Torture: Challenges to Domestic and International Criminal Law

Authors

  • M. Shahrukh Shahnawaz Practising advocate and faculty member at the Department of International Relations, University of Karachi.
  • Qamar Abad Ph.D Course Coordinator at the School of Law, University of Karachi.

Keywords:

International law, international criminal law, universal jurisdiction, torture, excessive force, custodial killing, enforced disappearance, detention camps, rendition

Abstract

The right to freedom from torture is enshrined in human rights and can be interpreted narrowly from being used to collecting evidence to a more broader view of infringing rights and liberties including the right to life and dignity, and cause other crimes such as enforced disappearances and custodial killings. After the end of World War II, torture was the key international crime during the Nuremberg trials and was condemned afterwards in various international conventions, but it continues to be used by states under the pretext of combating terrorism, upholding sovereignty, and protecting the perpetrators. This article attempts to understand the place of torture in the international as well as domestic legal system and how it is used by states, and also to identify and overcome the challenges to universally condemning and discarding the use of torture.

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Published

01-04-2021

Issue

Vol. 74 No. 2-3 (2021): Pakistan Horizon

Section

Articles