against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) and OPCAT, Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Member States of the Council of Europe are also bound by the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (ECPT). A further mechanism is the office of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, which was created by the UN Commission on Human Rights in 1985. The Special Rapporteur carries out fact-finding missions to countries, submits annual reports on activities, and can make urgent appeals to states on individual cases. The Geneva Conventions also contain certain provisions prohibiting torture and cruel treatment (common Article 3). Additionally, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court specifies that torture can constitute an international crime against humanity when certain conditions are met. An additional “catch-all” protection is derived from the fact that the prohibition against torture is a peremptory norm of customary international law – a fundamental principle of international law considered to be accepted by the international community of states. Consequently, the prohibition against torture is binding for all states, regardless of whether they have signed or ratified any of the relevant international human rights treaties containing protection and torture-prevention mechanisms mentioned above. Finally, there are a number of legally non-binding UN guidelines, recommendations and codes of conduct that contain relevant provisions and are applicable to particular groups, such as law enforcement officials, or particular situations, such as places of deprivation of liberty. These include the UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials (1979), 5 the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials (1990), 6 and the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (1957). 7 1.4 Existing compilations of torture-prevention principles Numerous studies have been made that enumerate approaches to assisting in the prevention of torture. The Association for the Prevention of Torture has produced several publications on this issue, including those focusing on the effective monitoring of places of deprivation of liberty and the implementation of relevant provisions of international law. 8 The Human Rights Centre, at the University of Essex, has produced manuals for judges and prosecutors on reporting and combating 5 “UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials”, UNHCHR website, <http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/h_comp42.htm>. 6 “UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials”, UNHCHR website, <http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/h_comp43.htm>. 7 “UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners”, UNHCHR website, <http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/h_comp34.htm>. 8 Available on the Association for the Prevention of Torture website, <www.apt.ch/component/option,com_docman/Itemid,59/lang,en/>/ 10