ABSTRACT
Of all protections against attacks on human dignity that are included in the canon of international human rights law, the prohibition on torture and other cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment (CIDT) or punishment enjoys the broadest consensus among nations and societies. The prohibition of torture is unanimously recognized as a customary international law norm. The jurisdiction of the ICC is premised on the territorial state being "unwilling or unable" to investigate, prosecute, and punish the crime of torture, a principle known as complementarity. The obligation to investigate cases of torture is established in Article 12 of the CAT, and significantly, it also applies to acts that are not torture but amount to CIDT. An important preventive provision is the Exclusionary Rule, which prohibits states from using statements or confessions established to have been obtained under torture in any proceeding against the victim.
