ABSTRACT
PROHIBITION AGAINST TORTURE, INHUMAN AND DEGRADING TREATMENT AIMS AND OB ECTIVES The chapter discusses the meaning of torture and the histori cal willingness of people to resort to its use. A variety of examples are discussed to demonstrate that this is no longer the case and that the use of torture is now completely unacceptable to civilised people. The prohibition against torture is global, not merely regional or domestic, although there are variations in how it is actually defined. Torture is not addressed as if it stood alone but in conjunction with other kinds of inhuman treatment. There have been considerable changes in attitudes over time in partic ular with reference to use of physical punishment and the way children should be treated .
