Chapter 1. The essence of the national preventive mechanism for the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and its establishment in the Republic of Azerbaijan The Optional Protocol to the UN Convention1 against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was adopted by UN General Assembly resolution 57/199 of 18 December 2002 and after having been ratified by 20 states, entered into force on 22 June 2006. By the adoption of the OPCAT it has been intended, as specified in its preamble, to reaffirm that torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment are prohibited and constitute serious violations of human rights, convince that further measures are necessary to protect persons deprived of their liberty against torture by non-judicial means of a preventive nature, based on regular visits to places of detention, as well as recall that states are obliged to take effective measures to prevent acts of torture and have the primary responsibility for implementing this obligation, and that the full respect for the human rights of people deprived of their liberty is a common responsibility shared by all and that international implementing bodies complement national measures serves to this process. To the point, it should be mentioned that though the term of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment is used in several relevant international acts, internationally the definition of torture has been specified in the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. According to Article 1 thereof, for the purposes of the Convention, the term "torture" means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for 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 1 It was adopted on 10 December 1984 and entered into force on 26 June 1987. It was ratified by the Republic of Azerbaijan on 31 May 1996 by Law No.103-IQ. It has been in force in respect of the Republic of Azerbaijan since 25 June 1996. 10