REPORT ON THE ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION (RTD) ON THE CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT (CAT) DATE: 17TH NOVEMBER 2011 VENUE: MULTAQAM HALL, MAJU JUNCTION FACILITATORS: i) DR SILVIA CASALE ii) PROF. DATUK DR KHAW LAKE TEE 1) SESSION 1 : UNDERSTANDING THE CAT (facilitated by Dr. Silvia Casale) 1.1) The Scope and Application of the CAT State members to the United Nations have existing obligations under the international law to prohibit and prevent torture and inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, whether or not a country has ratified the CAT. No state can evade the responsibility to eliminate torture. The prohibition of torture is not a new concept but it is a fundamental part and one of the key principles of international law. This can be illustrated in the case where the House of Lords in A (FC) and others (FC) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (2004), stated that: “the international prohibition of the use of torture enjoys the enhanced status of a jus cogens or peremptory norm of general international law”. The European Court of Human Rights in Soering v United Kingdom (1989) 11 EHRR 439, described the prohibition against torture as “one of the fundamental values of democratic societies”. The prohibition of torture is also embodied in the UN Charter and article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states, “no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. 1.2) The CAT as an International Human Rights Instrument Article 2(1) of the CAT states: 4