The distinction between torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

Full Abstract

The present article seeks to clarify the distinction between torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The author argues that the decisive criteria for distinguishing torture from CIDT is not, as argued by the European Court of Human Rights and many scholars, the intensity of the pain or suffering inflicted, but the purpose of the conduct and the powerlessness of the victim and that as such the distinction is primarily linked to the question of personal liberty. He concludes that the "scope of application" of CIDT is a relative concept, that outside a situation of detention and similar direct control, the prohibition of CIDT is subject to the proportionality principle. Here, only excessive use of police force constitutes CIDT. In a situation of detention or similar direct control, however, no proportionality test may be applied. Any use of physical or mental force against a detainee with the purpose of humiliation constitutes degrading treatment or punishment and any infliction of severe pain or suffering for a specific purpose as expressed in Art.1 CAT amounts to torture.

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Author information

Author/s: Nowak, Manfred (M); McArthur, Elizabeth (E);

Affiliation: University of Vienna, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights. manfred.nowak(-atsign-)univie.ac.at

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Torture : quarterly journal on rehabilitation of torture victims and prevention of torture (Torture), published in Denmark. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-; vol 16 (issue 3) : pp 147-51

Dates: Created 2007/01/25; Completed 2007/02/21; Revised 2008/01/24;

PMID: 17251647, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Codes of Ethics
Dehumanization
Europe
Female
Human Rights - legislation & jurisprudence

Human Rights - legislation & jurisprudence
Humans
Internationality - legislation & jurisprudence
Male
Torture

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