III.
APPLYING
THE ANTI-TORTURE
FRAMEWORK TO
THE USE OF FORCE
32. The former UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Professor Manfred Nowak, in 200563 and 201064
examined the extra-custodial use of force from the perspective of the absolute prohibition of torture
and stated that “if the use of force is not necessary and, in the particular circumstances of the case,
disproportional to the purpose achieved, it amounts to cruel or inhuman treatment”65. Further
elaborating on the extra-custodial scope of the prohibition, the UN Special Rapporteur, Professor Nils
Melzer, in his 2017 report concluded that a ”failure to take all precautions practically possible in the
planning66, preparation and conduct of law enforcement operations increases the risk of unnecessary or
disproportionate force being used and, in principle, breaches the State’s obligations to prevent CIDTP”.67
33. In relation to possible breaches of article 1 of the UN Convention Against Torture in extra-custodial
settings, in the mentioned report, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture states that any intentional and
purposeful extra-custodial use of force on a powerless person will always amount to an aggravated
form of CIDTP68.
63. U
N Commission on Human Rights, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture, Manfred Nowak, 23 December 2005,
E/CN.4/2006/6.
64. U
N Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,
Manfred Nowak, 9 February 2010, A/HRC/13/39.
65. Ibid., para. 60.
66. T
he planning of operations entails understanding the harm that techniques, weapons and related equipment can cause. (European
Court of Human Rights, Giuliani and Gaggio v. Italy, 24 March 2011).
67. U
N General Assembly, Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,
20 July 2017, A/72/178, para. 46.
68. U
N General Assembly, Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,
20 July 2017, A/72/178, para. 47.
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