TERMS OF REFERENCE At the Eighth Annual Meeting of the APF held in Nepal in February 2004, Forum Councillors decided to formulate a new reference to the ACJ on the primacy of the prevention of torture during detention and requested the secretariat prepare draft terms of reference for the consideration and approval of the APF.2 In July 2004 draft terms of reference were distributed to APF members for comment. The terms of reference adopted by APF members were as follows: The Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions refers to the Advisory Council of Jurists to advise and make recommendations as to international law, instruments and standards relevant to torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment ('ill-treatment'). In particular the Advisory Council of Jurists is asked to consider: (i) how international human rights instruments, standards and mechanisms define 'torture', and other forms of ill-treatment, including with reference to detention, interrogation, medical experimentation and facilities, corporal punishment, gender specific forms and sexual abuse. The Advisory Council of Jurists is asked to develop a list of minimum standards of interrogation in light of the above analysis; (ii) the prohibition on torture and other forms of ill-treatment as a rule of customary international law which is reflected in the jurisprudence of international, regional and national tribunals and the statements of academics and such international bodies as the Human Rights Committee and the Committee against Torture; (iii) whether the prohibition on torture and other forms of ill-treatment can be derogated from in certain circumstances; (iv) the nature and scope of procedural guarantees and other safeguards stipulated by international human rights law aimed at preventing acts of torture and other forms of ill-treatment; 2 ‘Concluding Statement’, Eighth Annual Meeting of the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions, 16-18 February 2004, Kathmandu, Nepal, http://www.asiapacificforum.net/annual_meetings/eighth/concluding.htm 3