A/74/148 worldwide; roughly comparable to all of the killing and abuse caused by armed conflict. 5 4. In the light of these observations, the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment is of the view that domestic violence cannot be regarded as a private matter, but constitutes a major human rights issue of inherently public concern that requires examination, inter alia, from the perspective of the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment. Building on the work of his predecessors and other mechanisms, the Special Rapporteur conducted extensive research and broad stakeholder consultations with experts, government representatives, international organizations and civil society organizations, including through a general call for submissions in response to a thematic questionnaire posted on the website of the Office of the United Natio ns High Commissioner for Human Rights. The present report reflects the resulting observations, conclusions and recommendations of the Special Rapporteur. II. Relevance of the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment to the context of domestic violence A. “Substantive” and “attributive” components of torture and ill-treatment 5. The international legal concepts of “torture” and of “other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” have two distinct components, which could be described as “substantive” and “attributive”. The “substantive” component defines the conduct that amounts to torture and, respectively, other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, whereas the “attributive” component defines the level of State agent involvement required in order for torture or ill-treatment to give rise to the State’s international legal responsibility. 6. From a substantive perspective, torture and ill-treatment as conceptualized under international law need not necessarily involve a State agent, but can also be committed by private actors without a State agent’s participation, instigation, consent or acquiescence. For example, international humanitarian law prohibits any act of torture and other or cruel, humiliating and degrading treatmen t committed by organized armed groups in armed conflict. 6 Similarly, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court criminalizes war crimes and crimes against humanity that involve torture and ill-treatment by any perpetrator, irrespective of their status or of any State agent involvement. 7 In international human rights law, it is widely recognized that torture or ill-treatment at the hands of private perpetrators can trigger a wide range of positive State obligations, including in the context of dome stic violence. 8 Thus, the question of State agent involvement is most significant in determining whether a particular act of torture or ill -treatment is legally attributable to a State or to delineating positive State obligations under human rights law. 7. In the context of domestic violence, it is of particular importance to distinguish between the substantive analysis of whether domestic violence amounts to torture and ill-treatment within the generic meaning of those terms under international law and __________________ 5 6 7 8 4/23 Small Arms Survey, Global Violent Deaths 2017: Time to Decide (Geneva, 2017), p. 10. See, e.g. art. 3 common to the Geneva Conventions and art. 4 (2) (a) of their Additional Protocol II. See also REDRESS, Not only the State: Torture by non-State actors (London, 2006). Articles 7 (2) (e) and 8 (2) (a) (ii)/(iii) and (c) (i)/(ii) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. See, for example, the factsheet on domestic violence produced by the European Court of Human Rights, available from www.echr.coe.int/Documents/FS_Domestic_violence_ENG.pdf. 19-11892