A/HRC/31/57/Add.3 II. Legal framework A. International level 8. Georgia is a party to the main United Nations human rights treaties prohibiting torture and ill-treatment, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Optional Protocol thereto; the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and, since 2005, to the Optional Protocol thereto; the Convention on the Rights of the Child; the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; and the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The State is also a signatory to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and a party to the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. B. Regional level 9. At the regional level, Georgia is a member of the Council of Europe. It ratified the European Convention on Human Rights in 1999 and is subject to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights and the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Moreover, as a participating State in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Georgia has made a number of commitments with regard to human rights, rule of law and democratization, including the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, freedom from arbitrary arrest or detention, and the right to a fair trial. C. 1. National level Constitutional and legislative provisions 10. Amended in 2005, the Criminal Code of Georgia defines, in its article 144(1), the crime of torture as “subjecting a person, his/her close relatives or financially or otherwise dependent persons to such conditions or such treatment that by their nature, intensity or duration cause severe physical or mental pain or suffering, and have the purpose of obtaining information, evidence or a confession, of intimidating, coercing or punishing a person for an act that he, she or a third party have committed or is/are suspected of having committed.” 11. Torture is prohibited under the Constitution of Georgia. Article 17 states that the honour and the dignity of an individual are inviolable, and that torture, inhuman, cruel treatment and punishment or treatment and punishment infringing upon honour and dignity are prohibited. The interpretation of the crime of torture is secured in the Criminal Code of Georgia. 12. Article 7 of the Constitution requires the State to recognize and protect universally recognized human rights and freedoms as eternal and supreme human values. While exercising authority, the people and the State are “bound by these rights and freedoms as directly acting law”. 13. According to article 15, everyone has the inviolable right to life, a right protected by law. Capital punishment is prohibited. The physical or mental coercion of a person detained or otherwise restricted in his or her liberty is prohibited. 4