What is the definition of torture and ill treatment?
International humanitarian law prohibits torture and other forms
of ill treatment at all times and demands that detainees be
treated according to the rules and principles of IHL and other
international standards. The 1984 United Nations Convention
Against Torture (Article 1) provides a definition of torture
that is considered customary. International humanitarian law
(IHL) differs somewhat from this definition in not requiring the
involvement of a person acting in an official capacity as a
condition for an act intended to inflict severe pain or
suffering to be defined as torture. The ICRC uses the broad term
" ill-treatment " to cover both torture and other methods of
abuse prohibited by international law, including inhuman, cruel,
humiliating, and degrading treatment, outrages upon personal
dignity and physical or moral coercion. The legal difference
between torture and other forms of ill treatment lies in the
level of severity of pain or suffering imposed