[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 22, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 22CFR95.1]

[Page 388-389]
 
                       TITLE 22--FOREIGN RELATIONS
 
                     CHAPTER I--DEPARTMENT OF STATE
 
PART 95_IMPLEMENTATION OF TORTURE CONVENTION IN EXTRADITION CASES--Table of 
 
Sec.  95.1  Definitions.

    (a) Convention means the United Nations Convention Against Torture 
and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 
done at New York on December 10, 1984, entered into force for the United 
States on November 10, 1994. Definitions provided below in paragraphs 
(b) and (c) of this section reflect the language of the Convention and 
understandings set forth in the United States instrument of ratification 
to the Convention.
    (b) Torture means:
    (1) 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 a third person information or a confession, 
punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is 
suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him 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. It does not include pain or suffering 
arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.
    (2) In order to constitute torture, an act must be specifically 
intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering and that 
mental pain or suffering refers to 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 senses or personality.
    (3) Noncompliance with applicable legal procedural standards does 
not per se constitute torture.
    (4) This definition of torture applies only to acts directed against 
persons in the offender's custody or physical control.
    (5) The term ``acquiescence'' as used in this definition 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.
    (6) The term ``lawful sanctions'' as used in this definition 
includes judicially imposed sanctions and other enforcement actions 
authorized by law, provided that such sanctions or actions were not 
adopted in order to defeat the object and purpose of the Convention to 
prohibit torture.
    (7) Torture is an extreme form of cruel and inhuman treatment and 
does not include lesser forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment 
or punishment.
    (c) Where there are substantial grounds for believing that [a 
fugitive] would be in danger of being subjected to torture means if it 
is more likely than not that the fugitive would be tortured.
    (d) Secretary means Secretary of State and includes, for purposes of 
this

[[Page 389]]

rule, the Deputy Secretary of State, by delegation.