Release from APT - The Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT) is pleased to announce its new guide, Torture in International Law: A guide to jurisprudence - published jointly with the Center for Justice and International Law. The publication is available now on the APT website, and also in print form.

Torture is universally prohibited. But just what, exactly, is torture? Is the definition the same worldwide?

What must States do to protect their populations from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment? And how can an individual be held responsible for this heinous crime?

This guide to international jurisprudence on the question of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment gives experts, human rights advocates and others the resource they need to answer these and other questions. The Guide has a global scope, examining jurisprudence from UN bodies, regional human rights systems in Europe, the Americas and Africa, and the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. It provides an overview of the evolving definition of torture, the duties incurred by States, the scope of the prohibition of torture and other forms of ill-treatment, and the extent of individual responsibility for the international crime of torture.

The APT is a Geneva-based international non-governmental organisation working worldwide to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

For more information about this guide, or APT’s other publications and activities, contact:

Association for the Prevention of Torture Route de Ferney 10 P.O. Box 2267 CH 1211 Geneva 2 Switzerland Tel +41 22 919 2170 Fax: +41 22 919 2180 apt@apt.ch www.apt.ch