The Human Rights Committee has interpreted Article 10 to mean that detainees may not be “subjected to any hardship or constraint other than that resulting from the deprivation of liberty; respect for the dignity of such persons must be guaranteed under the same conditions as for that of free persons”.56 The Convention against Torture and other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) was adopted by the UN in 1984. Article 1 of the CAT stipulates that: For the purpose of this Convention, the term ÔtortureÕ means 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 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.... The Committee Against Torture, a body of experts charged with monitoring the implementation of the Convention, has recommended that the use of solitary confinement be abolished, particularly during pretrial detention, or at least that it should be strictly and specifically regulated by law. Solitary confinement, when used for punishment, cannot be justified for any reason. The Committee has stated the need to “strictly regulate the use of physical restraints in prisons, (…) juvenile prisons and detention centres for foreigners with a view to further minimizing its use in all establishments.”57 The Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT), to which New Zealand is also a party, is an international human rights treaty designed to strengthen the protection of people deprived of their liberty. The OPCAT does not set out additional standards or create new rights, but assists States to implement their existing obligations at international law to prevent torture and ill-treatment in places where people are deprived of their liberty. It embodies the idea that prevention of ill-treatment in places where people are deprived of their liberty can best be achieved by a system of independent and regular visits that monitor conditions and treatment. OPCAT creates the Sub-Committee on the Prevention of Torture (SPT). The SPT has pointed out that prolonged solitary confinement may amount to an act of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. They recommended that solitary confinement should not be used in the case of 56 Human Rights Committee, General Comment 21, Article 10 (Forty-fourth session, 1992), Compilation of General Comments and General Recommendations Adopted by Human Rights Treaty Bodies, U.N. Doc. HRI/ GEN/1/Rev.1 at 33 (1994) 57 Report of the UN Committee against Torture to the UN General Assembly – 47th/ 48th session, A/67/44, p47 68