Convention Against Torture (CAT)
57 Articles

Saudi Crackdown on Dissent Violates Kingdom’s International Legal Obligations
The prosecution of Salman Alodah, a reform-minded Saudi scholar, is particularly emblematic of Saudi Arabia's worrisome pattern of suppressing dissent.

Fear and Loathing on the Border: A First-Hand Look at the Travesty
Far from the loophole-ridden sieve described by the administration, the asylum system we saw was a Kafka-esque labyrinth designed to punish migrants who dare to exercise their…

Top Expert Backgrounder: Children in Immigration Detention — What are the International Norms?
Vice Chair of the United Nations Committee Against Torture, Felice Gaer, writing in her personal capacity.

Citizens to the UN: Investigate Our “Torture Chambers in the Sky”
On behalf of the North Carolina Commission of Inquiry on Torture (NCCIT), a citizen-initiated truth panel, we just submitted a 35-page communication to 10 U.N. Special Rapporteurs…

The Torture of Forcibly Separating Children from their Parents
A detailed analysis of why the family separation policy amounts to government-sanctioned torture.

“Zero Tolerance” and the Detention of Children: Torture under International Law
The Trump administration will continue to run afoul of refugee and human rights law unless and until it stops criminalizing refugees and ends the unjustified detention of children.

Syria, J’Accuse! Syrian State Responsibility for War Crimes
So far, achieving any measure of accountability for the grave international crimes being committed in Syria has been elusive, as I’ve outlined before. A draft Security Council…

Trump and Torture
Presidential candidate Donald Trump has made headlines with his campaign promise to revive torture as a US government practice. First, with his signature bluster, Trump declared…

The Special Rapporteur on Torture’s Report on Extraterritoriality Speaks to Migrant Crisis
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan E. Méndez, has issued a new expert’s report (his 17th)—this one on extraterritoriality. (JustSecurity’s extensive…

The Torture Convention & Appendix M of the Army Field Manual on Interrogations
We are on the eve of the release of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s report on the Central Intelligence Agency’s interrogation program. Although this report will…

U.N. Committee Criticizes U.S. Record on Torture, Praises U.S. on Extraterritorial Reach of Treaty
On Friday, the United Nations Committee against Torture released its report (full text) on U.S. compliance with the Convention Against Torture. The Committee’s review included…

What is the Remedy for American Torture?
Asst. Sec. of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Tom Malinowski stated to the UN Committee on Torture two weeks ago that: A little more than ten years ago, our government…