-treatment.117 Examples include electric shock, beating on the soles of the feet and mock executions. Other examples include: • Waterboarding is a torture technique whereby a suspect is immobilized and water is poured over his or her nose and mouth to simulate drowning; • Sleep deprivation is used primarily as a tool designed to wear down the resistance of suspects to questioning and to obtain confessions from them, and can include interviews during the day and night at different times and for prolonged periods, almost constantly by rotating teams of investigators for periods exceeding 24 hours; • Humiliation of suspects or their family members is another technique that may include public humiliation by forcing female family members visiting 115 For a discussion on this issue, see Countering Terrorism, Protecting Human Rights: A Manual, op. cit., note 19, pp. 121–123 116 Frérot v. France, op. cit., note 81, para 35; and ECtHR judgments, op. cit., note 47. 117 Countering Terrorism, Protecting Human Rights: A Manual, op. cit., note 19, p.128.