E/CN.4/2006/6/Add.3 page 6 11. At the regional level Georgia is a party to the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) has visited Georgia in 2001, 2003 and 2004.1 B. National level 1. Human rights 12. The 1995 Constitution, as subsequently amended, provides, in article 6 (2), that Georgian legislation shall be consistent with the universally recognized principles and norms of international law. International treaties or agreements by Georgia that are not contrary to the Georgian Constitution prevail over internal normative acts. Article 7 of the Constitution states that Georgia “shall recognize and protect universally recognized human rights and freedoms as eternal and supreme human values. While exercising authority, the people and the State are bound by these rights and freedoms as directly [applicable] law”. The Constitution of 1995 contains a chapter on human rights, Chapter Two, articles 12-47. 2. Prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 13. The prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment is enshrined in the Constitution: article 17 (2) states: “Torture, [and] inhuman [or] cruel treatment and punishment or treatment and punishment infringing upon honour and dignity shall be impermissible.” Moreover, article 18 (4) states that “[p]hysical or mental coercion of an arrested [person] or a person otherwise restricted in his/her liberty shall be impermissible”. 14. In the 1999 Criminal Code (CC), as amended up to 31 January 2002, article 126 (1), defines the crime of torture as “systematic beating or other violence that has resulted in the physical and psychological suffering of the victim but has not produced the consequences set out in articles 117 or 118 [i.e. intentional damage and less serious damage to an individual’s health, respectively]”. Apart from this provision, only in article 335, concerning coercion in submitting evidence, is torture specifically mentioned. 15. Various other provisions of the Code criminalize acts which may fall within the scope of the Convention, such as: intentional light damage to health (art. 120); damage to health beyond the measure necessary for catching a criminal (art. 123); assault and battery (art. 125); rape (art. 137); sexual abuse under violence (art. 138); coercion (art. 150); threats (art. 151); and exceeding official powers (art. 333). 16. However, even according to the Government, the definition of torture in Georgian criminal law does not satisfy the requirements laid down in article 1 of the Convention.2 In particular, the crime of torture seems to be restricted to physical violence, and it lacks the requirement of intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering for a specific purpose, such as obtaining a confession, intimidation, or punishment.3