Background The prohibition against torture and the UN Convention against Torture The prohibition against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment is laid down in a number of international conventions binding on Norway. The 1948 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights contains a universal prohibition in article 5: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” The same prohibition is also found in such instruments as the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (article 7), the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (article 37), the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (article 15) and the European Convention on Human Rights (article 3). Norway has ratified all of these conventions. The UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was adopted in 1984. It constitutes recognition of the fact that torture and ill-treatment violate the very core of what human rights are intended to protect – humanity and human dignity. The negative impact on both those who are mistreated and their families and relatives is severe. Moreover, the legitimacy of and confidence in the state itself is undermined. This is why the prohibition against torture and ill-treatment is absolute and without exception. States that ratify the convention are obliged to prohibit, prevent and punish all use of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The convention also prohibits the return of persons to countries in which the risk of torture is substantial. Norway ratified the convention in 1986, and the convention entered into force on 26 June 1987. Thus far, more than 150 of the world’s states have ratified the convention. The UN Committee against Torture (CAT) monitors states’ compliance with their obligations under the convention, relying particularly on the states’ periodic reports. The CAT may consider complaints from individuals or states against states parties that have accepted optional provisions in this regard. The committee may also initiate investigations on its own initiative if it receives reliable information that torture is being systematically employed in the territory of a state party. Norway submitted its most recent periodic report to the CAT in 2011. The compliance of states parties with the convention is also monitored by civil society stakeholders. The prohibition against torture is laid down in various pieces of Norwegian legislation. Article 93 of the Norwegian Constitution contains a general prohibition against torture and is supplemented by sections 2 and 3 of the Human Rights Act, which provide that the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights, the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child – including the prohibition against torture and ill-­ treatment found in these conventions – shall constitute priority Norwegian law. Section 117a of the General Civil Penal Code contains a prohibition against torture, and section 73 of the Immigration Act, see also section 28, grants foreign nationals protection against deportation if they face an imminent risk of suffering the death penalty, torture or other inhuman or degrading treatment or ­punishment in the destination state. The definition in article 1 of the convention entails that an act constitutes torture if it: • intentionally inflicts severe physical or mental pain or suffering on a person, • is inflicted by a public official or a private individual acting on behalf or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official, • is inflicted to obtain information or a confession, or to punish, intimidate or coerce. However, the final requirement – that the act must have a specified purpose – is not required for an act or punishment to be considered cruel, inhuman or degrading. In such cases, it is sufficient for the act that causes pain DEFINITION OF TORTURE IN ARTICLE 1 OF THE UN CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT For the purposes of this Convention, the term “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. Norway’s National Preventive Mechanism – Annual Report 2014 9