Preventing Torture A Study of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

by Evans, Malcolm D.; Morgan, Rod

• ISBN13: 9780198262572
• ISBN10: 0198262574
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-01-14
• Publisher: Clarendon Press

Summary

This pathbreaking documentary and empirical study considers in detail the work of the latest actor on the international stage attempting to prevent torture. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the CPT), established in 1989, represents a new phase in international human rights intervention. The authors, an international lawyer and a criminologist, bring their different analytical perspectives to bear on this innovative human rights mechanism.

Author Biography

Malcolm Evans is Reader in International Law at the University of Bristol.
Rod Morgan is Professor of Criminal Justice and Director of the Centre for Criminal Justice at the University of Bristol.

Table of Contents

Table of Cases	xviii	(4)
Table of Principal Treaties, Declarations, Codes of Conduct, and other International Instruments	xxii	(4)
A Note on the Citation of CPT Documents	xxvi	(1)
List of Tables	xxvii	(1)
Abbreviations	xxviii
1 The Decline and Re-emergence of Torture	1	(25)
1 Torture in Ancient Times	1	(2)
2 Torture in the Roman-Canonical Tradition	3	(4)
3 The Enlightenment and the Emergence of the Modern State	7	(6)
4 Torture in the Twentieth Century: Re-emergence and Explanation	13	(8)
5 Explaining Contemporary Torture	21	(5)
2 Torture and the Liberal Democratic State: Three Modern Case Studies	26	(35)
1 Algeria 1954-62	27	(5)
2 Northern Ireland and the `Troubles' 1963-94	32	(9)
3 Israel	41	(11)
4 Conclusions: Classical and Contemporary Torture	52	(9)
3 The Prohibition of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment	61	(45)
1 The Web of Prohibition: an Overview	61	(8)
2 Article 3 of the ECHR: Drafting the Text	69	(4)
3 Understanding Article 3 of the ECHR: 'Three in One' or `One in Three'?	73	(6)
4 The Thresholds of Suffering in the Jurisprudence of the ECHR	79	(19)
5 Article 3 and Ill-Treatment in Detention	98	(8)
4 The Origins and Drafting of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment	106	(36)
1 Gautier and the Swiss Committee Against Torture	106	(6)
2 The Council of Europe	112	(5)
3 Drafting the Convention	117	(8)
4 The Perceived Scope of the Convention	125	(3)
5 Restrictions upon the Right of Visit	128	(5)
6 Other Issues	133	(6)
7 Conclusion	139	(3)
5 The CPT: Membership, Back-up Services, and Modus Operandi	142	(72)
1 The People Involved	143	(21)
2 The Organization of Visits	164	(27)
3 Conducting Visits	191	(5)
4 The CPT and the Mass Media	196	(2)
5 Reporting on Visits	198	(5)
6 Dialogue Conducted Following Visits	203	(11)
6 Findings of Ill-Treatment	214	(43)
1 CPT Reports: The Political Reality	214	(2)
2 Establishing Ill-Treatment	216	(6)
3 Physical Ill-Treatment in Police Custody: The Allegation and Risk Continua	222	(8)
4 Physical Ill-Treatment in Non-Police Settings	230	(3)
5 The Use of Terms: The Torture Threshold	233	(8)
6 The Use of Terms: Inhuman and Degrading Treatment	241	(6)
7 Some Specific Problems	247	(6)
8 Conclusions Regarding the CPT's Findings and Use of the Terms `Torture' and `Inhuman or Degrading'	253	(4)
7 Police Custody: Procedural Safeguards	257	(38)
1 The Principal Safeguards	257	(28)
2 Other Procedural Safeguards	285	(10)
8 Conditions of Detention	295	(21)
1 Methodological Issues	295	(9)
2 The Standards Applied: Police Custody	304	(3)
3 The Standards Applied: Imprisonment	307	(9)
9 Current Assessment and Future Prospects	316	(67)
1 Custodial Ill-treatment and Accountability in Contemporary Europe: the Need for the CPT	316	(18)
2 The ECPT: An Operational Assessment	334	(18)
3 Perceptions of the CPT	352	(10)
4 The Future Operations of the CPT	362	(18)
5 Conclusion	380	(3)
Appendix 1: Texts	383	(11)
A. The European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment	383	(6)
B. Protocol No 1	389	(2)
C. Protocol No 2	391	(3)
Appendix 2: Explanatory Report	394	(15)
Appendix 3: Rules of Procedure	409	(13)
Appendix 4: Tables of Signatures and Ratifications	422	(4)
A. European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment	422	(1)
B. Protocol No 1	423	(1)
C. Protocol No 2	424	(2)
Appendix 5: Lists of CPT Visits and of Resulting Reports and Responses, 1990-97	426	(7)
A. In Alphabetical Order	426	(3)
B. In Date Order	429	(4)
Appendix 6: CPT Membership	433	(3)
Members of the CPT as at 31 December 1997	433	(3)
B. List of Past and Present Members and their Areas of Expertise	434	(2)
Appendix 7: CPT Statements of Standards	436	(18)
A. Some Substantive Issues: Police Custody and Imprisonment	436	(6)
B. Health Care Services in Prisons	442	(8)
C. Foreign Nationals Detained under Aliens Legislation	450	(4)
Appendix 8: CPT Document Citation	454	(4)
A. Table of CPT Visits, Reports, and State Responses	454	(3)
B. CPT General Reports	457	(1)
Bibliography	458	(11)
Index	469