Chapter 2 • The Major Universal Human Rights Instruments and the Mechanisms for Their Implementation The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment confirms the well-established rule in international law that no circumstances whatever, not even wars or other public emergencies, can justify recourse to torture or other forms of ill-treatment. An order from a superior cannot be invoked as a justification of torture. The Convention is implemented at the international level through: (1) a reporting procedure; (2) the Committee’s special activities under article 20; (3) inter-State communications; and (4) individual communications. 2.7 The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 1979, and its Protocol, 1999 The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 18 December 1979 and entered into force on 3 September 1981. As of 8 April 2002 it had 168 States parties. The Convention establishes an independent expert body, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, to monitor the implementation of the Convention. On 6 October 1999 the General Assembly further adopted, without a vote, an Optional Protocol to the Convention, thereby making it possible for the Committee, inter alia, to receive and consider communications from women or groups of women who consider themselves to be victims of gender discrimination within the jurisdiction of those States that have ratified or acceded to the Protocol. This Protocol entered into force on 22 December 2000, and as of 8 April 2002 had 30 States parties. 2.7.1 The undertakings of the States parties For the purposes of the Convention the term “discrimination against women” means “any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field” (art. 1; emphasis added). The prohibition on discrimination against women is thus not limited to the traditional categories of human rights, but goes beyond them to other fields where discrimination might occur. Furthermore, it is not limited to the public field but also extends to areas of private life. It is noteworthy, however, that “temporary special measures aimed at accelerating de facto equality between men and women shall not be considered discrimination as defined in the present Convention”; however, such measures “shall be discontinued when the objectives of equality of opportunity and treatment have been achieved” (art. 4). 58 Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers