13 Criminal Code of the Republic of Serbia, Article 137. (1) Whoever ill/treats another or treats such person in humiliating and degrading manner, shall be punished with fine or imprisonment up to one year. (2) Whoever inflicts severe pain or suffering on a person by forcing, coercing or committing any other unpermitted action for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person a confession, declaration or any other information, or intimidating or illegally punishing him or a third person, or if done from motives based on any form of discrimination, shall be punished with imprisonment from six months to five years. (3) If the offense specified in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article is committed by an official in discharge of duty, such person shall be punished for the offense specified in paragraph 1 by imprisonment from three months to three years, and for the offense specified in paragraph 2 of this Article by imprisonment of one to eight years. 2.2 International instruments Serbia is a State party to all the most important treaties concerning prohibition i.e. prevention of torture. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights26, which in its Article 7 adopts а provision regarding prohibition of torture from the Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights27, was ratified in 197128. The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment29 (Convention against Torture) was ratified in 199130. It became one of the most important international instruments dedicated to the struggle against torture. Convention against Torture, Article 1 Paragraph 1 Torture means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions. Besides giving the most complete definition of torture, the Convention against Torture contains various provisions, important to eradication of torture. Convention against Torture, Article 2 Paragraph 1 Each State Party shall take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction. The Convention against Torture obliges each State Party to ensure that education and information regarding the prohibition against torture are fully included in the training of law enforcement personnel, civil or military, medical personnel, public officials and other persons who may be involved in the custody, interrogation or treatment of any individual subjected to any form of arrest, detention or imprisonment31. 26 Signed on 19 December 1966 in New York. 27 Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10th December 1948 in Paris. 28 “Official Gazette of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia”, No. 7/71. 29 Adopted on 10 December 1984 in New York. 30 “Official Gazette of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia – International treaties, No. 9/91. 31 Convention against Torture, Article 10 Paragraph 1.