UN Committee against Torture (UN CAT), affirming that “torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment are prohibited at all times and in all places” and acknowledging that the CAT’s reference to “any territory under a [State Party’s jurisdiction]” binds it legally wherever the US government “controls as a governmental authority”, including at Guantánamo Bay.77 ODIHR welcomes the acceptance of the universal prohibition of torture and ill-treatment, although the wording used by the United States leaves doubt as to whether it accepts the application of some articles, such as Articles 2 and 16, of the CAT in places over which it does not exercise governmental authority such as CIA secret detention facilities.78 The UN Committee against Torture considers that the respective Articles apply to all areas over which a state exercises “directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, de jure or de facto effective control”.79 ODIHR also notes that the prohibition of torture and illtreatment is non-derogable and is therefore applicable at all times, including during times of armed conflict and states of emergency.80 77 “UN Treaty Body Webcast, CAT 53rd session – United States of America, 3”, 13 November 2014, <http://www.treatybodywebcast.org/category/webcast-archives/cat/>. 78 Harold Hongju Koh, “America’s ‘Unequivocal Yes’ to the Torture Ban”, Just Security website, 18 November 2014, <http://justsecurity.org/17551/americas-unequivocal-yes-torture-ban/>. 79 UN CAT, General Comment No. 2, op. cit., note 76, paras. 7, 16. 80 CAT, Art. 2(2); UN CAT, General Comment No. 2, ibid., paras. 1, 5; OSCE, “Document of the Copenhagen Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension of the CSCE”, Copenhagen, 29 June 1990, (hereinafter, “OSCE Copenhagen Document”), para. 16.3, <http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/14304>; OSCE Ministerial Council, “Ministerial Declaration on the Occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Adoption of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment”, Athens, 2 December 2009, (hereinafter, “OSCE Athens Document”), para. 4, <http://www.osce.org/cio/40697>. 48