A/73/207
I. Introduction
1.
The year 2018 marks the seventieth anniversary of the 1948 Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. In the Declaration, which arose in the aftermath of the
Second World War, it is acknowledged that “disregard and contempt for human rights
have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind ” and
that the “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of
all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in
the world”.
2.
Epitomizing this new world order based on human rights and dignity, it is
proclaimed in article 5 of the Declaration that “no one shall be subjected to torture or
to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. Thenceforth, there was to
be an intransgressible barrier to torture and ill-treatment, 1 protecting all human
beings, without exception or discrimination of any kind and regardless of jurisdiction,
territory and nationality.
3.
The universal and absolute prohibition of torture and ill -treatment reflects the
recognition that such abuse dehumanizes not only its victims, but also its perpetrators
and, ultimately, any society in which such practices are knowingly tolerated. Torture
and ill-treatment inflict lasting trauma, cripple all bonds of humanity and seriously
damage entire communities. In its resolution 3452 (XXX), the General Assembly
rightly declared any act of torture or ill-treatment an offence to human dignity and “a
denial of the purposes of the Charter of the United Nations ” (annex, para. 2).
4.
In view of the fundamental importance of the prohibition of torture and ill treatment for the maintenance of international public order and based on broad
stakeholder consultations, the Special Rapporteur, in the present report, takes stock
of what has been achieved over the past seven decades in terms of making it a
practical reality, examines some of the most serious challenges facing its universal
implementation today and offers recommendations on how best to meet those
challenges. To avoid any perception of contextual bias, references to individual State
practice and related jurisprudence is made only in support of points of law and not
points of fact.
II. Achievements
A.
International normative framework
1.
Recognition of the prohibition
5.
Since the international community unequivocally condemned torture and ill treatment in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the legally binding
prohibition of such abuse has been codified in human rights treaties, including the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966 (art. 7), the European
Convention on Human Rights of 1950 (art. 3), the American Convention on Human
Rights of 1969 (art. 5), the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights of 1981
(art. 5), the Arab Charter on Human Rights of 2004 (art. 8), the Convention on the
Rights of the Child of 1989 (art. 37), the International Convention on the Protection
of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families of 1990 (art. 10)
and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of 2006 (art. 15). It is
also reaffirmed in the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration of 2012 (art. 14). The
prohibition of torture and ill-treatment “at any time and in any place whatsoever” has
also been authoritatively recognized to reflect a general principle of law, namely
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1
18-12051
“Ill-treatment” refers to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment other than torture.
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