1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 See provisions which prohibit torture: Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948); Common Article 3 of the four Geneva Conventions (1949); Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966); Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989); Article 3 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1950); Article 5 of the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights (1978); Article 5 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (1981); Article 13 of the Arab Charter on Human Rights (1994). A number of recent instruments establish jurisdiction to international bodies over torture committed, inter alia in the context of war crimes and crimes against humanity: See the Statute of the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991 (1993); the Statute of the International Tribunal on Rwanda (1994); and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998). Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly by Resolution 39/46 of 10 December 1984. Entered into force on 26 June 1984. At the regional level, two conventions are dedicated to the issue of torture: The European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1987), which establishes a mechanism aimed at preventing torture, and the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture (1985). Whether a State becomes bound by the Convention by means of ratification, accession, or succession, the obligation remains the same. By signing the Convention, the State undertakes to act in good faith with the Convention, and not in a manner incompatible with its object and purpose. See Articles 18 and 31 (1) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969). See Article 27 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. Ibid. See chapter 2 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. See Article 19 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. For a general discussion of the various means of implementation, see Ian Brownlie, “Principles of Public International Law”, 5th edition, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1998. Other UN treaty bodies include the Human Rights Committee; the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the Committee for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; the Committee on the Rights of the Child; and the Committee for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The States Parties shall submit to the Committee a report on the measures they have taken to give effect to their undertakings under the Convention within one year after the Convention entered into force for the State Party concerned. Thereafter, the States Parties shall submit supplementary reports every four years on any new measures taken and such other reports as the Committee may request (Article 19 § 1 UNCAT). Article 20 of the Convention. According to Article 28, a State Party may, at the time of signature or ratification of the Convention, declare that it does not recognise the competence of the Committee to carry out investigations under Article 20. Nine countries have made reservations concerning Article 20 of the Convention as of May 2001. Article 20 § 1 UNCAT. Camille Giffard, “The Torture Reporting Handbook”, Human Rights Centre, University of Essex, 2000, p. 97. As of May 2002, 49 States had made declarations accepting the competence of the CAT to consider individual complaints under Article 22. See Annex II for the list of countries. As of October 2001, there had been 183 registered communications with respect to countries. Article 22 § 2 UNCAT. Article 22 § 4 UNCAT. Article 14 UNCAT. Chris Ingelse, “The UN Committee against Torture—An Assessment”, Kluwer Law International, 2001, p. 196. Article 112 § 1 of the Rules of Procedure of the Committee against Torture, CAT/C/3/Rev. 1 of 29 August 1989. Article 112 § 2 of the Rules of Procedure, ibid. See definition of torture in Article 2 of the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture (1985). Prosecutor v. Anto Furundzija, Case no. IT-95-17/1, 10 December 1998, para. 160-161. See Malcolm Evans, “Getting to Grips with Torture”, Background Paper 1, APT Seminar on the Definition of Torture, Association for the Prevention of Torture, November 2001.