Convention Against Torture (CAT)
57 Articles

The Global Reach of the U.S. Position on Torture
The U.S. government’s public pronouncement that the Convention Against Torture (CAT) applies beyond U.S. borders and in situations of armed conflict—its unequivocal “yes”…

Transcript: The US Appearance Before the UN Committee on the Convention Against Torture
Below is a transcript of all national security issues discussed during the US delegation’s appearance before the UN’s Committee on the Convention Against Torture, prepared…

The United States and the Torture Convention, Part I: Extraterritoriality
[Editor’s Note: Just Security is holding a “mini forum” on the change in the U.S. government’s position on the application of the Convention Against Torture beyond U.S.…

U.S. Changes Position on Torture Convention–Accepts Ban on Cruelty Applies Abroad
At a session before the UN Committee Against Torture in Geneva this morning, the Obama administration made a significant shift away from the Bush-era interpretation of the Convention…

Harold Koh’s New “Memo to the President” on the Torture Convention
President Obama must soon decide whether to instruct a US delegation, which will appear before a UN body in Geneva next week, whether to equivocate, reject, or accept that the…

Time to Give the Sleeves From Our Vest and Acknowledge the Extraterritoriality of the Convention Against Torture
As David Luban noted yesterday evening, Charlie Savage of The New York Times reported that the Obama Administration likely plans to continue to espouse Bush-era positions on the…

“Just looking for loopholes…”
…is what W. C. Fields supposedly said when someone found him leafing through the Bible. Apparently some lawyers in the Obama administration are following Fields’s lead,…

Koh on Non-Refoulement
[Editor’s Note: Just Security is holding a “mini forum” on the extraterritorial application of human rights treaties in light of the release of two State Department memos and…

European Court of Human Rights to Torture Victims: Get Lost
In a disappointing decision yesterday (Jones v. United Kingdom), the European Court of Human Rights upheld the immunity of states and state officials from civil suits for torture…