CAT: A Study on Bangladesh Compliance definition of torture in Article 1 of the CAT has sketched it as an official act. This is a reflection of the problem which the Convention is meant to address, namely, that of torture in which the authorities of a country are themselves involved and in respect of which the machinery of investigation and prosecution might therefore not function normally.13 However, the element of official sanction is stated in very broad terms and extends to officials who take a passive attitude, or who turn a blind eye to torture committed against opponents of the government in power, be it by unofficial groups or by the authorities.14 The Committee against Torture makes it clear that the failure of the State authorities to react to torture amounts to unlawful acquiescence, which falls under the definition of torture.15 Moreover, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, apropos the notion of “with the consent or acquiescence of a public official,” noted that “[under international law, this element of the definition makes the State responsible for acts committed by private individuals which it did not prevent from occurring or, if need be, for which it did not provide appropriate remedies.”16 Therefore, States must be held 13 H J Burgers and H Danelius, The United Nations Convention against Torture: A Handbook on the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Dordrecht, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1988), 120. 14 N Rodley, The Treatment of Prisoner under International Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), 100. 15 CAT/C/29/D/161/2000, Communication No. 161/2000. 16 UN Doc. E/CN 4/2001/66/Ad. 1. 25