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U.N. Convention Against Torture (CAT):
Overview and Application to Interrogation Techniques
Summary
The United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) requires signatory parties to take
measures to end torture within their territorial jurisdiction and to criminalize all acts
of torture. Unlike many other international agreements and declarations prohibiting
torture, CAT provides a general definition of the term. CAT generally defines torture
as the infliction of severe physical and/or mental suffering committed under the color
of law. CAT allows for no circumstances or emergencies where torture could be
permitted.
The United States ratified CAT, subject to certain declarations, reservations, and
understandings, including that the treaty was not self-executing and required
implementing legislation to be enforced by U.S. courts. In order to ensure U.S.
compliance with CAT obligations to criminalize all acts of torture, the United States
enacted 18 U.S.C. 2340 and 2340A, which prohibit torture occurring outside the
United States (torture occurring inside the United States was already generally
prohibited under several federal and state statutes criminalizing acts such as assault,
battery, and murder). The applicability and scope of these statutes were the subject
of widely-reported memorandums by the Department of Defense and Department of
Justice in 2002. In late 2004, the Department of Justice released a memorandum
superseding its earlier memo and modifying some of its conclusions.
Assuming for the purposes of discussion that a U.S. body had to review a harsh
interrogation method to determine whether it constituted torture under either CAT
or applicable U.S. law, it might examine international jurisprudence as to whether
certain interrogation methods constituted torture. Although these decisions are not
binding precedent for the United States, they may inform deliberations here.
Congress has approved additional, CAT-referencing guidelines concerning the
treatment of detainees. The Detainee Treatment Act (DTA), which was enacted
pursuant to both the Department of Defense, Emergency Supplemental
Appropriations to Address Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, and Pandemic
Influenza Act, 2006 (P.L. 109-148), and the National Defense Authorization Act for
FY2006 (P.L. 109-163), contained a provision prohibiting the cruel, inhuman and
degrading treatment of persons under custody or control of the United States (this
provision is commonly referred to as the McCain Amendment). The Military
Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA, P.L. 109-366) contained an identical measure and
also required the President to establish administrative rules and procedures
implementing this standard. These Acts are discussed briefly in this report and in
greater detail in CRS Report RS22312, Interrogation of Detainees: Overview of the
McCain Amendment, by Michael John Garcia. In the 110th Congress, the U.S. Troop
Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability
Appropriations Act, 2007 (P.L. 110-28), the Department of Defense Appropriations
Act, 2008 (P.L. 110-116), and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 (P.L. 110-
161), barred the funds they made available from being used to commit torture.
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Garcia, Michael John. U.N. Convention Against Torture (CAT): Overview and Application to Interrogation Techniques, report, January 25, 2008; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc822090/m1/2/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.