20 years of combating torture: CPT General Report 2008-2009 15. The absolute prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment forms part of the bedrock of the societies that make up Europe. To challenge that prohibition is to challenge the very nature of those societies. The day will probably never come when torture and other forms of severe ill-treatment can be said to have been totally eradicated in the European continent; however, they can certainly be combated successfully and reduced to a marginal phenomenon. To achieve that, all relevant actors – national or international, governmental as well as non-governmental, judicial and supervisory – must fulfil their responsibilities. The CPT looks forward to playing its part in this endeavour during the next twenty years. 12