Our global network of contributors to the AI & Human Rights Index is currently writing these articles and glossary entries. This particular page is currently in the recruitment and research stage. Please return later to see where this page is in the editorial workflow. Thank you! We look forward to learning with and from you.

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[Insert statement of urgency and significance for why this right relates to AI.]

Sectors #

The contributors of the AI & Human Rights Index have identified the following sectors as responsible for both using AI to protect and advance this human right.

• DEF: Defense and Military
• LAW: Legal and Law Enforcement
• GOV: Government and Public Sector
• REG: Regulatory and Oversight Bodies
• HLTH: Healthcare and Public Health
• BUS: Business Sectors
• INTL: International Organizations and Relations
• TECH: Technology and IT
• SOC: Social Services and Housing
• WORK: Employment and Labor

AI’s Potential Violations #

[Insert 300- to 500-word analysis of how AI could violate this human right.]

AI’s Potential Benefits #

[Insert 300- to 500-word analysis of how AI could advance this human right.]

Human Rights Instruments #

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) #

G.A. Res. 217 (III) A, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, U.N. Doc. A/RES/217(III) (Dec. 10, 1948).

Article 5

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) #

G.A. Res. 2200A (XXI), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 999 U.N.T.S. 171 (Dec. 16, 1966)

Article 7

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In particular, no one shall be subjected without his free Consent to medical or scientific experimentation.

Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Being Subjected to Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1975) #

G.A. Res. 3452 (XXX), U.N. Doc. A/10034 (Dec. 9, 1975)

Article 3

No State may permit or tolerate torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Exceptional circumstances such as a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency may not be invoked as a justification of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials (1979) #

G.A. Res. 34/169, U.N. Doc. A/RES/34/169 (Dec. 17, 1979)

Article 5

No law enforcement official may inflict, instigate or tolerate any act of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,* nor may any law enforcement official invoke superior orders or exceptional circumstances such as a state of war or a threat of war, a threat to national Security, internal political instability or any other public emergency as a justification of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

Principles of Medical Ethics (1982) #

G.A. Res. 37/194 (Dec. 18, 1982)

Principle 2

It is a gross contravention of medical ethics… for health personnel, particularly physicians, to engage, actively or passively, in acts which constitute participation in, complicity in, incitement to or attempts to commit torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984) #

G.A. Res. 39/46, Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, U.N. Doc. A/RES/39/46 (Dec. 10, 1984)

In totality.

Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment (1988) #

G.A. Res. 43/173 (Dec. 9, 1988)

Principle 6

No person under any form of detention or imprisonment shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. No circumstance whatever may be invoked as a justification for torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) #

G.A. Res. 44/25, 1577 U.N.T.S. 3 (Nov. 20, 1989)

Article 37

a. No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners (1990) #

G.A. Res. 45/111 (Dec. 14, 1990)

Principle 1

All prisoners shall be treated with the respect due to their inherent Dignity and value as human beings

Principle 6

No prisoner shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (2002) #

G.A. Res. 57/199 (Dec. 18, 2002)

Preamble

Reaffirming that torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment are prohibited and constitute serious violations of human rights.

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) #

G.A. Res. 61/106, 2515 U.N.T.S. 3 (Dec. 13, 2006)

Article 15

1. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In particular, no one shall be subjected without his or her free Consent to medical or scientific experimentation.

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