Introduction UN TREATY BODIES 1 Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 reads “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”11 This Article is widely regarded as expressing customary international law. Within the United Nations framework, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment are explicitly prohibited under a number of international treaties, which are legally binding on those States which have ratified them.12 Many treaties establish Committees, known collectively as the treaty bodies, which are mandated to monitor States Parties’ compliance with their obligations under the treaties. They do this by issuing General Comments or Recommendations, which provide detailed interpretation of specific aspects of the treaty. Some of the treaty bodies also adjudicate individual cases, provided the State in question has made a declaration recognising the Committee’s competence in this regard. The purpose of this chapter is to analyse the definition of torture applied within the United Nations system, by considering the General Comments and jurisprudence of the treaty bodies, in particular the Human Rights Committee (HRC), which monitors compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),13 and the Committee against Torture (CAT), which monitors compliance with the United Nations Convention against Universal Declaration of Human Rights, G.A. res. 217A (III), U.N. Doc A/810 at 71 (1948). Torture and other forms of ill-treatment are prohibited under, inter alia: Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), G.A. res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 52, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 999 U.N.T.S. 171, entered into force Mar. 23, 1976; the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT), G.A. res. 39/46, annex, 39 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 51) at 197, U.N. Doc. A/39/51 (1984), entered into force June 26, 1987; Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, G.A. res. 44/25, annex, 44 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 49) at 167, U.N. Doc. A/44/49 (1989), entered into force Sept. 2, 1990; Article 10 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, G.A. res. 45/158, annex, 45 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 49A) at 262, U.N. Doc. A/45/49 (1990), entered into force July 1, 2003.; and Article 15 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, G.A. res. A/61/611 (2006). Additionally, Article 5 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, 660 U.N.T.S. 195, entered into force Jan. 4, 1969, provides that everyone has “The right to security of person and protection by the State against violence or bodily harm,” and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has stated that “Gender-based violence, which impairs or nullifies the enjoyment by women of human rights and fundamental freedoms under general international law or under human rights conventions, [including the right not to be subject to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,] is discrimination within the meaning of article 1 of the [Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women]” (CEDAW, General Recommendation No.19, §7). 13 The HRC was established under Article 28 of the ICCPR. 11 12 6