Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

A/RES/56/143View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 119a Implementation of human rights instruments, published in 2002.

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’s in this document?

32 operative paragraphs

Condemns all forms of torture, including through intimidation, as described in article 1 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;⁶

⁶Resolution 39/46, annex.

Stresses that all allegations of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment should be promptly and impartially examined by the competent national authority, that those who encourage, order, tolerate or perpetrate acts of torture must be held responsible and severely punished, including the officials in charge of the place of detention at which the prohibited act is found to have taken place, and that national legal systems should ensure that the victims of such acts obtain redress, are awarded fair and adequate compensation and receive appropriate social and medical rehabilitation;

Recalls the Principles on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,⁷ and strongly encourages Governments to reflect upon the Principles as a useful tool in efforts to combat torture;

⁷Resolution 55/89, annex.

Notes with appreciation that one hundred and twenty-six 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 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, in view of the high number of reports not submitted, their obligation to submit reports in accordance with article 19 of the Convention, and invites States parties to incorporate a gender perspective and information concerning children and juveniles when submitting reports to the Committee against Torture;

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;

Calls upon all Governments to take appropriate effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent and prohibit the production, trade, export and use of equipment that is specifically designed to inflict torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment;

Welcomes the work of the Committee, and takes note of the report of the Committee,⁸ submitted in accordance with article 24 of the Convention;

⁸Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-sixth Session, Supplement No. 44 (A/56/44).

Acknowledges the number of reports and communications awaiting consideration by the Committee, and in this regard decides to authorize the Committee to establish a pre-sessional working group composed of four of its members to meet for a five-day session during the week preceding each session of the Committee, and invites the Committee to continue to enhance its methods of work;

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 these purposes;

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

Welcomes the progress made by the open-ended working group of the Commission on Human Rights on 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,⁹ 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;

⁹See A/56/156.

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 of the Commission on Human Rights on violence against women, its causes and consequences, with the aim of 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 Governments to cooperate with and assist the Special Rapporteur in the performance of his or her task, to provide all necessary information requested by the Special Rapporteur, to respond appropriately and expeditiously to the urgent appeals of the Special Rapporteur and to give serious consideration to requests by the Special Rapporteur to visit their countries, and urges them to enter into a constructive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur in following up his or her recommendations;

Reiterates the need for the Special Rapporteur to be able to respond effectively, in particular to urgent appeals, to credible and reliable information that comes before him or her, and invites the Special Rapporteur to continue to seek the views and comments of all concerned, in particular Member States;

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

Stresses the need for the continued regular exchange of views among 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 contributed to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture;

Stresses the importance of the work of the Board of Trustees of the Fund, and appeals to all Governments and organizations to contribute annually to the Fund, preferably by 1 March prior to the annual meeting of the Board, if possible with a substantial increase in the level of contributions, so that consideration may be given to the ever-increasing demand for assistance;

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

Also 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 victims of torture and, in this effort, to make use of all existing possibilities, including the preparation, production and dissemination of information materials;

Further 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 and health-care personnel matters relating to the protection of human rights and the prevention of torture, while bearing 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-eighth session and to the General Assembly at its fifty-seventh session a report on the status of the Convention and a report on the operations of the Fund;

Decides to consider at its fifty-seventh 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.

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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