'Torture - IAC' in document 'Netherlands: International Crimes Act'

Jump to:

RELEVANT SECTIONS OF THE IMPLEMENTING LEGISLATION

§ 1. General provisions
Section 1
1. For the purposes of this Act:
(d) ‘torture’ as referred to in section 4, subsection 1 (f), section 5, subsection 1 (b) and section 6, subsection 1 (a) means the intentional infliction of severe physical or mental pain or suffering upon a person who is in the custody or under the control of the accused, subject to the proviso that the pain or suffering does not result solely from, and is not inherent in or incidental to, lawful sanctions;

§ 1. General provisions
Section 1
1. For the purposes of this Act:
(e) ‘torture’ as referred to in section 8 means the torture as defined in (d) – by or on behalf of a government authority – of a person with a view to extracting information or a confession from him or from a third person, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of committing, or intimidating him or a third person, or coercing him to do or permit something, or for any reason based on discrimination on any ground whatever;

§ 2. Crimes
Section 5
1. Anyone who commits, in the case of an international armed conflict, one of the grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, namely the following acts if committed against persons protected by the said Conventions:
(b) torture (as defined in section 1 (1)(d)) or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments;
shall be liable to life imprisonment or a term of imprisonment not exceeding thirty years or a sixth category fine.

§ 2. Crimes
Section 8
1. Torture committed by a public servant or other person working in the service of the authorities in the course of his duties shall carry a sentence of life imprisonment or a term of imprisonment not exceeding twenty years or a fifth category fine.
2. The following shall be liable to similar sentences:
(a) a public servant or other person working in the service of the authorities who, in the course of his duties and by one of the means referred to in Article 47, paragraph 1 (ii), of the Criminal Code, solicits the commission of torture or intentionally permits another person to commit torture;
(b) a person who commits torture, if this has been solicited or intentionally permitted by a public servant or another person working in the service of the authorities, in the course of his duties and by one of the means referred to in Article 47, paragraph 1 (ii), of the Criminal Code.

RELEVANT ROME STATUTE PROVISIONS

Article 8
War crimes
2. For the purpose of this Statute, "war crimes" means:
(a) Grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, namely, any of the following acts against persons or property protected under the provisions of the relevant Geneva Convention:
(ii) Torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments

ANALYSIS

This provision follows the ICC Statute.

 

The International Crimes Act 2003 adopts the definition of torture as a crime against humanity under Article 7 of the Rome Statute. The definition does not require the act to be committed with a particular purpose. A list of purposes for which the act of torture must be committed under the Rome Statute is found in the Elements of Crimes. The customary definition of torture allows the act to be committed for a number of purposes, which have been outlined by the Red Cross (Jean-Marie Henckaerts and Louise Doswald-Beck, Customary International Humanitarian Law, Vol. 1: Rules, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 317-318). This list of purposes is not exhaustive. Intimidation and coercion are inherent in every form of torture, so these would be punishable even if inflicted for other puposes. (Éric David, Principes de Droit des Conflits Armés, Bruxelles: Bruylant, 2002, p. 681). When committed not as a war crime or crime against humanity, the International Crimes Act 2003 required the act to be committed with one of the listed purposes, and requires the presence of a State official.