One of the most important fundamental human rights is the right people have not to be tortured. All human rights documents state that people have the right not to be tortured or subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. These documents make the prevention of these actions a priority for all the states. It is important to give a definition of the words used by the human rights documents now, while some of the other issues will be tackled briefly later in this paper. The definitions are those given and accepted by the international organizations and documents.
Torture is an aggravated, or worse form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
A Cruel Punishment is one designed to inflict suffering unnecessarily. Its definition depends on a wide range of circumstances. For example, it includes, depriving a person of the use of any of his natural senses, such as sight or hearing or of his awareness of place or the passing of time. The striping of someone of their nationality can be considered a cruel punishment as well. Inhuman treatment or punishment must come up to a minimum level of severity to be inhuman.