[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 8, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2001]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 8CFR208.18]

[Page 203-205]
 
                     TITLE 8--ALIENS AND NATIONALITY
 
CHAPTER I--IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
 
PART 208--PROCEDURES FOR ASYLUM AND WITHHOLDING OF REMOVAL--Table of Contents
 
              Subpart A--Asylum and Withholding of Removal
 
Sec. 208.18  Implementation of the Convention Against Torture.

    (a) Definitions. The definitions in this subsection incorporate the 
definition of torture contained in Article 1 of the Convention Against 
Torture, subject to the reservations, understandings, declarations, and 
provisos contained in the United States Senate resolution of 
ratification of the Convention.
    (1) Torture is defined as any act by which severe pain or suffering, 
whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for 
such purposes as obtaining from him or her or a third person information 
or a confession, punishing him or her for an act he or she or a third 
person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or 
intimidating or coercing him or her or a third person, or for any reason 
based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is 
inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or 
acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official 
capacity.
    (2) Torture is an extreme form of cruel and inhuman treatment and 
does not include lesser forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment 
or punishment that do not amount to torture.
    (3) Torture does not include pain or suffering arising only from, 
inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions. Lawful sanctions include 
judicially imposed sanctions and other enforcement actions authorized by 
law, including the death penalty, but do not include sanctions that 
defeat the object and purpose of the Convention Against Torture to 
prohibit torture.
    (4) In order to constitute torture, mental pain or suffering must be 
prolonged mental harm caused by or resulting from:
    (i) The intentional infliction or threatened infliction of severe 
physical pain or suffering;
    (ii) The administration or application, or threatened administration 
or application, of mind altering substances or other procedures 
calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or the personality;
    (iii) The threat of imminent death; or
    (iv) The threat that another person will imminently be subjected to 
death, severe physical pain or suffering, or the administration or 
application of mind altering substances or other procedures calculated 
to disrupt profoundly the sense or personality.
    (5) In order to constitute torture, an act must be specifically 
intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering. An act 
that results in unanticipated or unintended severity of pain and 
suffering is not torture.
    (6) In order to constitute torture an act must be directed against a 
person in the offender's custody or physical control.
    (7) Acquiescence of a public official requires that the public 
official, prior to the activity constituting torture, have awareness of 
such activity and thereafter breach his or her legal responsibility to 
intervene to prevent such activity.
    (8) Noncompliance with applicable legal procedural standards does 
not per se constitute torture.
    (b) Applicability of Secs. 208.16(c) and 208.17(a)--(1) Aliens in 
proceedings on or after March 22, 1999. An alien who is in exclusion, 
deportation, or removal proceedings on or after March 22, 1999 may apply 
for withholding of removal under Sec. 208.16(c), and, if applicable, may 
be considered for deferral of removal under Sec. 208.17(a).
    (2) Aliens who were ordered removed, or whose removal orders became 
final, before March 22, 1999. An alien under a final order of 
deportation, exclusion, or removal that became final prior to March 22, 
1999 may move to reopen proceedings for the sole purpose of seeking 
protection under Sec. 208.16(c). Such motions shall be governed by 
Secs. 3.23 and 3.2 of this chapter, except that the time and numerical 
limitations on motions to reopen shall not apply and the alien shall not 
be required to demonstrate that the evidence sought to be offered was 
unavailable and could not have been discovered or presented at the 
former hearing. The motion to reopen shall not be granted unless:
    (i) The motion is filed within June 21, 1999; and
    (ii) The evidence sought to be offered establishes a prima facie 
case that the applicant's removal must be withheld or deferred under 
Secs. 208.16(c) or 208.17(a).

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    (3) Aliens who, on March 22, 1999, have requests pending with the 
Service for protection under Article 3 of the Convention Against 
Torture.
    (i) Except as otherwise provided, after March 22, 1999, the Service 
will not:
    (A) Consider, under its pre-regulatory administrative policy to 
ensure compliance with the Convention Against Torture, whether Article 3 
of that Convention prohibits the removal of an alien to a particular 
country, or
    (B) Stay the removal of an alien based on a request filed with the 
Service for protection under Article 3 of that Convention.
    (ii) For each alien who, on or before March 22, 1999, filed a 
request with the Service for protection under Article 3 of the 
Convention Against Torture, and whose request has not been finally 
decided by the Service, the Service shall provide written notice that, 
after March 22, 1999, consideration for protection under Article 3 can 
be obtained only through the provisions of this rule.
    (A) The notice shall inform an alien who is under an order of 
removal issued by EOIR that, in order to seek consideration of a claim 
under Secs. 208.16(c) or 208.17(a), such an alien must file a motion to 
reopen with the immigration court or the Board of Immigration Appeals. 
This notice shall be accompanied by a stay of removal, effective until 
30 days after service of the notice on the alien. A motion to reopen 
filed under this paragraph for the limited purpose of asserting a claim 
under Secs. 208.16(c) or 208.17(a) shall not be subject to the 
requirements for reopening in Secs. 3.2 and 3.23 of this chapter. Such a 
motion shall be granted if it is accompanied by a copy of the notice 
described in paragraph (b)(3)(ii) or by other convincing evidence that 
the alien had a request pending with the Service for protection under 
Article 3 of the Convention Against Torture on March 22, 1999. The 
filing of such a motion shall extend the stay of removal during the 
pendency of the adjudication of this motion.
    (B) The notice shall inform an alien who is under an administrative 
order of removal issued by the Service under section 238(b) of the Act 
or an exclusion, deportation, or removal order reinstated by the Service 
under section 241(a)(5) of the Act that the alien's claim to withholding 
of removal under Sec. 208.16(c) or deferral of removal under 
Sec. 208.17(a) will be considered under Sec. 208.31.
    (C) The notice shall inform an alien who is under an administrative 
order of removal issued by the Service under section 235(c) of the Act 
that the alien's claim to protection under the Convention Against 
Torture will be decided by the Service as provided in Sec. 208.18(d) and 
235.8(b)(4) and will not be considered under the provisions of this part 
relating to consideration or review by an immigration judge, the Board 
of Immigration Appeals, or an asylum officer.
    (4) Aliens whose claims to protection under the Convention Against 
Torture were finally decided by the Service prior to March 22, 1999. 
Sections 208.16(c) and 208.17 (a) and paragraphs (b)(1) through (b)(3) 
of this section do not apply to cases in which, prior to March 22, 1999, 
the Service has made a final administrative determination about the 
applicability of Article 3 of the Convention Against Torture to the case 
of an alien who filed a request with the Service for protection under 
Article 3. If, prior to March 22, 1999, the Service determined that an 
applicant cannot be removed consistent with the Convention Against 
Torture, the alien shall be considered to have been granted withholding 
of removal under Sec. 208.16(c), unless the alien is subject to 
mandatory denial of withholding of removal under Sec. 208.16(d)(2) or 
(d)(3), in which case the alien will be considered to have been granted 
deferral of removal under 208.17(a). If, prior to March 22, 1999, the 
Service determined that an alien can be removed consistent with the 
Convention Against Torture, the alien will be considered to have been 
finally denied withholding of removal under Sec. 208.16(c) and deferral 
of removal under Sec. 208.17(a).
    (c) Diplomatic assurances against torture obtained by the Secretary 
of State. (1) The Secretary of State may forward to the Attorney General 
assurances that the Secretary has obtained from the government of a 
specific country that an alien would not be tortured

[[Page 205]]

there if the alien were removed to that country.
    (2) If the Secretary of State forwards assurances described in 
paragraph (c)(1) of this section to the Attorney General for 
consideration by the Attorney General or her delegates under this 
paragraph, the Attorney General shall determine, in consultation with 
the Secretary of State, whether the assurances are sufficiently reliable 
to allow the alien's removal to that country consistent with Article 3 
of the Convention Against Torture. The Attorney General's authority 
under this paragraph may be exercised by the Deputy Attorney General or 
by the Commissioner, Immigration and Naturalization Service, but may not 
be further delegated.
    (3) Once assurances are provided under paragraph (c)(2) of this 
section, the alien's claim for protection under the Convention Against 
Torture shall not be considered further by an immigration judge, the 
Board of Immigration Appeals, or an asylum officer.
    (d) Cases involving aliens ordered removed under section 235(c) of 
the Act. With respect to an alien terrorist or other alien subject to 
administrative removal under section 235(c) of the Act who requests 
protection under Article 3 of the Convention Against Torture, the 
Service will assess the applicability of Article 3 through the removal 
process to ensure that a removal order will not be executed under 
circumstances that would violate the obligations of the United States 
under Article 3. In such cases, the provisions of Part 208 relating to 
consideration or review by an immigration judge, the Board of 
Immigration Appeals, or an asylum officer shall not apply.
    (e) Judicial review of claims for protection from removal under 
Article 3 of the Convention Against Torture. (1) Pursuant to the 
provisions of section 2242(d) of the Foreign Affairs Reform and 
Restructuring Act of 1998, there shall be no judicial appeal or review 
of any action, decision, or claim raised under the Convention or that 
section, except as part of the review of a final order of removal 
pursuant to section 242 of the Act; provided however, that any appeal or 
petition regarding an action, decision, or claim under the Convention or 
under section 2242 of the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act 
of 1998 shall not be deemed to include or authorize the consideration of 
any administrative order or decision, or portion thereof, the appeal or 
review of which is restricted or prohibited by the Act.
    (2) Except as otherwise expressly provided, nothing in this 
paragraph shall be construed to create a private right of action or to 
authorize the consideration or issuance of administrative or judicial 
relief.

[64 FR 8490, Feb. 19, 1999; 64 FR 13881, Mar. 23, 1999]