Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

A/RES/54/156View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 116a Implementation of human rights instruments, published in 2000.

What other versions does this mandate have?

30 versions · 1977–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/80/198

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/RES/80/198	Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment	5,204	90%Compare
2023	A/RES/77/209	Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment	4,963	87%Compare
2020	A/RES/74/143	Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment	4,499	88%Compare
2018	A/RES/72/163	Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment	4,244	85%Compare
2016	A/RES/70/146	Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment	3,870	41%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

35 reports · 2003–2026

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2026	A/HRC/61/27	United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/77/209
2026	A/HRC/61/28	Special Fund Established by the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/77/209
2025	A/80/269	United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/77/209
2024	A/HRC/58/32	Special Fund Established by the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/77/209
2024	A/HRC/58/31	United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/74/143

What subjects does this mandate have?

16 subjects

Advisory Services Human Rights Education Human Rights Violations Inter-Agency Cooperation International Days International Obligations Rehabilitation Reservations and Declarations Resources Allocation Signatures, Accessions, Ratifications Special Rapporteurs Teaching Materials Technical Cooperation Torture and Other Cruel Treatment Torture Prevention Trust Funds

What’s in this document?

29 operative paragraphs

Welcomes the work of the Committee against Torture, and takes note of the report of the Committee,⁹ submitted in accordance with article 24 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;

⁹Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-fourth Session, Supplement No. 44 (A/54/44).

Notes with appreciation that one hundred and eighteen States have become parties to the Convention;

Urges all States that have not yet done so to become parties to the Convention as a matter of priority;

Invites all States ratifying or acceding to the Convention and those States that are parties to the Convention and have not yet done so to consider joining the States parties that have already made the declarations provided for in articles 21 and 22 of the Convention and to consider the possibility of withdrawing their reservations to article 20;

Urges all States parties to the Convention to notify the Secretary-General of their acceptance of the amendments to articles 17 and 18 of the Convention as soon as possible;

Urges States parties to comply strictly with their obligations under the Convention, including their obligation to submit reports in accordance with article 19 of the Convention, in view of the high number of reports not submitted, and invites States parties to incorporate a gender perspective and information concerning children and juveniles when submitting reports to the Committee;

Calls upon the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in conformity with her mandate established in General Assembly resolution 48/141 of 20 December 1993, to continue to provide, at the request of Governments, advisory services for the preparation of national reports to the Committee and for the prevention of torture, as well as technical assistance in the development, production and distribution of teaching material for this purpose;

Urges States parties to take fully into account the conclusions and recommendations made by the Committee after its consideration of their reports;

Emphasizes the obligation of States parties under article 10 of the Convention to ensure education and training for personnel who may be involved in the custody, interrogation or treatment of any individual subjected to any form of arrest, detention or imprisonment;

Stresses, in this context, that States must not punish personnel referred to in paragraph 9 above for not obeying orders to commit or conceal acts amounting to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;

Welcomes the progress made by the inter-sessional open-ended working group of the Commission on Human Rights on the development of a draft optional protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and urges the working group to complete as soon as possible a final text for submission to the General Assembly, through the Economic and Social Council, for consideration and adoption;

Takes note with appreciation of the interim report of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the question of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,¹⁰ describing the overall trends and developments with regard to his mandate, and encourages the Special Rapporteur to continue to include in his recommendations proposals on the prevention and investigation of torture;

¹⁰A/54/426, annex.

Invites the Special Rapporteur to continue to examine questions of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment directed against women, and conditions conducive to such torture, and to make appropriate recommendations for the prevention and redress of gender-specific forms of torture, including rape or any other form of sexual violence, and to exchange views with the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, on its causes and consequences, with a view to enhancing further their effectiveness and mutual cooperation;

Also invites the Special Rapporteur to continue to consider questions relating to the torture of children and conditions conducive to such torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and to make appropriate recommendations for the prevention of such torture;

Calls upon all Governments to cooperate with and to assist the Special Rapporteur in the performance of his task, in particular by supplying all necessary information requested by him, to react appropriately and expeditiously to his urgent appeals and to give serious consideration to his requests to visit their countries, and urges them to enter into a constructive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur with respect to the follow-up to his recommendations;

Approves the methods of work employed by the Special Rapporteur, in particular with regard to urgent appeals, reiterates the need for him to be able to respond effectively to credible and reliable information that comes before him, invites him to continue to seek the views and comments of all concerned, in particular Member States, and expresses its appreciation for the discreet and independent way in which he continues to carry out his work;

Requests the Special Rapporteur to continue to consider including in his report information on the follow-up by Governments to his recommendations, visits and communications, including progress made and problems encountered;

Stresses the need for the continued regular exchange of views between the Committee, the Special Rapporteur and other relevant United Nations mechanisms and bodies, as well as for the pursuance of cooperation with relevant United Nations programmes, notably the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme, with a view to enhancing further their effectiveness and cooperation on issues relating to torture, inter alia, by improving their coordination;

Expresses its gratitude and appreciation to the Governments, organizations and individuals that have already contributed to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture;

Appeals to all Governments and organizations to contribute annually to the Fund, if possible with a substantial increase in the level of contributions, so that consideration may be given to the ever-increasing demand for assistance;

Expresses its appreciation to the Board of Trustees of the Fund for the work it has accomplished;

Requests the Secretary-General to transmit to all Governments the appeals of the General Assembly for contributions to the Fund;

Also requests the Secretary-General to continue to include the Fund on an annual basis among the programmes for which funds are pledged at the United Nations Pledging Conference for Development Activities;

Further requests the Secretary-General to assist the Board of Trustees of the Fund in its appeal for contributions and in its efforts to make better known the existence of the Fund and the financial means currently available to it, as well as in its assessment of the global need for international funding of rehabilitation services for torture victims and, in this effort, to make use of all existing possibilities, including the preparation, production and dissemination of information materials;

Requests the Secretary-General to ensure the provision of adequate staff and facilities for the bodies and mechanisms involved in combating torture and assisting victims of torture, commensurate with the strong support expressed by Member States for combating torture and assisting victims of torture;

Invites donor countries and recipient countries to consider including in their bilateral programmes and projects relating to the training of armed forces, security forces, prison and police personnel, as well as health-care personnel, matters relating to the protection of human rights and the prevention of torture and to keep in mind a gender perspective;

Calls upon all Governments, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and other United Nations bodies and agencies, as well as relevant intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, to commemorate, on 26 June, the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the Commission on Human Rights at its fifty-sixth session and to the General Assembly at its fifty-fifth session a report on the status of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and a report on the operations of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for the Victims of Torture;

Decides to consider at its fifty-fifth session the reports of the Secretary-General, including the report on the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, the report of the Committee against Torture and the interim report of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the question of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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