Article 3 of the 1984 Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which prohibits the removal of a person to a country where there are substantial grounds for believing that he or she would be in danger of being subjected to torture.23 The prohibition of refoulement to a risk of torture is also part of customary international law and has attained the rank of a peremptory norm of international law, or jus cogens. 24 It imposes an absolute ban on any form of forcible return to a danger of torture which is binding on all States, including those which have not become party to the relevant instruments. 25 17. Obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as interpreted by the Human Rights Committee, and under regional human rights treaties, also encompass a prohibition of return to other forms or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, as part of the absolute and non-derogable proscription of such treatment under the relevant provisions. 26 18. The prohibition of refoulement to a country where the person concerned would face a real risk of irreparable harm such as violations of the right to life or the right to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment extends to all persons who may be within a State’s territory or subject to its jurisdiction, including American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR), Article 4 of the African (Banjul) Charter on Human and People’s Rights, Article 5 of the 1981 Arab Charter on Human Rights. 22 The right to be free from torture is guaranteed under Article 1 of the 1984 United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT), Article 7 ICCPR, and, for example, Article 3 ECHR, Article 5(2) ACHR, Article 5 of the African (Banjul) Charter on Human and People’s Rights, and Article 2 of the 1985 InterAmerican Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture. 23 See also Article 22(8) ACHR, which provides that “[i]n no case may an alien be deported or returned to a country, regardless of whether or not it is his country of origin, if in that country his right to life or personal freedom is in danger of being violated because of his race, nationality, religion, social status, or political opinions.” 24 See, for example, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Prosecutor v. Anto Furundzija, Trial Chamber, Judgement of 10 December 1998, at paragraphs 134–164. See also the judgement of the House of Lords in Pinochet Ugarte, re. [1999] 2 All ER 97, at paragraphs 108–109. 25 Pursuant to Articles 53 and 64 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, jus cogens norms prevail over treaty provisions. They also rank higher than general customary rules not endowed with the same force. 26 With regard to the scope of the obligations under Article 7 ICCPR, which guarantees the right to be free from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, see Human Rights Committee in its General Comment No. 31 on the Nature of the General Legal Obligation on States Parties to the Covenant, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.13, 21 April 2004, at paragraph 12; see also Special Rapporteur on Torture, Report of 1 September 2004, above footnote 5, at paragraph 28. The prohibition of refoulement to a risk of serious human rights violations, particularly torture and other forms of ill-treatment, is also firmly established under regional human rights treaties. See, for example, the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights on the scope of protection under Article 3 ECHR, in particular, the decisions in Soering v. United Kingdom, Application No. 14038/88, 7 July 1998, and Chahal v. United Kingdom, Application No. 22414/93, 15 November 1996. Other provisions in international and regional human rights instruments which prohibit torture as well as other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment include Article 16 UNCAT, Article 5(2) ACHR, Article 5 of the African (Banjul) Charter on Human and People’s Rights, and Article 2 of the 1985 InterAmerican Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture. 7