BLIND EYE'Zzzz!!!! WHERE RRRR Y'ALLL??????? THREAT 2 HUMANITY GRRRRRRWWWLLLL!!

Article 1: Torture is "severe pain or suffering".^[55] The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) influences discussions on this area of international law. See the section Other conventions for more details on the ECHR ruling.

Article 2: There are "no exceptional circumstances whatsoever" where a state can use torture and not break its treaty obligations".^[56]

Article 16: Obliges signatories to prevent "acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment", in "any territory under its jurisdiction".

As of May 23, 2014, 155 states are parties to the Convention against Torture.

Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

Map of the world with the states parties to the International Criminal Court (as of May 2013) shown in green, states that have signed but not ratified the treaty in orange, and non-parties in gray

Main article: International Criminal Court

The Rome Statute, which established the International Criminal Court (ICC), provides for criminal prosecution of individuals responsible for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The statute defines torture as "intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, upon a person in the custody or under the control of the accused; except that torture shall not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to, lawful sanctions". Under Article 7 of the statute, torture may be considered a crime against humanity "when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack".^[59] Article 8 of the statute provides that torture may also, under certain circumstances, be prosecuted as a war crime.

Geneva Conventions

The four Geneva Conventions provide protection for people who fall into enemy hands. The conventions do not clearly divide people into combatant and non-combatant roles. The conventions refer to:

• "wounded and sick combatants or non-combatants"
• "civilian persons who take no part in hostilities, and who, while they reside in the zones, perform no work of a military character"^[66]
• "Members of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict as well as members of militias or volunteer corps forming part of such armed forces"
• "Members of other militias and members of other volunteer corps, including those of organized resistance movements"
• "Members of regular armed forces who profess allegiance to a government or an authority not recognized by the Detaining Power"
• "Persons who accompany the armed forces without actually being members thereof, such as civilian members of military aircraft crews, war correspondents, supply contractors, members of labour units or of services responsible for the welfare of the armed forces"
• "Inhabitants of a non-occupied territory, who on the approach of the enemy spontaneously take up arms to resist the invading forces, without having had time to form themselves into regular armed units".^[67]

The first (GCI), second (GCII), third (GCIII), and fourth (GCIV) Geneva Conventions are the four most relevant for the treatment of the victims of conflicts. All treaties states in Article 3, in similar wording, that in a non-international armed conflict, "Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms... shall in all circumstances be treated humanely." The treaty also states that there must not be any "violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture" or "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment".^{[68][69][70][71]}
GCI covers wounded combatants in an international armed conflict. Under Article 12, members of the armed forces who are sick or wounded "shall be respected and protected in all circumstances. They shall be treated humanely and cared for by the Party to the conflict in whose power they may be, without any adverse distinction founded on sex, race, nationality, religion, political opinions, or any other similar criteria. Any attempts upon their lives, or violence to their persons, shall be strictly prohibited; in particular, they shall not be murdered or exterminated, subjected to torture or to biological experiments".