Appendix: UN State Reports
The following chart summarizes the definitions of torture adopted in over 60 countries around the world. The chart identifies and briefly sum-marizes
each country’s definition of torture, its legislation prohibiting torture, and any available sanctions for violations of the laws against torture.
All the information in the Appendix has been drawn from the “ State Reports” submitted to the U. N. Committee on Torture between 2000 and
2005 by signatories to the Convention Against Torture (“ CAT”). The individual state reports are available at
http:// www. unhchr. ch/ tbs/ doc. nsf/ RepStatfrset? OpenFrameSet. Unless otherwise noted, the chart’s citations are to the most recent state report as
of mid- 2005. Countries that reported prior to 2000, or never, as well as those with reports not available in English or not available in the on- line
U. N. Treaty Database, are not included.
The chart does not include legislation that happens to cover acts of torture but does not specifically reference or prohibit torture. Thus, laws
criminalizing cruel and unusual treatment without mention of torture are not included, nor are provisions that generally protect basic human rights
or criminal procedure provisions that may assist in the prevention of torture but do not explicitly address it. If a State Report states that the country
uses the CAT definition of torture, this statement is included in the chart even if in practice the definition has been altered or substantively reinter-preted.
Finally, this is a compilation of information provided by the countries themselves and is limited to the law on the books; it does not analyze
the enforcement or efficacy of the laws it describes.
FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS A1
ALBANIA None listed. Constitution, Art. 25: Torture and
other cruel, degrading and inhuman
behavior are prohibited. ( ¶ 3)
General Prison Regulation, Art.
48: Prison staff are forbidden to
“ perform actions against inmates,
[ including] cruel or degrading pun-ishment
or treatment, as well as
any kind of torture, that is not
based on law.” ( ¶ 27)
Law No. 8291 of 25 February
1998: Police must follow legal
norms and not use torture on
detainees. ( ¶ 73)
Criminal Code, Art. 86: Torture
( also degrading and inhuman treat-ment)
is punished by 5- 10 years’
imprisonment. ( ¶ 116)
Criminal Code, Art. 87: Torture
causing a serious injury or death is
punished by 10- 20 years’ imprison-ment.
( ¶ 117)
Criminal Code, Art. 50: When
the criminal act is committed “ sav-agely
and ruthlessly,” the punish-ment
is aggravated. ( ¶ 58)
Law No. 8733 of 24 January
2001: Kidnapping or taking
hostages with physical or psycho-logical
torture is punished by at
least 20 years’ imprisonment; if
death results, life imprisonment.
( ¶ 63)
A2 FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS
COUNTRY DEFINITION LEGISLATION SANCTIONS AVAILABLE
ARGENTINA None listed. Amended Constitution of 1994,
Art. 75, ¶ 22: Gives treaties prece-dence
over laws and conferred
“ constitutional rank” on a number
of human rights instruments,
including the CAT. ( ¶ 2)
Criminal Code of the Nation,
Arts. 3, 5, 144: Criminalizes tor-ture.
( ¶ 44)
Constitutions of individual pro-vinces
such as Chaco, San Luis, and
Chubut, contain specific provisions
criminalizing torture. ( ¶ ¶ 45( a)-( b),
509)
None listed.
AUSTRIA None listed.
“ All acts described as torture in the
Convention and liable to punish-ment
are also punishable in Austria,
irrespective of the motives given as
examples in article 1, paragraph 1,
of the Convention; the pain or suf-fering
inflicted need not be severe
( aiguë) either. The punishment of
torture is thus to some extent wider
under Austrian criminal law than
the definition of torture in the
Convention.” ( ¶ 8)
Penal Code: “ All acts that may be
described as ‘ torture’ within the
meaning of article 1 of the Con-vention
were already punishable
under the Austrian Penal Code
prior to the ratification of the Con-vention
and threatened with court
sanctions, which take into account
the severity of the offence.” ( ¶ 6)
None listed.
FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS A3
AZERBAIJAN None listed. Constitution, Art. 46: “ The State
shall protect the dignity of the indi-vidual
and there can be no justifi-cation
for affronts to human dignity.
No one may be subjected to cruel
treatment or torture or to degrading
treatment or punishment. No med-ical,
scientific, or other forms of
experiments may be conducted on
any persons without their consent.”
( ¶ 2)
Criminal Code, Arts. 13 & 133:
Establishes criminal liability for
torture and cruel treatment. ( ¶ 3)
Code of Criminal Procedure and
Criminal Code, Art. 15: Prohibits
torture and other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment
in criminal proceedings and lists
actions by public officials that fall
under this category. ( ¶ 3)
None listed.
A4 FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS
COUNTRY DEFINITION LEGISLATION SANCTIONS AVAILABLE
BAHRAIN None listed. Constitution, Art. 19: No one
may be subjected to physical or
mental torture. ( ¶ 44)
Constitution, Art. 31: “ The prohi-bition
of torture is one of the consti-tutional
principles which all State
authorities have a duty to enforce.”
( ¶ 44)
National Action Charter of 2001,
§ § I and II ( ¶ 3): Guarantees right
to not be mentally or physically tor-tured,
makes confessions obtained
under torture or threats void, and
guarantees the right of prisoners to
not be tortured, as well as guaran-tees
punishment for those convict-ed
of torture. ( ¶ 59)
Penal Code, Art. 19: A torture vic-tim
has the right of self- defense
when an officer is deliberately
causing him harm. ( ¶ 67)
Penal Code, Art. 208: It is a
crime for any public official indi-rectly
or directly, to use torture,
force or threats against an accused
person, a witness, or an expert in
order to induce that person to con-fess
to an offence or to proffer as a
result of statements or information
relating thereto. ( ¶ 61)
Penal Code, Art. 208: Punished
by life imprisonment if death
results. ( ¶ 61)
Penal Code, Art. 49: Torture is
punishable by 3 to 15 years’
imprisonment, or life imprisonment
if death results. ( ¶ 73)
Penal Code, Art. 232: Imposes
penalty of imprisonment of at least
6 months if victim’s integrity is
damaged as a result of the torture.
( ¶ 62)
FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS A5
BELGIUM The definition of torture is not
incorporated into the Belgian Penal
Code. ( ¶ 3)
Criminal Code, Art. 347: Acts of
torture constitute aggravating cir-cumstances
in offences relating to
hostage- taking. ( ¶ 18)
Criminal Code, Art. 376: Relates
to rape or indecent assault, aggra-vated
by acts of physical torture.
( ¶ 76)
Criminal Code, Art. 438: Crimi-nalizes
torture against a prisoner.
( ¶ 74)
Criminal Code, Art. 438: Forced
labor for 10 to 15 years; forced
labor for 15 to 20 years if it caused
an incurable disorder, permanent
inability to work, loss of the use of
an organ, or a serious mutilation.
( ¶ 74)
A6 FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS
Penal Code, Art. 232: Imposes
penalties for anyone who uses tor-ture,
force, or threats to convince
an accused, witness, or expert to
confess or to induce statements or
information. ( ¶ 62)
The CAT has the force of law—
the same as the country’s other
laws. “ Thus, any failure to comply
therewith constitutes a breach of
the law and entails criminal
responsibility if a criminal offence
has been committed. It also entails
legal liability for any damage
caused.” ( ¶ ¶ 50, 54- 56)
COUNTRY DEFINITION LEGISLATION SANCTIONS AVAILABLE
BOLIVIA None listed. Constitution, Art. 12: “ Any kind
of torture, coercion, extortion or
other form of physical or moral vio-lence
is prohibited, under penalty
of immediate removal from office
and without prejudice to the sanc-tions
that may be incurred by any-one
who applies, orders, instigates
or consents to them.” Protection
against torture is mandatory. ( ¶ ¶ 4,
30)
Code of Punishment: Character-izes
torture as an offence, so that
both public officials and private
individuals must comply with this
domestic law. ( ¶ 30)
Penal Code, Art. 295 ( Harass-ment
and Torture): Criminalizes
harassment and torture of
detainees. ( ¶ 14)
Code of Criminal Procedure,
Art. 13: “ Any evidence obtained by
torture, ill- treatment, coercion,
threats, deceit or violation of the
fundamental rights of the person,
or obtained through information
originating in an unlawful proce-dure
or means, shall be disquali-fied.”
( ¶ 9)
Constitution, Art. 12: Penalty of
immediate removal from office and
without prejudice to the sanctions
that may be incurred…. ( ¶ 4)
Penal Code, Art. 295
( Harassment and Torture): “ Any
official who harasses a detainee or
allows him to be harassed shall be
punished with imprisonment for
between six months and two years.
If the official inflicts any kind of
suffering or torture on the detainee,
the penalty shall be increased to
between two and four years of im-prisonment.
If the torture causes
injuries, the penalty shall be im-prisonment
for between two and
six years; if it causes death, the
penalty shall be 10 years’ rigorous
imprisonment.” ( ¶ ¶ 14, 88)
FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS A7
BRAZIL Law 9455/ 97: It is a crime of tor-ture
“ to coerce someone with the
use of violence or grave threat,
causing physical or mental suffer-ing:
( a) with the intent of obtaining
information, declaration or confes-sion
from the victim or third party;
( b) to provoke action or omission of
criminal nature, and ( c) due to
racial or religious discrimination.”
It also constitutes a crime of tor-ture
to “ submit someone, under his
custody, power or authority, with
use of violence or serious threat to
intense mental or physical suffer-ing,
as a means of applying person-al
punishment or as a preventive
measure.” ( ¶ 73)
Constitution of 1988, Art. 5, III:
Repudiates torture or any other in-human
or degrading treatment.
( ¶ 51( d))
Constitution of 1988, Art. 5,
XLIII: Punishment for torture shall
be considered by law as not subject
to bail, to grace or amnesty. ( ¶ 51)
Law 9455/ 97: Criminalizes torture.
( ¶ 73)
Law 9455/ 97, ¶ 2: Conviction of
torture generally carries a prison
term of 2 to 8 years. “ Those who
absent themselves before the prac-tice
of torture, when he/ she was
able to prevent it or ascertain it, is
subjected to imprisonment for 1 to
4 years.” ( ¶ 74)
Law 9455/ 97, ¶ 6: When serious
bodily harm results from torture, the
penalty for the perpetrator is 4 to 10
years, and in the event of death, up
to 16 years. Punishment may increase
by 1/ 6 to 1/ 3 of the sentence if the
torture is perpetrated: ( a) by a pub-lic
agent; ( b) against children, preg-nant
women, the impaired, or ado-lescents;
( c) upon kidnapping.
“ Crimes of torture are not subject
to bail, to grace or amnesty.” ( ¶ 74)
A8 FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS
Code of Criminal Procedure,
Art. 296 ( Arrest): Prohibits inflict-ing,
instigating or tolerating any act
of harassment, torture or other
cruel, inhuman or degrading treat-ment
or punishment, both at the
time of arrest and during the time
of detention. ( ¶ 11)
Constitutions of individual provinces
such as La Rioja, Formosa, and
Jujuy, contain specific provisions
criminalizing torture.
COUNTRY DEFINITION LEGISLATION SANCTIONS AVAILABLE
BULGARIA Bulgarian Constitution, Art. 5,
¶ 4: Bulgaria uses the CAT defini-tion
of torture. ( ¶ 9)
None listed. None listed.
CAMBODIA Cambodia uses the CAT definition
of torture. ( ¶ 13)
Criminal Law, Art. 12: “ No de-tainee
shall be subjected to cruel,
inhumane or degrading treatment
or punishment, nor be beaten or
tortured. Each detainee must have
access to appropriate medical care.
Prisoners must not be shackled or
kept in isolation, whether they are
in pre- trial detention or already sen-tenced.
In no case shall the family
of a detainee or prisoner be harassed
as a result of the prisoner’s behavior.”
( ¶ 4)
Criminal Law, Art. 12: “ No de-tainee
shall be subjected to cruel,
inhumane or degrading treatment
or punishment, nor be beaten or
tortured.” ( ¶ 17)
Transitional Criminal Law, Arts.
39 and 27: The victim may file
claims and seek damages against
the perpetrator, co- offender and
accomplice. A detainee or prisoner
shall also have the right to com-plain
or denounce any officer who
commits torture or acts of cruelty
against him or her. ( ¶ 22)
None listed.
FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS A9
CAMEROON Criminal Code, Art. 132, § §
( 5)( a) and ( b): Cameroon uses the
CAT definition of torture. “ Any act
by which severe pain or suffering,
whether physical, mental or psy-chological,
is intentionally inflicted
on a person by or at the instigation
of or with the consent or acquies-cence
of a public official or other
person acting in an official capaci-ty,
for such purposes as obtaining
from him or a third person infor-mation
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 discrim-ination
of any kind.… The word
‘ torture’ thus defined does not
include pain or suffering arising
only from, inherent in or incidental
to lawful sanctions.” ( ¶ 48)
Criminal Code, Art. 132: Imposes
penalties on persons who commit
torture; declares the absolute right
of every person to be protected
against torture. ( ¶ 23( a))
Criminal Code, Art. 132, ¶ 5( c):
No exceptional circumstances may
be invoked to justify torture ( ¶ 142)
Criminal Code, Art. 132, ¶ 5( d):
Orders from a superior officer or
State authority may not be used as
a justification for torture. ( ¶ 143)
“ The use of violence or torture to
extract confessions in the course of
investigations is strictly prohibited.
Confessions obtained in this way
are null and void, as are the subse-quent
proceedings.” ( ¶ 124)
Cameroon Supreme Court,
Ruling No. 4, 7 October 1969: A
civil servant or official who has
committed torture will not be justi-fied
or excused because they were
acting under the orders of a superi-or
unless they were coerced.
( ¶ 127)
Criminal Code, Art. 132: Life
imprisonment if death is caused; or
10 to 20 years’ imprisonment if the
victim loses full or partial use of a
limb, organ or sense. If the victim
is prevented from working, tem-porarily
or permanently, the perpe-trator
is fined and/ or imprisoned to
2 to 10 years. ( ¶ 151)
Code of Criminal Investigation,
Art. 2, ¶ 2: Any person who is a
victim of torture may commence
civil proceedings for compensation;
if the civil party dies, the heirs may
bring the action. ( ¶ 206)
Regulation No. 97/ 01, 4 April
1997: Courts may provide torture
victims who are civil parties in
criminal proceedings against their
perpetrators provisional decisions
concerning costs and expenses
necessitated by emergency care.
( ¶ 210)
“ To circumvent the possible insol-vency
of the official, the victim has
the choice of proceedings against
the official before the judicial court
and proceedings against the author-ity
before the administrative court.”
( ¶ 212)
A10 FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS
COUNTRY DEFINITION LEGISLATION SANCTIONS AVAILABLE
CANADA Criminal Code, § 269.1: Defines
torture as “ any act or omission by
which severe pain or suffering,
whether physical or mental, is in-tentionally
inflicted on a person,
for a purpose including obtaining
from the person or from a third
person information or a statement;
punishing the person for an act that
the person or a third person has
committed or is suspected of hav-ing
committed; and intimidating or
coercing the person or a third per-son;
or for any reason based on
discrimination of any kind, but
does not include any act or omis-sion
arising only from, inherent in
or incidental to lawful sanctions.
( 4th State Report, ¶ 14)
Criminal Code, § 269.1: Crim-inalizes
torture as a specific
offence. ( 4th State Report, ¶ 19)
Canadian Forces Code of Con-duct:
“ Any form of abuse, including
torture, is prohibited.” ( 4th State
Report, ¶ 18)
Criminal Code, § 7( 3.71): Pro-vides
that war crimes and crimes
against humanity are criminal
offences. ( 4th State Report, ¶ 20)
Crimes Against Humanity and
War Crimes Act, § § 4, 6: Crimes
against humanity ( defined as in-cluding
torture) committed both
in and outside of Canada are
indictable offences. ( 4th State
Report, ¶ ¶ 54, 57)
Constitutions of individual pro-vinces
and territories such as Prince
Edward Island, Nova Scotia,
Québec, and Yukon, contain specif-ic
provisions criminalizing torture.
( 4th State Report, ¶ ¶ 229, 241,
286, 422)
Criminal Code, § 269.1: Torture
is punished by a maximum penalty
of 14 years’ imprisonment. ( 4th
State Report, ¶ 378)
Crimes Against Humanity and
War Crimes Act, § 4( 2): Penalty
for persons guilty of committing
genocide, a crime against humanity
or a war crime, is imprisonment for
life, if an intentional killing forms
the basis of the offence, and is liable
to imprisonment for life in any
other case. ( 4th State Report, ¶ 56)
Crimes Against Humanity and
War Crimes Act, § § 30, 32:
“ Recognizes the need to provide
restitution to victims of torture
… provide for the establishment of
a Crimes Against Humanity Fund
… The Attorney General of
Canada would have the discretion
to make payments out of the Fund
in accordance with a request from
the International Criminal Court or
to appropriate beneficiaries, includ-ing
the victims and their families.”
( 4th State Report, ¶ 168)
FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS A11
CHILE Chile uses the CAT definition of
torture. ( ¶ ¶ 27, 54)
Code of Criminal Procedure,
Art. 323: Judges are obligated to
take measures to ensure that
detainees have not been subjected
to or threatened with torture in
order to make a confession. ( ¶ 29)
Penal Code, Art. 150 A:
Criminalizes torture that causes
either physical or mental injury.
( ¶ 55)
Penal Code, Art. 150 A:
Establishes special penalties for
public employees. Public employee
with knowledge of conduct but
failed to prevent or terminate it
when he had the power to do so,
receives penalty reduced by one
degree. Using torture to force vic-tim
to make a confession, state-ment,
or provide information results
in aggravated penalties ranging from
3 to 10 years imprisonment. Torture
causing serious injury to, or the death
of, a detainee results in aggravated
penalties ranging from 5 to 15 years
imprisonment if this result is attrib-utable
to negligence or imprudence
on the part of the public employee.
Penal Code, Art. 150 B: Penalties
for persons who are not public
employees shall range from 61 days
to 3 years imprisonment, or 541 days
to 5 years imprisonment, or 3 years
and 1 day to 10 years imprisonment
depending on the offence commit-ted
punishable under the various
subparagraphs of Art. 150A. ( ¶ 55)
Code of Criminal Procedure,
Art. 84( 2): Penalties for prison
officials found guilty of criminal ill-treatment
include suspension or
temporary retirement, fine, repri-mand,
and dismissal. ( ¶ 97)
A12 FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS
COUNTRY DEFINITION LEGISLATION SANCTIONS AVAILABLE
COLOMBIA Penal Code, Art. 279, Torture:
“ Anyone who subjects another per-son
to severe physical or mental
pain or suffering with the aim of
obtaining information or a confes-sion
from that person or a third
person, punishing that person for
an act he or she has or is suspected
to have committed, or intimidating
or coercing that person for any rea-son
involving any type of discrimi-nation….
Any person who causes
severe physical suffering for pur-poses
other than those described
above shall be liable to the same
punishment…. Pain or suffering
which are caused solely by lawful
punishments or which are the nor-mal
or chance result of such pun-ishments
shall not be considered to
constitute torture.” ( ¶ 121)
Penal Code, Art. 279, Torture:
Criminalizes torture. ( ¶ 121)
Penal Code, Art. 279, Torture:
Penalties of “ between 8 and 15
years’ imprisonment, a fine of 800
to 2,000 times the minimum
monthly wage, and disqualification
from the exercise of public rights
and duties for the same period as
the term of imprisonment.” ( ¶ 121)
FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS A13
Penal Code, Arts. 50- 54: Penalty
for attempt to commit an offence
of torture and also involvement in
the offence as an accomplice or
accessory is reduced by one or two
degrees from the general punish-ment.
( ¶ 56)
COSTA RICA “ The existing Criminal Code of
Costa Rica does not define torture
as such.” ( ¶ 15)
Constitution, Art. 40: “ No one may
be subjected to cruel or degrading
treatment, or to life imprisonment,
or to the penalty of confiscation.
Any statement obtained by means
of force is null and void.” ( ¶ 3)
None listed.
A14 FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS
CROATIA Criminal Code, Art. 176: “ An
official or any other person who,
acting with the encouragement or
the express or tacit approval of an
official person, causes serious bodi-ly
or physical pain to a person with
the purpose of obtaining from this
person or some other person infor-mation
or a confession, or with he
intention to punish this person for
a criminal act committed by this
person herself/ himself or some
other person, or is under suspicion
of having committed a criminal act,
or with purpose of intimidating this
person or to put her/ him under
pressure, or owing to any other rea-son
based on any other form of dis-crimination….”
( ¶ 12)
Constitution, Art. 17, ¶ 3:
Constitutional ban on torture can-not
be avoided even under excep-tional
circumstances.
Criminal Code, Art. 176:
Criminalizes torture and other
cruel, inhuman or degrading treat-ment
or punishment. ( ¶ 54)
Law on the Police Force: “ All
civil servants and employees of the
Ministry of the Interior have a duty
to protect and preserve human life
and dignity and that they may use
only those measures and coercive
means which are specified by law,
and the use of which has the least
damaging effect, in performing
their official duties.” ( ¶ 23)
Criminal Code, Art. 176: Provides
for penalty of 1- 8 years imprison-ment.
( ¶ 12)
Victims of torture have the right to
file administrative complaints, to
appeal to the Attorney- General’s
Office, to file criminal charges with
Attorney General or on their own,
and to receive compensation.
( ¶ ¶ 19, 92- 93)
COUNTRY DEFINITION LEGISLATION SANCTIONS AVAILABLE
CYPRUS None listed. Victims of torture may complain to
the National Institution for the
Protection of Human Rights. ( ¶ 61)
None listed.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
OF CONGO
None listed. Constitution of 15 March 1992,
Art. 16: “ All acts of torture and all
cruel, inhuman, or degrading treat-ment
shall be prohibited.” ( ¶ 20)
None listed.
FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS A15
CZECH REPUBLIC None listed. Act No. 140/ 1961 Coll., the
Penal Code: “ He who shall cause
to another person physical or men-tal
suffering through torture or
other inhuman and cruel treatment
in connection with the exercise of
his powers of a State authority,
local government body, or a court,
shall be punished….” ( ¶ 3)
Penal Code, Art. 259a:
Criminalizes torture. ( ¶ 84)
Penal Code 140/ 1961 Coll.:
Penalty of imprisonment for 6
months to 3 years; 1 to 5 years
imprisonment if act committed as a
public official, together within at
least 2 other persons, or who
repeats the act over a long period
of time; otherwise, 5- 10 years if
grievous bodily harm; if death
caused by act, 8- 15 years. ( ¶ 3)
Act No. 82/ 1998: Victim of tor-ture
may recover damages if torture
is caused by an unlawful decision
by a court, another state authority,
or local government body, or by an
unauthorized official practice.
( ¶ 111)
Victims’ beneficiaries can also get
benefits. ( ¶ 116)
DENMARK Denmark does not define torture.
( 3rd State Report, ¶ 31)
“ The Government is of the opinion
that Denmark fully meets the obli-gations
following from the Conven-tion….
Similarly, the Convention
can be relied on before and is
applied by Danish courts in the in-terpretation
and application of
Danish law…. The Government
thus still finds that the Criminal
Code must be presumed to provide
requisite authority for imposing a
suitably severe penalty in case of
torture, including mental torture.”
( ¶ ¶ 109, 115)
“[ A] n order from a superior or a
public authority cannot be relied
on to justify torture.” ( 3rd State
Report, ¶ 12)
Criminal Code, Section 244:
This provision “ can be invoked in
case of mental torture… [ because]
the offence would normally be an
infringement of the physical in-tegrity
covered by the expression
‘ otherwise attacks another person’s
body’.” ( 3rd State Report, ¶ 34)
Act on Compensation from the
State to Victims of Criminal
Offences: A torture victim will
have a claim for compensation
against the perpetrator “ and, addi-tionally,
the aggrieved party might
receive compensation from the
State if, for instance, the perpetra-tor
is not found or if he or she does
not have enough money to pay the
compensation.” ( 2nd State Report,
¶ 50)
A16 FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS
COUNTRY DEFINITION LEGISLATION SANCTIONS AVAILABLE
ECUADOR Ecuador uses the CAT definition of
torture. ( ¶ 5)
Constitution, Art. 23( 2): “‘ The
following are prohibited: cruel pun-ishment,
torture; all treatment that
is inhuman or degrading, or
involves physical, psychological or
sexual violence or coercion, or the
improper use of genetic material….
Genocide, torture, enforced disap-pearance,
abduction and homicide
for political reasons of belief are
imprescriptible with regard to both
proceedings and penalties. Such
offences may not be the subject of
a pardon or amnesty. In such cases
compliance with the orders of a
superior shall not constitute
exemption from liability.’” ( ¶ 7)
Constitution, Art. 4: Trials for the
most serious offences, including
torture, may be expedited. ( ¶ 15)
Penalties for torture apply to both
the person giving the illegal order
as well as the person executing it.
( ¶ 35)
EGYPT “ The provisions of Egyptian law are
broader and more general than those
of the Convention, since article 1
of the latter defines torture as any
act by which severe pain or suffer-ing
is inflicted, whereas Egyptian law
imposes no prerequisites concern-ing
the degree or extent of pain or
suffering….” ( 3rd State Report, ¶ 49)
“ In order for the offence of torture
to obtain, Egyptian law does not
Penal Code, Art. 126: “ Any public
servant or official who orders, or
participates in, the torture of an
accused person with a view to
inducing the said person to make a
confession shall be punished.” ( 3rd
State Report, ¶ 44)
Penal Code, Art. 282, ¶ 2: “ In all
cases, anyone who unlawfully
arrests a person and threatens to
kill him or subjects him to physical
Egyptian Constitution, Art. 57:
Victims of torture have the right to
fair compensation. ( 3rd State
Report, ¶ ¶ 42( c), 57( c)).
Penal Code, Arts. 126, 282:
Punishment of hard labor or
imprisonment for 3 to 10 years. If
the victim dies, the penalty shall be
that prescribed for premeditated
murder. Punishment of 15 years
hard labor for acts or threats of
FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS A17
stipulate that a specific degree of
severe pain or suffering from torture
should occur or that the torture
should leave marks. As such, the
offence of torture obtains however
slight or negligible the pain may be
and whether or not the torture leaves
marks.” ( 3rd State Report, ¶ 47( c))
“ Any act of torture is a criminal
offence, whoever the author or in-stigator
may be and regardless of
whether or not the victim is left
with any physical, moral or psycho-logical
traces and whether or not a
confession, true or false, is
obtained.” ( ¶ 51)
Egyptian Penal Code: Torture in-volves
an act “ carried out by a
member of a public authority or by
an individual, whether during the
arrest, confinement or imprison-ment
of a person in the legally pre-scribed
circumstances or otherwise.”
( 3rd State Report, ¶ 47( a))
Penal Code, Art. 126: “ Since the
Egyptian Penal Code does not speci-fically
describe or define the acts or
actions which occasion torture, any
act or action which results in phys-ical,
psychological or moral torture
is a punishable act….” ( 3rd State
Report, ¶ 47( b))
torture shall be sentenced to hard
labour.” ( 3rd State Report, ¶ 44)
Egyptian Constitution, Art. 57;
Code of Criminal Procedure,
Art. 259: There is no statute of
limitations on civil or criminal pro-ceedings
regarding constitutional
rights, including proceedings per-taining
to torture. ( 3rd State
Report, ¶ 42( b), ¶ 56; see also ¶
47( d), ¶ 72, ¶ 116)
The order of a superior does not
legitimize torture, nor is it an
excuse or justification. ( ¶ 51)
Rules against torture apply even in
states of emergency. ( ¶ 47)
Egyptian Constitution, Art. 42:
Confessions extracted under tor-ture
or duress, even if they are
true, are deemed null and void.
( ¶ 47( d))
torture carried out by a public ser-vant
or on his orders; life of hard
labor if the torture results in the
death of the victim. ( 3rd State
Report, ¶ ¶ 44, 52)
A18 FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS
COUNTRY DEFINITION LEGISLATION SANCTIONS AVAILABLE
ESTONIA None listed. Constitution, Chapter II, Art.
18: “ No one shall be subjected to
torture or to cruel or degrading
treatment or punishment.” ( ¶ 3)
Code of Criminal Procedure,
Art. 9: No one may be subjected
to torture, cruel or inhuman forms
of treatment. ( ¶ 13)
Criminal Code, Art. 114:
Criminalizes the offence of torture.
( ¶ 37)
Penal Code, Art. 126: “ Torture,
committed by, or on the order of a
public official is a criminal
offence.” ( ¶ 52)
Criminal Code, Art. 176:
Criminalizes torture of people in
custody in penal institutions. ( ¶ 37)
None listed.
FINLAND “ Finnish Penal Code contains no
specific definition of torture nor
separate provisions on the offence
of torture.” ( ¶ 92)
Finland has no law criminalizing
torture. “ All the acts referred to in
the Convention [ CAT] are punish-able
under Finnish law notwith-standing
the fact that there are no
provisions defining the crime of
torture.” ( ¶ 93)
A public official guilty of torture
“ even without the existence of spe-cific
elements of crime or scale of
sentencing in the Penal Code, be
subject to a very severe sentence.
The mere fact that the offender is a
public official would increase the
normal maximum sentence to be
imposed for assault, by two to three
years. Considering that the court
would most likely consider torture
a cruel and therefore aggravated
FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS A19
FRANCE “ French legislation does not con-tain
any definition of torture within
the meaning of the Convention.”
( ¶ 9)
Ministry of Justice Circular of
14 May 1993 on the New Crim-inal
Code: Indicates “ that the pro-visions
of the new Criminal Code
are far wider in scope than those of
the Convention, which concern
only acts committed by a public
official for specified purposes.” ( ¶ 9)
Constitution, Art. 55: “ Treaties or
agreements duly ratified or approved
shall, upon their publication, have
an authority superior to that of laws,
subject, for each agreement or treaty,
to its application by the other party.”
( ¶ 2)
Criminal Code, Arts. 222- 1 &
222 3: Criminalizes acts of torture
committed by officials. ( ¶ 14)
Criminal Code, Arts. 121.4-
121.7: Provides that attempted tor-ture
and complicity in torture are
punishable in the same way as tor-ture
itself. ( ¶ 55)
Criminal Code, Art. 212- 1:
“‘ Torture and inhuman acts’ may
also count as constituent elements
of a crime against humanity.” ( 56)
Code of Criminal Procedure,
Arts. 689- 1 & 689- 2: Provides
jurisdiction to prosecute and try
anyone accused of committing tor-ture
outside French territory. ( ¶ 10)
Criminal Code, Art. 222- 1: “ The
subjection of persons to torture or
to acts of barbarity shall be punish-able
by 15 years’ rigorous imprison-ment.”
( ¶ ¶ 14, 51)
Criminal Code, Art. 222- 3: “ The
offence referred to in article 222 1
shall be punishable by 20 years’ rig-orous
imprisonment if committed:
In or in connection with the per-formance
of his or her functions
or duties by a person vested with
public authority or a public servant.”
( ¶ ¶ 14, 60)
Criminal Code, Art. 222- 3: The
penalty increases to 30 years’ im-prisonment
if the offense is com-mitted
against a child or results in
mutilation or permanent disability.
( ¶ 60( b))
Criminal Code, Art. 222- 3: The
penalty increases to life imprison-ment
if the act results in death or
is committed in conjunction with
another crime. ( ¶ 60( c)
A20 FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS
assault, the maximum sentence
would be 13 years’ imprisonment.”
( ¶ 94)
COUNTRY DEFINITION LEGISLATION SANCTIONS AVAILABLE
Act No. 99- 929 of 10 November
1999: Criminalizes acts of torture
ascribed to military personnel
( including gendarmes). ( ¶ 16)
“ A state of war cannot be invoked
in France in order to justify tor-ture.”
( ¶ 18)
Amended Decree No. 75- 675 of
28 July 1975, Art. 9: “ Military
personnel are prohibited from ‘ vio-lating
the life, person or personal
dignity of the sick, the wounded or
the shipwrecked or of prisoners or
civilians, in particular through mur-der,
mutilation, cruel treatment or
any form of torture’.” ( ¶ 18)
GEORGIA Criminal Code: Georgia’s defini-tion
of torture is “ generally compat-ible
with the definition given in the
Convention against Torture.” ( ¶ 25)
On Normative Acts Law: Provides
that international agreements and
treaties are normative acts of
Georgia and Art. 1 of the CAT is a
part of Georgian legislation. ( ¶ 25)
Criminal Procedure Code, Art.
12: “ In the conduct of investigative
or court activities the use of threat,
blackmailing, torture, and other
forms of physical or psychological
coercion is prohibited.” ( ¶ 26)
Torture is a punishable offence
under Georgian legislation. ( ¶ 40)
None listed.
FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS A21
GERMANY Germany does not define torture.
“ In the German view, criminal law
must be based on offences whose
elements are as precise and clearly
identifiable as possible. This is why
the Federal Republic of Germany
has refrained from including provi-sions
in general domestic criminal
law which make a very general ref-erence
to torture and other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment which would depend
on the concrete fulfilment of these
undefined legal concepts.” ( ¶ 51)
“ It is true that there is no separate
offence of torture under German
criminal law. However, this is not
necessary, since all the ways of act-ing
which are punishable under
article 4 [ of the CAT] are covered
by penal provisions that already
exist.” In addition, “ all conceivable
cases of torture or other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment are covered by a num-ber
of concrete penal provisions.”
( ¶ ¶ 17, 4)
Basic Law, Art. 1, ¶ ¶ 1- 2: “ The
Federal Republic of Germany has
placed the inviolability of human
dignity and its commitment to
human rights as supreme values at
the peak of its Constitution. Thus
torture is outlawed under the
Constitution as one of the most
serious offences against human dig-nity
conceivable.” ( ¶ 3)
Basic Law, Art. 2, ¶ 2: “ Every per-son
has the right to life and physi-cal
integrity. This constitutional
right applies not only to interference
with physical integrity by the State,
but also, according to the estab-lished
case law of the Federal Con-stitutional
Court, to interference by
means of mental torture, emotional
None listed.
A22 FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS
COUNTRY DEFINITION LEGISLATION SANCTIONS AVAILABLE
cruelty and other such interroga-tion
methods.” ( ¶ 3)
Act to Introduce the Code of
Crimes Against International
Criminal Law: Torture is criminal-ized
as a crime against humanity.
( ¶ ¶ 4, 17)
Act to Introduce the Code of
Crimes Against International
Criminal Law: Provides that
“ cruel or inhuman treatment by
causing substantial physical or
mental harm or suffering, especially
in the form of torture or mutilation,
subject to punishment” is a war
crime. ( ¶ 17)
GREECE Penal Code, Art. 137 A( 2):
Torture is “( a) any systematic inflic-tion
of acute physical pain; ( b) any
systematic infliction of physical
exhaustion endangering the health
of a person; ( c) any systematic in-fliction
of mental suffering, which
could lead to severe physical dam-age;
( d) any illegal use of chemical,
drugs or other natural or artificial
means aiming at bending the vic-tim’s
will.” ( ¶ 230)
Penal Code, Art. 137 A( 1): “ Any
public servant or military officer
whose duties include the prosecu-tion,
the investigation or the exami-nation
of criminal or disciplinary
offences or the execution of penal-ties
or the guarding or the custody
of detainees, shall be punishable by
imprisonment, if he or she subjects
to torture, in the course of the per-formance
of his or her duties, any
person under his or her authority,
with a view: To extorting from him
or her or a third person a confes-sion,
deposition, piece of informa-
Penal Code, Art. 137 D( 4): “[ T] he
victim of any act described in arti-cles
137A and 137B has the right
to claim from the perpetrator of the
act and the State, which are liable
in full, compensation for the dam-ages
he or she suffered, as well as
monetary satisfaction for moral
damages and for pain or suffering
sustained.” ( ¶ 235)
FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS A23
tion or statement, especially that of
repudiation or acceptance of a
political or other ideology; To pun-ishing
him or her; To intimidating
him or her or a third person.”
( ¶ 231)
GUATEMALA Penal Code, Art. 201: “ The
offence of torture is committed by
anyone who, on orders from or with
the authorization, support or acqui-escence
of the State authorities,
intentionally inflicts pain or suffer-ing,
whether physical or mental, on
another person for the purpose of
obtaining from that person or a
third person information or a con-fession
concerning an act he has
committed or by anyone who
attempts to intimidate another per-son
or, by so doing, other persons.
The offence of torture is also com-mitted
by the members of groups
or organized gangs having terrorist,
insurgent or subversive aims or any
other wrongful purpose. The conse-quences
of action taken by a com-petent
authority in the legitimate
exercise of its duty and in order to
safeguard public order shall not be
considered as torture.” ( ¶ 9)
Penal Code, Art. 201:
Criminalizes torture. ( ¶ 9)
Penal Code, Art. 245: “ Any pub-lic
official or employee who orders
the use of undue duress, torture,
degrading punishment, humiliation
or any measures not authorized by
law against a prisoner or detainee
shall be sentenced to from two to
five years’ imprisonment and gener-al
disqualification from office. The
same sentence shall apply to those
who carry out such orders.” ( ¶ 10)
Penal Code, Arts. 201 and 245:
Provides jail terms of up to 30
years for people who are involved
in inflicting torture. ( ¶ ¶ 9,10)
A24 FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS
COUNTRY DEFINITION LEGISLATION SANCTIONS AVAILABLE
HUNGARY Hungary uses the CAT definition
of torture. ( 3rd Report, ¶ 21)
“ As the Convention has been fully
integrated into the Hungarian legal
system, the provisions of the Con-vention
have the legal status of a
sui generis law and consequently
are directly enforceable.” ( 3rd
Report, ¶ 2)
Constitution, Art. 54, ¶ ¶ 1 & 2:
“ No one shall be subject to torture
or to cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment.” ( 3rd
Report, ¶ ¶ 8, 23)
Act No. XXXII of 1993, Art. 2l,
¶ 1 & Act on the Police, Art. 16,
¶ ¶ 1- 3: Convicts may not be “ sub-jected
to torture or to other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment.”
( 3rd Report, ¶ 26)
Act on the Police, Art. 16, ¶ 3:
“ Provides that the policeman shall
not carry out torture, cruel, inhu-man
or degrading treatment and he
is obliged to refuse to obey such an
order of a superior officer.
Furthermore, he is obliged to initi-ate
a legal procedure aimed at
eliminating this act as well as to
have the case investigated.” ( 3rd
Report, ¶ 30)
Criminal Code, Art. 228:
Provides a maximum of eight years'
imprisonment for torture. ( 3rd
Report, ¶ 28)
Penal Code, Sec. 83( 2):
Stipulates that “ the courts in sen-tencing
should apply in general the
median length of legal limits of
imprisonment in most cases -
divergence is allowed only on spe-cial
grounds, including infringe-ment
of the Convention against
Torture.” ( ¶ 37)
FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS A25
ICELAND The term “ torture” is not defined in
the Constitution, nor is it specifi-cally
defined or mentioned in the
General Penal Code. ( ¶ 50)
There is a “ greater danger of being
subjected to torture or inhuman
treatment in cases where the indi-vidual
is held against his will.”
However, “ it was not the case that
torture and inhuman and degrading
treatment were always associated
with the loss of freedom, as cir-cumstances
could apply in which
an individual was subject to the
authority of another or was under
the domination of another individ-ual.
Examples of this could include
the treatment of children in a
school or other institution where
children are looked after, but the
provision could also cover the treat-ment
of children by their parents.”
( ¶ 53)
Act No. 97/ 1995: Differentiates
between torture and degrading
treatment. ( ¶ ¶ 54- 56)
“ There can be no doubt that the
term ‘ torture’ would be interpreted
in accordance with article 1 of the
Convention if it were to be contest-ed
before the courts.” Nevertheless,
Icelandic Constitution ( Act No.
33/ 1944), Art. 68: “ No person
may be subjected to torture or
other inhuman or degrading treat-ment
or punishment.” ( ¶ 50)
None listed.
A26 FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS
COUNTRY DEFINITION LEGISLATION SANCTIONS AVAILABLE
the Icelandic Constitution is
“ somewhat broader” than the CAT
as it is not “ restricted to the view
that torture is something practiced
at the behest of a public servant or
another representative of State
power, but appl[ ies] to all situa-tions.”
( ¶ 58)
INDONESIA Indonesia uses the CAT definition
of torture. ( ¶ 66)
Law No. 39 of 1999 on Human
Rights, Art. 1( 4): “ Torture is any
activity which is undertaken inten-tionally
so as to cause someone
severe pain or suffering, whether
physical or mental, in order to
obtain a confession or information
from that person or a third person,
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 in-flicted
by or at the instigation of or
with the consent or acquiescence
of a public official or other person
acting in an official capacity.” ( ¶ 66)
Art. 25 of MPR Decree No. XVII
of 1998 on Human Rights
– Indonesia’s Charter on Human
Rights: “ Every person has the right
to be free from torture or treatment
that insults human values.” ( ¶ 19)
Law No. 39 of 1999, Art. 4 on
Human Rights: Provides for the
right not to be tortured. ( ¶ 20)
1945 Constitution, 2nd Amend.,
Chapter X on Human Rights,
Art. 28G( 2): Guarantees right to
be free from torture or inhuman or
degrading treatment and the right
to seek asylum in another country.
( ¶ 50)
1945 Constitution, 2nd Amend.,
Chapter X on Human Rights,
Art. 28I: “ The right to life, the
right not to be tortured, the right of
freedom of thought and conscience
… are non- derogable human
rights….” ( ¶ 50)
Government Regulation in lieu
of Law No. 1 of 1999 on Human
Rights Courts, Art. 8: An official
guilty of torture under Art. 4( f)
receives capital punishment, life
imprisonment, imprisonment for
15 years, or at least 3 years. ( ¶ 67)
Penal Code, Art. 53: An attempt
to commit torture is punished if
the act was begun and only remained
incomplete due to intervening
causes; the penalty is one third of
the punishment for the crime; if a
capital offense is attempted, the
punishment is up to fifteen years’
imprisonment. ( ¶ 80)
FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS A27
Law No. 1 of 1999 on Human
Rights Courts, Art. 4 ( f): “ Torture
is an act by a competent authority
causing severe pain or suffering,
whether physical or mental, in
order to obtain a confession or
information from someone or a
third person, or in order to threaten
or coerce that person or a third
person, or for any discriminatory
reason on any grounds.”
Penal Code, Art. 55: Provoking
torture is punishable. ( ¶ 81)
Law No. 31 of 1997 on the
Military Court: Torture commit-ted
by the Indonesian Army is
investigated by military police, pros-ecutors,
and judges. ( ¶ 56)
Government Regulation No. 30
of 1980 on Discipline of Public
Servants: Public servants may not
“ perform any activities that might
be considered as or related to tor-ture.”
( ¶ 71)
ISRAEL None listed. Basic Law: Human Liberty and
Dignity: “[ A] general prohibition of
cruel, inhuman or degrading treat-ment
or punishment, including tor-ture;”
it applies equally to public
and private actors. ( ¶ 5)
To file a complaint against the police,
a victim of torture submits the com-plaint
to the disciplinary depart-ment
of the Personnel Division at
Central Headquarters or to a
branch office. ( ¶ 71)
A victim of torture or his represen-tative
may file complaints with the
Department for Investigation of
Police Personnel of the Ministry of
Justice (“ DIPP”). Or, the DIPP can
initiate its own proceedings against
a police officer. ( ¶ 74)
The IDF investigates each claim of
mistreatment of detainees by mem-bers
of the IDF; punishments include
a court- martial and disciplinary
proceedings. ( ¶ 86)
A28 FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS
COUNTRY DEFINITION LEGISLATION SANCTIONS AVAILABLE
Torture victims can commence a
tort action against the perpetrator
and the State; these claims are
subject to sovereign immunity
unless the State ratified the con-duct.
( ¶ 87)
Penal Law, § 77, 5737- 1977:
Victims may receive damages from
criminal proceedings, which is lim-ited
to a fixed amount, NIS 60,000
( about US $ 17,000). ( ¶ 88)
JORDAN None listed. Jordan has not promulgated laws
that criminalize torture. However,
“ the Constitution, which is the
source of authority that protects
freedoms, makes provision for
numerous means to deal with this
question.” The Penal Code punish-es
the infliction of “ unlawful vio-lence
or harsh treatment with a
view to obtaining an offence or
information” yet does not refer to
this act as torture. ( ¶ ¶ 47, 48)
A torture victim may complain in
civil court, but will not be regarded
as a civil party unless he requests
to be. ( ¶ 122)
A torture victim need not pay legal
fees or costs; the victim may com-mence
a civil action and may pur-sue
his claim after judgment.
( ¶ 123)
There is no criminal law entitling a
torture victim to compensation, but
compensation can be claimed and
awarded at the court’s discretion.
( ¶ 125)
FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS A29
KAZAKHSTAN Commentary on the Criminal
Code, Art. 347: “ Torture is regard-ed
as constituting acts that cause
physical or mental suffering such
as beating, twisting of the wrists,
the use of painful methods, inflict-ing
burns on the body, the pro-longed
and systematic infliction of
pain, etc.” ( ¶ 13)
Commentary on the Criminal
Code, Art. 107: “ Systematic or
brutal violence involving torture
covers cases when, in order to
cause physical or mental suffering,
particularly sophisticated methods
are employed to affect the human
body. These include the use of
electric shocks, red hot irons, fire,
etc.” ( ¶ 13)
Criminal Code, Art. 107: Private
individuals who are not public offi-cials
using torture in order to commit
an unlawful act are held criminally
responsible for their acts. ( ¶ 14)
Art. 4, ¶ 3, of the Constitution:
“‘ International treaties ratified by
the Republic shall have priority
over its laws and be directly imple-mented
except in cases when the
application of an international
treaty requires the promulgation of
a law.’ On the basis of these provi-sions,
the definition of the term
torture given in the Constitution
can be officially used for purposes
of law enforcement.” ( ¶ 13)
Criminal Code: Contains no pro-visions
that specifically establish
responsibility for torture. However,
it does provide for punishment,
including substantial imprisoned
terms, for various types of offenses
that fall under the torture defini-tion
of Commentary on the
Criminal Code and the
Convention. ( ¶ 41)
Citizens may appeal to the Human
Rights Commission of the Office
of the President, the Office of the
Procurator General, and the
Committee on the Execution of
Criminal Penalties of the Ministry
of Internal Affairs, if they have
been subjected to torture or other
cruel, inhuman or degrading treat-ment
or punishment. ( ¶ 21)
None listed.
A30 FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS
COUNTRY DEFINITION LEGISLATION SANCTIONS AVAILABLE
LATVIA Latvia uses the CAT definition of
torture. ( ¶ 7)
1993 Supreme Court Decision
“ On Application of Criminal
Laws in Cases of Infliction of
Intentional Bodily Injuries”:
“ Torment must be understood to
mean actions that, committed by
the guilty person, being aware of it,
cause particularly strong pain to
another person, physical or moral
suffering ( for example, leaving a
person without food, drink, warmth
for extended periods of time as well
as placing or leaving a person in
other conditions that are hazardous
for health), while torture must be
understood to mean actions that,
committed by the guilty person,
being fully aware of it, are charac-terized
by multiple or prolonged
acts, causing particular pain or suf-fering
to victims ( for example,
whipping with rods, pinching,
influence by thermal factors, prick-ing
with sharp objects, etc).” ( ¶ 6)
Constitution, Art. 89: Forbids tor-ture.
( ¶ 3)
Criminal Law, Art. 74: Crim-inalizes
war crimes that have been
“ manifested by the murder, torture,
robbery, deportation or assignment
to coercive labour of civilians,
hostages and prisoners of war of
the occupied territory….” ( ¶ 11)
Criminal Law, Art. 125: Crim-inalizes
infliction of an intentional
serious bodily injury with the char-acter
of torment or torture. ( ¶ 12)
Criminal Law, Art. 126: Crim-inalizes
infliction of intentional
moderate bodily injury with the
characters of torment or torture. ( ¶ 12)
Criminal Law, Art. 130: Prohibits
“ Intentional Slight Bodily Injury.”
criminalizing “ regular beating that
has the nature of torture or any
other kind of torture, provided
these actions have not had the con-sequences
set out in articles 125
and 126….” ( ¶ 12)
Criminal Law, Art. 74: Life
imprisonment or deprivation of
liberty for 3 to 20 years. ( ¶ 11)
Criminal Law, Art. 125:
Imprisonment for 3- 12 years. ( ¶ 12)
Criminal Law, Art. 126:
Imprisonment for up to 8 years.
( ¶ 12)
Criminal Law, Art. 130:
Imprisonment for up to 3 years, or
custodial arrest, community serv-ice,
or a fine of up to 60 monthly
salaries. ( ¶ 12)
Criminal Law, Art. 338:
Imprisonment for up to 8 years.
( ¶ 13)
FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS A31
Criminal Law, Art. 338: Prohibits
“ Criminal Offenses Committed
during Military Service” prescribing
“ liability for the infliction of inten-tional
moderate bodily injury to a
subordinate as well as of other acts
which have the nature of torture.”
( ¶ 13)
A32 FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS
LITHUANIA None listed. Constitution, Chapter II, Art.
21: “ The person shall be inviolable.
Human dignity shall be protected
by law. It shall be prohibited to tor-ture,
injure, degrade, or maltreat a
person, as well as to establish such
punishments. No person may be
subjected to scientific or medical
testing without his or her knowl-edge
thereof and consent thereto.”
( ¶ 3)
Criminal Code, Art. 111:
Criminalizes intentional serious
bodily harm, infecting with a dis-ease
of causing any other ailment.
Heightened penalty if committed
by “ cruel torturing.” ( ¶ 46)
Criminal Code, Art. 112:
Criminalizes intentional minor
bodily harm, infecting with a dis-ease
or causing any other ailment.
Heightened penalty is committed
by “ cruel torturing.” ( ¶ 47)
Constitution, Art. 30: Guarantees
anyone whose constitutional
rights/ freedoms have been violated
the right to sue. ( ¶ 4)
Criminal Code, Art. 111: Impri-sonment
for term from 5 to 10
years. ( ¶ 46)
Criminal Code, Art. 112: Impri-sonment
for term of up to 5 years.
( ¶ 47)
Criminal Code, Art. 117: Impri-sonment
for a term of up to 6
months or a fine; if a minor, up to
one year or a fine. ( ¶ 48)
COUNTRY DEFINITION LEGISLATION SANCTIONS AVAILABLE
Criminal Code, Art. 117:
Criminalizes battery and cruel tor-turing.
( ¶ 48)
FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS A33
LUXEMBOURG Penal Code, Chapt. V- I, Art.
260- 1: “ Any public official in a
position of authority, any public
servant or any one acting at the
instigation or with the express or
tacit consent of such an individual
who willfully inflicts torture in
such a manner as to cause pain or
acute physical or mental suffering
in order to extract information or
confessions from an individual or
third party; to inflict punishment
for an act which an individual or
third party has either committed or
is suspected of having committed;
to intimidate or put pressure on an
individual or third party; or for any
other reason based on any form of
discrimination whatsoever….” ( ¶ 7)
Penal Code, Chapt. V- 1, Arts.
260- 12 to 260- 4: Directly punish-es
acts of torture. ( ¶ 5( a))
Penal Code, Art. 52: “[ P] rohibits,
inter alia, prison staff from commit-ting
acts of torture or cruel, inhu-man
or degrading treatment of
punishment….” ( ¶ 38)
Penal Code, Art. 438: Includes
physical torture of a detainee as an
aggravating circumstance of a
crime or offense against a person.
( ¶ 5( c))
Penal Code, Arts. 257 & 398-
401: Indirectly punishes torture
under provision relating to offenses
involving abuse of authority and
willful infliction of bodily harm.
( ¶ 5( b))
Code of Pre- Trial Proceedings,
Art. 7- 3: Anyone who has commit-ted
acts of torture outside of
Luxembourg “ against a citizen or
resident of Luxembourg can be
prosecuted and tried in the Grand
Duchy.” ( ¶ 19)
Penal Code, Art. 260- 1: Torture
“ shall be punishable by five to 10
years’ imprisonment.” ( ¶ 7)
Penal Code, Art. 260- 2: “ If the
torture inflicted has resulted in ill-ness
or incapacity for work, the
penalty shall be 10 to 15 years’
imprisonment.” ( ¶ 8)
Penal Code, Art. 260- 3: “ If the
torture has resulted in apparently
incurable illness, permanent inca-pacity
for work, complete loss of
use of an organ or severe mutila-tion,
the penalty shall be 15 to 20
years’ imprisonment.” ( ¶ 8)
Penal Code, Art. 260- 4: “ If the
torture inflicted has caused death,
albeit unintentionally, the penalty
shall be life imprisonment.” ( ¶ 8)
Act ( amended) of 12 March
1984: Victims of certain intention-al
acts of violence such as torture,
when unable to obtain compensa-tion
through other means, are enti-tled
to compensation from the
State of Luxembourg. ( ¶ 59)
Code of Pre- Trial Proceedings, Art.
2 & 3: A victim of torture may
bring a civil suit for compensation
for loss or injury suffered either
before a court hearing the criminal
proceedings or in a separate civil
court. ( ¶ 57)
MONACO None listed. Code of Criminal Procedure,
Art. 8( 2): The perpetrator of tor-ture
may be prosecuted in
Monagesque territory, whether as a
resident or a visitor. ( ¶ 7)
Criminal Code, Arts. 228 & 278:
Imposes penalties for the use of
methods of torture or the commis-sion
of acts of torture. ( ¶ 8)
Criminal Code, Arts. 41 & 42:
Punishes the accomplice of a tor-turer.
( ¶ 25)
Code of Criminal Procedure,
Art. 228: Same punishment as a
person found guilty of murder. ( ¶ 24)
Code of Criminal Procedure,
Art. 278: Maximum fixed- term
prison sentence for false arrest,
threatening prisoner with death, or
subjecting the prisoner to torture.
If the person suffers mutilation,
amputation, or deprivation of the
use of a limb, blindness, loss of an
eye or some other serious and per-manent
disability, the punishment
is life imprisonment. ( ¶ 24)
A34 FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS
MOROCCO Morocco uses the CAT definition
of torture. ( ¶ 40)
“ Although this [ Penal] Code does
not provide for classifying torture,
as defined in article 1 of the
Convention, as a crime, several of
its provisions permit the punish-ment
of acts of torture ( arts. 225 to
232, 259 and 436 to 440).” ( ¶ 40)
Victims of torture may complain to
the Advisory Council on Human
Rights and use the courts. ( ¶ 111)
Penal Code, Art. 400: One month
to one year imprisonment and/ or a
fine. Involving premeditation, felo-nious
intent, or a weapon: six
months to two years imprisonment
and a fine. ( ¶ 41)
COUNTRY DEFINITION LEGISLATION SANCTIONS AVAILABLE
Penal Code, Art. 400: Torture is a
minor offense if the victim experi-ences
no unfitness for work or
unfitness of less than 20 days.
( ¶ 41)
Penal Code, Art. 401: Torture is a
correctional offense if the victim
experiences unfitness for work of
more than 20 days. ( ¶ 41)
Penal Code, Art. 402: Torture is a
crime if the victim experiences
mutilation or any permanent dis-ability.
( ¶ 41)
Penal Code, Art. 403: Torture is a
crime if the victim dies. ( ¶ 41)
Penal Code, Art. 401: One to
three years imprisonment and a
fine. Involving premeditation, felo-nious
intent, or a weapon: two to
five years imprisonment and a fine.
( ¶ 41)
Penal Code, Art. 402: Five to 10
years imprisonment. Involving pre-meditation,
felonious intent, or a
weapon: ten to 20 years imprison-ment.
( ¶ 41)
Penal Code, Art. 403: Ten to 20
years imprisonment. Involving pre-meditation,
felonious intent, or a
weapon: life imprisonment. ( ¶ 41)
“ The law does not stipulate a spe-cific
compensation mechanism for
acts of torture. If such acts are
proved, the victim may obtain com-pensation
for material and moral
damage suffered, by recourse to
the rules on civil liability. ( ¶ 114)
NEPAL Compensation Relating to
Torture Act, § 2( a): “ Defines tor-ture
as ‘ any act which causes tor-ture,
whether physical or mental,
inflicted upon a person who is in
detention for investigation, awaiting
trial or for any other reason and
this term includes cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment that person
Constitution, Art. 14( 4): “ No per-son
who is detained during investi-gation
or for trial or for any other
reason shall be subjected to physi-cal
or mental torture, nor shall be
given any cruel, inhuman or degrad-ing
treatment. Any person so treat-ed
shall be compensated in a man-ner
as determined by law.” ( ¶ 23)
Compensation Relating to
Torture Act: Provides financial
compensation and free medical
treatment for victims of torture.
( ¶ 16)
Compensation Relating to Tor-ture
Act, § 6: If a government offi-cial
commits torture, the torturer
FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS A35
is subjected to.’ This definition is
not as wide as that required by arti-cle
1 of the Convention, in the
sense that it only includes the
cases of torture while in custody or
in detention. However, as men-tioned
earlier, the Nepal Treaty
Act, 1991 has clearly stated that
international conventions to which
Nepal is a party prevail over the
domestic law, if the domestic law is
inconsistent with the conventions.”
( ¶ 22)
“ Acts of torture are not offences
under the criminal law of the
Kingdom of Nepal.” ( ¶ 66)
Human Right Commission Act:
Authorizes the National Human
Rights Commission to investigate,
inquire into and take action regard-ing
violations of human rights,
including torture. ( ¶ 15)
Military Act & Police Act:
Provide for actions to be taken in
protecting human rights, including
protection from torture. ( ¶ 15)
Evidence Act, § 9: Statements
obtained through torture may not
be used as evidence in court. ( ¶ 120)
and/ or State will compensate the
victim up to 100,000 rupees. The
compensation amount is assessed
in accordance with the gravity of
the torture. In case of the death of
the victim, the nearest kin is com-pensated.
Also, the court may order
departmental action against the tor-turer.
( ¶ ¶ 109, 113)
NETHERLANDS Act of 29 September 1988
( Bulletin of Acts and Decrees
478): Defines torture as “ an
‘ assault for the purpose of obtaining
information or a confession, pun-ishing
a person, intimidating him or
another person, or forcing him or
another person to perform certain
acts or to allow them to be per-formed
or out of contempt for that
person’s right to be treated as an
equal human being’.” ( 2nd Report,
¶ 24)
Act of 29 September 1988 ( Bulle-tin
of Acts and Decrees 478):
Criminalizes torture. ( 2nd Report,
¶ 24)
Act of 29 September 1988 ( Bull-etin
of Acts and Decrees 478), §
3: Provides that an order from a
superior officer or a public authori-ty
is not a justification for torture
( an exception to the general Crim-inal
Code). However, it does not
exclude the possibility of raising
the defense of force majeure. ( 2nd
Report, ¶ ¶ 33- 34)
None listed.
A36 FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS
COUNTRY DEFINITION LEGISLATION SANCTIONS AVAILABLE
“ If a police officer subjects some-one
to physical or mental abuse
with the aim of obtaining informa-tion
or a confession, of punishing
him, of intimidating him or some-one
else, or of forcing him to do or
omit to do something, this is classi-fied
as torture.” ( ¶ 20)
NEW ZEALAND New Zealand uses the CAT defini-tion
of torture. ( ¶ 6)
Crimes of Torture Act of 1989:
Criminalizes torture.
International Crimes and
International Court Act:
Expressly prohibits torture. “ The
Act gives New Zealand courts uni-versal
jurisdiction over these
crimes, allowing for prosecution in
New Zealand regardless of where
the offending might occur.” ( ¶ 11)
Children, Young Persons and
their Families ( Residential Care
Regulations of 1996: “ Specifically
prohibit torture, cruelty, and inhu-man,
humiliating or degrading dis-cipline
and treatment.” ( ¶ 25)
Crimes of Torture Act of 1989:
Penalties for these offenses are
greater than 12 months’ imprison-ment.
( ¶ 12)
Crimes of Torture Act of 1989,
Sect. 3: “ The offences of torture
… attract maximum penalties of 14
and 10 years’ imprisonment, respec-tively.”
( 2nd State Report, ¶ 31)
Crimes of Torture Act of 1989,
Sect. 5: “ Allows the Attorney-
General discretion to grant the vic-tim
compensation from the Crown.
This compensation is possible
regardless of whether the Crown
was responsible for the acts com-mitted
or not.” ( 2nd State Report,
¶ 37)
International Crimes and
International Court Act: These
offenses have a maximum penalty
of life imprisonment. ( ¶ 11)
FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS A37
Simpson v. the Attorney- General
( Ct. of Appeals): A person whose
rights were breached by a public
servant may take a court action
against the Crown for monetary
compensation rather than relying
on the Attorney General. The
courts may “ directly award com-pensation
to persons who have suf-fered
torture or abuse at the hands
of a public servant.” ( 2nd State
Report, ¶ 37)
NORWAY Criminal Procedure Act, Art. 4:
“ Torture is defined as an act caus-ing
severe pain or suffering.” ( 3rd
State Report, ¶ 23)
There is no law criminalizing tor-ture.
Instead, Norway states that
“ acts amounting to torture are
already punishable under several of
the articles of the General Civil
Penal Code.” ( ¶ 75)
Human Rights Act of 21 May
1999, No. 30: Strengthens the
status of human rights in
Norwegian law by incorporating
international conventions into state
law. “[ I] n the event of a conflict,
the incorporated Conventions and
protocols are to prevail over other
statutory law.”( ¶ ¶ 72- 73)
“ Necessary medical treatment will
be provided for victims of torture or
other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment.” ( 3rd
State Report, ¶ 52)
“[ T] he compensation scheme which
ensures that all victims of violent
crimes receive compensation from
the State for economic loss up to a
certain amount is not the only rem-edy,
nor the most relevant, for a
victim of torture. It will only come
into play if the State is not liable as
the employer of the perpetrator.
( 3rd State Report, ¶ 50)
A38 FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS
COUNTRY DEFINITION LEGISLATION SANCTIONS AVAILABLE
REPUBLIC OF KOREA “ The Republic of Korea does not
have a specific definition of torture
in its Criminal Code as is defined
in article 1 of the Convention.”
( ¶ 28)
“ The Republic of Korea is of the
view that provisions contained in
the Criminal Code and relevant
special acts of the Republic of
Korea are sufficient to punish those
who commit torture as defined in
article 1 of the Convention.” ( ¶ 28)
National Human Rights Com-mission
Act, Art. 19: The National
Human Rights Commission must
investigate reported human rights
violations by public officials, in-cluding
torture and other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment. ( ¶ 16)
Supreme Court Judgements 98
DO 3584 & 97 DO 3234: False
confessions obtained as a result of
the use of torture may not be used
as evidence of guilt. ( ¶ 92)
Act on the Restoration of the
Honour and Compensation of
Persons Engaged in the Demo-cratization
Movement: “ Persons
who had devoted themselves to
democratization against authoritari-an
regimes of the past and been
tortured or victimized due to activi-ties
related to the cause can receive
compensation from the govern-ment.”
( ¶ 85)
REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA Criminal Code, Art. 101/ 1:
Moldova uses the CAT definition
of torture. ( ¶ 3)
Ministry of Security Training
Information: “ Harassment is
actions which provoke suffering
such as withholding food, heat,
water, or by placing or abandoning
the victim in dangerous conditions.
Torture is repeated or lasting
actions, which produce persistent
Constitution ¶ 24( 2): “ No one
shall be subjected to torture or to
inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment.” ( ¶ ¶ 2, 21)
Criminal Code, Art. 101/ 1:
Criminalizes torture. ( ¶ 3)
Criminal Code, Art. 95:
Criminalizes acts of “ severe bodily
injury leading to the death of the
victim, caused by torture or sys-
Criminal Code, Art. 101/ 1:
Punishment of deprivation of free-dom
for up to 7 years. ( ¶ 3)
Criminal Code, Art. 95:
Punishment of deprivation of liberty
for 5 to 15 years. ( ¶ 131( b))
Punishment of deprivation of liberty
up to 5 years for any act of inten-tional
bodily injury resulting in per-manent
health damage or consider-
FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS A39
lashing, cutting, burning, etc.).”
( ¶ 208)
tematic injury, even slight, or
inflicted with the purpose of mak-ing
the victim perform his public or
job obligations.” ( ¶ 131( b))
Criminal Code, Art. 185: Torture
is an aggravating circumstance
when combined with the crime of
excessive force or exceeding
authority when they cause “ consid-erable
damage to the public inter-est
or the rights and interest of
physical or legal persons protected
by law.” ( ¶ 272)
Criminal Procedure Code, Art.
6: “ No one shall be subjected to
torture or to inhuman or degrading
treatment during the criminal pro-cedure.”
( ¶ 180)
Code for the Execution of
Criminal Sanctions, Art. 10:
“ Torture, coercive medical meas-ures
or any other acts liable to
damage the convict’s health shall
be prohibited.” ( ¶ ¶ 98, 150)
able loss of work capacity, and the
action has the character of torture.
( ¶ 132)
Criminal Code, Art. 185: When
combined with torture, the punish-ment
is deprivation of liberty for 3
10 years, with deprivation of the
right to hold certain positions or
practice certain activities for up to
5 years. ( ¶ 272)
A40 FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS
COUNTRY DEFINITION LEGISLATION SANCTIONS AVAILABLE
RUSSIAN FEDERATION Torture is not defined in Russian
criminal law; however, the term
appears in several articles, and in
those situations, Russia uses the
CAT definition of torture. ( ¶ 8)
Criminal Code of the Russian
Federation ( CCRF), Art. 117:
Torture is an aggravating circum-stance
to systemic or brutal vio-lence.
( ¶ 10)
CCRF, Art. 302: Torture is an
aggravating circumstance to coer-cion
to give evidence. ( ¶ 40)
CCRF, Art. 69: Torture is not des-ignated
as a general aggravating cir-cumstance,
as it would weaken
individuals’ protection since the
sentence would then be imposed
for a single crime rather than mul-tiple
crimes. ( ¶ 36)
Police Act of the RSFSR: Police
may not use “ torture, violence or
other cruel or degrading treat-ment.”
( ¶ 18)
RSFSR Code of Criminal
Procedure, Arts. 218 & 219:
Reports of torture made by people
in custody must be investigated
within 24 hours, and the procura-tor
must inform the complainant of
his conclusions within 72 hours.
( ¶ 114)
“ Liability is greatly increased for
any crime involving the use of tor-ture.”
( ¶ 35)
CCRF, Art. 117 ¶ 2( e):
Punishment of deprivation of liber-ty
for 3 to 7 years for systematic of
brutal violence committed with the
use of torture. ( ¶ 33)
CCRF, Art. 302 ¶ 2: Punishment
of deprivation of liberty for 2 to 8
years for coercion to give testimony
combined with the use of violence,
bullying, or torture. ( ¶ 33)
FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS A41
SAUDI ARABIA “ With regard to article 1 of the
Convention, concerning the defini-tion
of torture, the prohibited acts
constituting torture, as described
therein, are all designated as crimi-nal
offences in the Islamic sharia
and in the regulations promulgated
in accordance therewith.” ( ¶ 15)
“ Acts of torture were already pro-hibited
in the Kingdom’s judicial
and administrative legislation.”
( ¶ 16)
Royal Decree No. 43 of 29
Dhul- Qa’dah 1377 A. H.:
Prohibits torture. ( ¶ 16( f))
Royal Edict No. 277/ 8 of 22
Safar 1405 A. H.: “ Stipulates that
confessions should result from
thorough and careful investigation
without torture, since torture could
induce a suspect to confess even if
he had not committed the offence
of which he was accused.” ( ¶ 16( f))
Circular No. 50/ 14102 of 23
Safar 1420 A. H.: Calls for the
“ establishment of a standing com-mission
to investigate accusations
concerning the subjection of any
person to torture or other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment during procedures for
the arrest, detention or investiga-tion
of suspects.” ( ¶ 16( g))
Royal Edict No. 3594 of 29
Rabi’ I 1369 A. H., Art. 100:
Stipulates that “ the investigating
officer shall be vigilant and shall
endeavour, by various judicious
means, to ascertain the underlying
None listed.
A42 FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS
COUNTRY DEFINITION LEGISLATION SANCTIONS AVAILABLE
reason for the suspect’s persistence
or silence without resorting to coer-cion
or torture.” ( ¶ 6( f))
SLOVAKIA Penal Code, Sec. 259a: Slovakia
uses the CAT definition of torture.
( ¶ ¶ 68- 70)
Constitution, Art. 16 ¶ 2: “ No
person shall be subjected to torture
or cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment.” ( ¶ 33)
Penal Code, § 259a: “( 1) Any per-son,
who in connection with the
exercise of his powers of the official
of a State authority or local govern-ment
body, causes another person
physical or mental suffering by ill-treatment,
torture or other inhuman
and cruel treatment, shall be
liable….” ( ¶ 69)
Penal Code, Sec. 259a: Torture is
punished by “ a term of imprison-ment
of one to six months, or to a
sentence of the ban on professional
activity.” The punishment for torture
shall be 1 to 5 years imprisonment
if the offender is a public official,
the offence was committed with
two or more persons, or the offense
was committed over a long period
of time. The punishment for torture
shall be 5 to 10 years imprisonment
if the act caused serious bodily
harm. The punishment for torture
shall be 8 to 15 years imprisonment
if the act caused death. ( ¶ 69)
FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS A43
SLOVENIA Slovenia does not have a specific
definition for torture. ( ¶ 7)
There is no central act of substan-tive
criminal law against torture.
( ¶ 7)
Rule on Police Powers, Art. 6,
¶ 2: “‘ The exercising of police pow-ers
may not impose any person to
torture, inhumane or degrading
treatment’.” ( ¶ 15)
None listed.
SPAIN Penal Code, Art. 174: “ A public
authority or official commits tor-ture
if, by abuse of his office and
for the purpose of obtaining a con-fession
or information from any
person or of punishing him for any
act he has committed or is suspect-ed
of having committed, he sub-jects
that person to conditions or
procedures which by their nature,
duration or other circumstances
cause him physical or mental suf-fering,
entail the suppression or
diminution of his faculties of con-science,
discernment or decision-making,
or in any other way
infringe his moral integrity….”
( ¶ 16)
Penal Code, Art. 174:
Criminalizes torture. ( ¶ 16)
Basque Country Police Act, Art.
36: Members of the Basque Police
Force “ shall not inflict, instigate or
condone any act of torture or other
cruel, inhuman or degrading treat-ment,
nor invoke orders from a
superior or special circumstances,
such as the threat of war, a threat
to national security, or any other
public emergency, as a justification
therefor.” ( ¶ 20( d))
Penal Code, Art. 174: “[ The pub-lic
authority or official who is]
guilty of torture shall be liable to a
term of two to six years’ imprison-ment
if the infringement was a
serious one, and a term of one to
three years’ imprisonment if it was
not. In addition to the penalties
mentioned, the penalty of general
disqualification for 8 to 12 years
shall be imposed in all cases ... The
same penalties shall be incurred,
respectively, by authorities or staff
of prisons or centres for the protec-tion
or correction of minors who
commit any of the acts referred to
in the above paragraph against
detainees, inmates or prisoners.”
( ¶ 16)
Penal Code, Art. 176: The above
penalties may be applied to an offi-cial
who allows other people to per-form
the illegal acts.
Penal Code, Art. 177: If the
offenses include “ injury or harm to
the life, physical integrity, health,
sexual liberty or property of the vic-tim
or of a third party,” these
offenses are punished separately.
( ¶ 16)
A44 FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS
COUNTRY DEFINITION LEGISLATION SANCTIONS AVAILABLE
SRI LANKA Act No. 22 of 1994: “‘ Torture
with its grammatical variations and
cognate expressions, means any act
which is done for any of the follow-ing
purposes that is to say: ( i)
Obtaining from such other person
or a third person, any information
or confession; ( ii) Punishing such
other person for any act which he
or a third person has committed, or
is suspected of having committed;
or ( iii) Intimidating or coercing
such other person or a third party;
or ( iv) Done for any reason based
on discrimination, and being in
every case, an act which is done by,
or other person acting in an official
capacity’.” While “ suffering does
not appear in the definition, “ the
expression ‘ causes severe pain
whether physical or mental’ would
necessarily include any suffering
that is caused to any person…. The
judicial interpretation of the term
‘ torture’ would take into account
any suffering, physical or mental,
that any person would be subjected
to.” ( ¶ ¶ 77- 78)
Act No. 22 of 1994: Designates
and defines torture as a specific
crime. ( ¶ 6, ¶ 65)
Ministry of Internal Security
Rules: Provides rules against police
officers held responsible for tor-ture.
( ¶ 8)
Human Rights Commission of
Sri Lanka Act, No. 21 of 1996,
§ § 10 & 11: The Human Rights
Commission is mandated to “ deal
with illegal detention, torture, dis-appearances
and murder and is
responsible for educating the pub-lic
and armed forces on administra-tive
matters that may be necessary
to prevent violations of human
rights and fundamental freedoms.”
( ¶ 108)
Criminal Procedure Code,
§ 17( 4): “‘[ T] he Court may order
the person convicted or against
whom the Court holds the charges
to be proved to pay within such
time or in such instalments [ sic] as
the Court may direct, such sum by
way of compensation to any person
affected by the offence as the
Court shall seem fit’.” Torture is
covered under this provision.
( ¶ ¶ 67, 102)
Criminal Procedure Code: “ In
addition to the imposition of a term
of imprisonment and fine,” a court
can “ grant compensation to the vic-tim
of torture.” ( ¶ 102)
FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS A45
SWEDEN Sweden uses the CAT definition of
torture. ( ¶ 6)
Sweden has not criminalized tor-ture
because it takes the position
that “ all acts of torture as defined
in article 1 of the Convention are
already offenses under Swedish
criminal law.” ( ¶ 26)
None listed.
SWITZERLAND Criminal Code and Military
Criminal Code: “ Swiss criminal
law does not contain any provisions
specifically against torture, it does
cover all aspects of the definition
of torture given in article 1 of the
Convention and fully meets the
stipulations of article 4.” ( ¶ 11)
Criminal Code and Military
Criminal Code: “ Acts constituting
torture or other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment are covered by
special provisions of the Swiss
Criminal Code and Military
Criminal Code, which also apply to
persons who perform administra-tive
functions.” ( ¶ 12)
Criminal Code and Military
Criminal Code: Persons commit-ting
acts of torture “ are liable to
disciplinary sanctions that in some
cases have more profound effects
than criminal penalties ( e. g. dis-missal
on disciplinary grounds) and
may be applied even without a
criminal conviction.” ( ¶ 12)
A46 FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS
TOGO None listed. Constitution of 14 October
1992, Art. 21: “ The human person
is sacred and inviolable. No one may
be subjected to torture or other
forms of cruel, inhuman or degrad-ing
treatment. No one may avoid a
sentence for such violations by
referring to the order of a superior
or a public authority. Any individual
or agent of the State guilty of carry-ing
out such acts either on his own
initiative or under orders shall be
punished in accordance with the
law. Any individual or agent of the
State shall be relieved of the duty
to obey orders when the order in
None listed.
COUNTRY DEFINITION LEGISLATION SANCTIONS AVAILABLE
question is a serious and clear vio-lation
of respect for human rights
and public freedoms.” ( ¶ 67)
Togo is party to a number of inter-national
legal instruments that pro-hibit
torture, all of which may be
invoked before the courts or
administrative authorities, which
may apply them directly. ( ¶ ¶ 42- 43)
Constitution, Art. 152: The
National Human Rights
Commission promotes, protects,
and defends human rights. It deals
with petitions concerning cases of
torture. ( ¶ ¶ 47- 48)
TURKEY None listed. Constitution, Art. 17: “[ N] o one
shall be subjected to torture or ill-treatment;
no one shall be subject-ed
to penalty or treatment incom-patible
with human dignity.” ( ¶ 8)
None listed.
FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS A47
UKRAINE None listed. Constitution, Art. 28: “ Everyone
has the right to respect for his or her
dignity. No one shall be subjected
to torture, cruel, inhuman or de-grading
treatment or punishment.”
( ¶ 31)
As of the date of the latest State
Report, 2000, a bill criminalizing
torture had been submitted but not
yet passed. ( ¶ 38)
Code of Criminal Procedure,
Art. 165- 167: Broadly criminalizes
torture and other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment.
( ¶ 41)
None listed.
UNITED KINGDOM The Criminal Justice Act 1988,
Ch. 33 § 134: “ A public official or
person acting in an official capacity,
whatever his nationality, commits
the offence of torture if in the
United Kingdom or elsewhere he
intentionally inflicts severe pain or
suffering on another in the per-formance
or purported perform-ance
of his official duties.
( 2) A person not falling within sub-section
( 1) above commits the
offence of torture, whatever his
nationality, if—
The Criminal Justice Act 1988,
Ch. 33 § 134: Criminalizes tor-ture.
( ¶ 39)
None listed.
A48 FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS
COUNTRY DEFINITION LEGISLATION SANCTIONS AVAILABLE
( a) in the United Kingdom or else-where
he intentionally inflicts
severe pain or suffering on another
at the instigation or with the con-sent
or acquiescence—
( i) of a public official; or
( ii) of a person acting in an official
capacity; and
( b) the official or other person is
performing or purporting to perform
his official duties when he insti-gates
the commission of the
offence or consents to or acquiesces
in it.
( 3) It is immaterial whether the
pain or suffering is physical or
mental and whether it is caused by
an act or an omission.
( 4) It shall be a defence for a per-son
charged with an offence under
this section in respect of any con-duct
of his to prove that he had
lawful authority, justification or
excuse for that conduct.” ( ¶ 39)
FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS A49
UGANDA None listed. Constitutions ( 1962 & 1967),
Bill of Rights, Art. 12 & 21: No
person should be subjected to tor-ture,
cruel, inhuman or degrading
punishments or other similar treat-ment,
except for the infliction of
any punishment against any person
that was lawful in Uganda immedi-ately
prior to 9 October 1962.
( ¶ 26)
1995 Constitution, Art. 24 and
44: Prohibits torture and describes
torture as non- derogable. ( ¶ 31)
Anti- Terrorism Act 2002: Crim-inalizes
torture by authorized offi-cers.
( ¶ 32)
Anti- Terrorism Act 2002, Sec.
21( e): “ Any authorized officer who
… engages in torture, inhuman and
degrading treatment, illegal deten-tion
or intentionally causes harm or
loss to property, commits an
offence and is liable, on conviction,
to imprisonment not exceeding five
years or a fine not exceeding two
hundred and fifty currency points,
or both.” ( ¶ 32)
UZBEKISTAN Uzbekistan uses the CAT defini-tion
of torture. ( ¶ 7)
Constitution, Art. 26, ¶ 2: “ No
one may be subjected to torture,
violence or other cruel or degrading
treatment.” ( ¶ 8)
Courts Act of 2 September
1993, Art. 9, ¶ 3: “ No one may be
subjected to torture, violence or
other cruel and degrading treat-ment.”
( ¶ 49)
None listed.
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VENEZUELA Decree No. 3,179 of 7 October
1993, Code of Conduct for Law
Enforcement Officials, Art. 24:
“ The term ‘ torture’ means any act
by which pain or suffering, whether
physical or mental, is intentionally
inflicted on a person for purposes
of criminal investigation, as a
means of intimidation, as a person-al
punishment, as a preventive
measure or for any other purpose.
‘ Torture’ also means the use of
methods tending to suppress an
individual’s personality or diminish
his physical or mental capacity,
even without causing physical pain
or mental anguish.” ( ¶ 108)
Constitution, Art. 46: “ Every per-son
is entitled to respect for his or
her physical, mental and moral
integrity. Therefore: 1. No person
may be subjected to cruel, inhu-man
or degrading treatment, tor-ture
or punishment. Any victim of
cruel, inhuman or degrading treat-ment
or torture practised or tolerat-ed
by State officials shall be enti-tled
to rehabilitation.” ( ¶ 68)
Penal Code, Art. 182: “ Any suf-fering,
offences against human dig-nity,
harassment, torture … inflict-ed
on a detained person by his jail-ers
or warders or by anyone who
ordered such acts … shall be pun-ishable….”
( ¶ 149)
Code of Criminal Procedure:
“ Prohibits subjecting the accused
to torture or other cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment.” ( ¶ 36)
Partial Reform of the Prison
Regime Act, Art. 6: “ Prisoners
shall not be subjected to torture or
to any kind of cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment, or to coercive
measures other than those permit-ted
under the law. Any violation of
this provision shall give rise to the
imposition of the sanctions provid-ed
for in the law.” ( ¶ 53)
Penal Code, Art. 182:
Imprisonment for 3 to 6 years.
( ¶ 149)
Penal Code, Art. 182: “ Prison
sentences of between three and six
years shall be imposed if any suf-fering,
offences against human dig-nity,
harassment, torture or physical
or moral attacks are inflicted on a
detained person by his guards or
warders or by anyone ordering such
acts, in violation of the individual
rights recognized in article 60,
paragraph 3, of the Constitution.”
( ¶ 69)
“ Sanctions are provided for in cases
of torture or cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punish-ment;
they are imposed on persons
committing, or attempting to com-mit,
this offence, their accomplices
and anyone failing to report or tol-erating
the offence. Public officials
who inflict, instigate or tolerate any
act of torture will also be punished;
their punishment will be doubled if
the victim’s freedom has been
restricted in any way.” ( ¶ 59)
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Code of Criminal Procedure, Art.
114( 3): Investigating police offi-cials
“… shall not inflict, instigate
or tolerate any act of torture or
other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment, either at
the time of arrest or during the
period of detention.” ( ¶ 69)
Code of Criminal Procedure,
Art. 122( 10): The accused have
the right “ not to be subjected to
torture or other treatment of a cruel
or inhuman nature or that is de-grading
to his personal dignity.”
( ¶ 146( a))
Code of Criminal Procedure, Art.
214: “ No statement that is shown
to have been made as a result of
torture may be submitted as evi-dence
in any proceedings.” ( ¶ 146( b))
Decree No. 3,179 of 7 October
1993, Code of Conduct for Law
Enforcement Officials, Art. 24:
“ No member of the police forces
may inflict, instigate or tolerate any
act of torture or other cruel, inhu-man
or degrading treatment or pun-ishment,
or invoke superior orders
or exceptional circumstances such
as a state of war, state of emergency,
internal disturbance or conflict, the
suspension or restriction of con-
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stitutional guarantees, a threat to
national security, internal political
instability or any other public
emergency as justification for such
acts.” ( ¶ 108)
“ The prohibition of torture is
absolute, i. e. there is no lawful pos-sibility
or circumstance that might
permit, justify or legitimize torture.”
( ¶ 57)
YEMEN None listed. Constitution, Art. 48( b): “ The
practice of physical or mental tor-ture
is prohibited, as is the extrac-tion
of a confession by force during
investigations… Torture and inhu-man
treatment at the time of arrest
or during the period of detention or
imprisonment shall likewise be pro-hibited.”
( ¶ 6)
Constitution, Art. 48( e): “ Physical
or psychological torture at the time
of arrest, or during the period of
detention or imprisonment shall be
deemed a criminal offence that is
not subject to any statute of limita-tions.
Anyone who commits, orders
or participates in such crime shall
be liable to prosecution.” ( ¶ 10)
Code of Criminal Procedure No.
3 of 1994, Art. 6: “ No accused
person shall be subjected to tor-
Penal Code No. 12 of 1994, Art.
166: A penalty of up to 10 years in
prison. This shall be without preju-dice
to the right of the victim to
claim retribution ( qasas), blood
money ( diya) and indemnity for
bodily injury ( arsh).”( ¶ 29)
Penal Code No. 12 of 1994, Art.
249: The penalty for abduction of
another person is up to 10 years’
imprisonment ( increased from 5
years) if it is accompanied or fol-lowed
by torture. This penalty is
“ without prejudice to the right to
claim retribution ( qasas) blood
money ( diya) or indemnity for bodily
injury ( arsh), as appropriate, if such
is warranted by the harm caused.”
( ¶ 33)
FLOERSHEIMER CENTER OCCASIONAL PAPERS A53
ture, inhuman treatment or physi-cal
or psychological harm with a
view to extracting a confession
from him. Any statement which an
accused person or witness is
proved to have made under pres-sure
created by any of the practices
mentioned shall be null and void.”
( ¶ ¶ 7, 38)
Police Corps Act No. 15 of
2000, Art. 9( b): “ They [ i. e. the
police] shall not use physical tor-ture
or psychological pressure
against any person during the tak-ing
of evidence or statements or
the period of detention or impris-onment.”
( ¶ ¶ 8, 54)
Penal Code No. 12 of 1994, Art.
35: In cases where a person was
coerced into committing torture,
neither the person subjected to the
coercer nor the person subjected to
the coercion shall be exonerated of
responsibility. ( ¶ 28)
Penal Code No. 12 of 1994, Art.
166: Criminalizes the use of tor-ture
by public officials in the
course of his duties against an
accused person, witness or expert
in order to extract a confession,
statements, or information pertain-ing
to an offense. ( ¶ 29)
Code of Military Crimes and
Penalties No. 21 of 1998, Art.
21: “ A penalty of up to 10 years’
imprisonment or sanctions com-mensurate
with the results of the
crime.” ( ¶ 45)
Code of Military Crimes and
Penalties No. 21 of 1998, Art.
47: “ A penalty of up to two years’
imprisonment and payment of
compensation…. If the offence
results in the person’s death, the
penalty shall be capital punish-ment.”
( ¶ ¶ 23, 50)
Code of Military Crimes and
Penalties No. 21 of 1998, Art.
53: A penalty of up to 10 years’
imprisonment. “ This shall be with-out
prejudice to the right of the
victim to claim retribution ( qasas),
blood money ( diya) or indemnity for
bodily injury ( arsh).” ( ¶ 52)
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Code of Military Crimes and
Penalties No. 21 of 1998, Art.
21( 2): Torture is considered a war
crime. ( ¶ 45)
Code of Military Crimes and
Penalties No. 21 of 1998, Art.
47: Criminalizes acts by any com-manding
officer who “ subjects a
subordinate to beating, causes him
bodily harm, carries out an act likely
to damage his health, or, for no legal
reason, makes him perform addi-tional
duties, for the purpose of
torturing him or allowing others to
do him harm.” ( ¶ 23, 50)
Code of Military Crimes and
Penalties No. 21 of 1998, Art.
53: Criminalizes the use of torture
in the course of duties imprisonment
in order to extract a confession to a
crime or statements or information
pertaining thereto. ( ¶ 52)
ZAMBIA Torture is not defined under
Zambian law. ( ¶ 14)
Maybin Phiri and another vs. the
Attorney- General: The Court de-fined
torture as “ pain cruelly inflict-ed,
… being sjamboked, stripped
naked, put on a swing while his arms
and legs are handcuffed, blindfold-ed
and electrocuted.” ( ¶ 28)
Constitution, Art. 15: “ A person
shall not be subjected to torture, or
to inhuman or degrading punish-ment
or other like treatment.” This
article is part of the Bill of Rights
and is non- derogable. ( ¶ 8)
Penal Code: Torture has not been
criminalized. ( ¶ 9)
Constitution, Art. 28: Victims of
torture may petition the High
Court for declaratory judgment and
damages. ( ¶ 8)
Victims of torture may directly sue
the Attorney- General for damages.
( ¶ 24)
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The Attorney- General v.
Musonda Samuel Mofya: The
Court stated that “ Torture is so
much to be condemned that dam-ages
for assault and torture should
merely be as four times to the
amount awarded in ordinary cases.”
( ¶ 142)
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