LEGAL FRAMEWORK
What is torture?
UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
defines in its article 1 the torture as any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or
mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third
person information 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 discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the
instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an
official capacity or at the instigation or with the consent or acquiescence. Such definition does not
include pain or suffering arising only from legal penalties, which are inherent to such penalties or
which are incidental.
Torture is on the first place an intentional act carried out by an act or omission on the part of a
public official or other official person. This offence has a specific purpose - obtaining confessions,
intimidation, coercion, punishment and more.
International law provides restrictions on almost all basic human rights under certain legal
conditions, and the interference with fundamental rights is done at the discretion of the state.
Only the prohibition of torture is absolute - it can not be derogated from or limited in any way.
What is cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment?
In international law there is a definition of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. It is assumed
that when intense physical and mental suffering or pain can not reach the required level of severity
and duration of the offence to qualify as torture, it should be regarded as inhuman or degrading.
Cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment can also be unintentional, unlike torture.
What is the role of the Ombudsman in the prevention of torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatment?
By taking over the functions of the National Preventive Mechanism the Ombudsman has received a
mandate for continuous monitoring of facilities where persons are deprived of liberty, or where
persons are detained or accommodated as a result of an act of a public authority or with its
consent and which facilities they can not leave at their own will.
This range of areas has broad dimensions, and include: prisons, prison dormitories (PD), detention
facilities, facilities for a 24-hour detention in police stations, facilities for detention of foreigners,
psychiatric hospitals and wards, homes for children and adults with disabilities, homes for children
deprived of parental care, homes for people with mental disorders, dementia and mental
retardation – i.e. all facilities where the free movement right is restricted. As NPM the Ombudsman
is entitled to:
1. access without notice at any time all detention facilities and their installations and objects;
3 Annual Report of the National Preventive Mechanism |
OMBUDSMAN OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA