Chapter 8 • International Legal Standards for the Protection of Persons Deprived of Their Liberty 2.3 The notions of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment: definitions and understandings Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights contains no definition of the notions covered thereby, nor did the Human Rights Committee “consider it necessary to draw up a list of prohibited acts or to establish sharp distinctions between the different kinds of punishment or treatment”, since “the distinctions depend on the nature, purpose and severity of the treatment applied”.20 However, it has made clear that “the prohibition in article 7 relates not only to acts that cause physical pain but also to acts that cause mental suffering to the victim” and, moreover, that it covers “excessive chastisement ordered as punishment for a crime or as an educative or disciplinary measure”.21 In one case, however, the Human Rights Committee observed that the assessment of what constitutes inhuman and degrading treatment “depends on all the circumstances of the case, such as the duration and manner of the treatment, its physical or mental effects as well as the sex, age and state of health of the victim”.22 ***** means For the purposes of the Convention against Torture, the term “torture” “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions” (art. 1(1)). Under article 16 of the Convention against Torture, “each State Party shall undertake to prevent ... other acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment which do not amount to torture as defined in article 1, when such acts are committed by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity.” ***** 20 See General Comment No. 20, United Nations Compilation of General Comments, p. 139, para. 4. 21 Ibid., para. 5. 22 Communication No. 265/1987, A. Vuolanne v. Finland (Views adopted on 7 April 1989), in UN doc. GAOR, A/44/40, p. 256, para. 9.2. Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers 323