Organization of American States (1948)

• OAS charter (1948)– Peace and security– Democracy– Poverty reduction

ACHR

• American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR) (1979)– 23 out of 35 OAS members (not ratified by USA&Canada)– Automatic right to individual complaint (individual and collective)

• Inter-American Commission• Domestic remedies• 6 months • Not under review elsewhere

• Inter-American Court(those states who accept its jurisdiction)

Found guilty? Wide range of reparations

Member of the OAS & not a party to the ACHR:RecommendationsFriendly settlementNO COURT!

TORTURE

UNCAT (1984) Definition• severe pain or suffering, whether physical or

mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person;• by or with the consent of a public official;• for obtaining information or a confession,

punishment, intimidation, or discrimination

The ticking bomb

Geneva Conventions (1949)• The first Geneva Convention: wounded and

sick soldiers on the field• The second Geneva Convention: wounded and

sick soldiers at sea• The third Geneva Convention: on the

treatment of (POW) during international armed conflicts.

• The fourth Geneva Convention: on the treatment of civilians during armed conflict

Common Article 3

• refers to ALL armed conflicts, international or within a state:– Persons taking no active part in the hostilities

must be treated humanely. • Sick, wounded, captured, laid down arms ..

– Torture is not allowed

Universal jurisdiction

• Violation of Geneva Conventions = War crimes• Can be judged by any state party• Since 2002, International Criminal Court (ICC)

can prosecute• Any state party to the ICC, UN Security

Council, or the prosecutor of the ICC can refer cases to the ICC.

Understanding torturers

• Blind submission to state authority– Short memory test

• Cognitive dissonance theory

Homework

• Watch part 1 of http://www.torturingdemocracy.org/

• Think «how did the US administration try to reinterpret their treaty obligations on torture»