Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment A/RES/80/198 persons, and in this regard recognizing the importance of promptly and impartially investigating as well as employing non‑coercive interviewing techniques and implementing associated legal safeguards to prevent torture and to effectively obtain accurate and reliable information, Recognizing also that the effective implementation of the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment promotes, inter alia, peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, contributes to access to justice for all, builds effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels and contributes to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, 6 Commending the persistent efforts of victims and survivors, civil society organizations, including non‑governmental organizations, as well as national human rights institutions and national preventive mechanisms, and the considerable network of centres for the rehabilitation of victims and survivors of torture, to prevent and combat torture, to alleviate the suffering of victims and survivors of torture and to foster their integration, Deeply concerned that acts which can amount to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including when committed against persons exercising their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association and freedom of expression, persist in all regions of the world in both peacetime and armed conflicts, 1. Condemns all forms of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including through intimidation, which are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever and can thus never be justified, and calls upon all States to implement fully the absolute and non‑derogable prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; 2. Also condemns any action or attempt by States or public officials to legalize, instigate, authorize, consent to or acquiesce in torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment under any circumstances, including on grounds of national security and counter-terrorism or through judicial decisions, and urges States to ensure the accountability of those responsible for all such acts; 3. Stresses that States must neither punish personnel for not obeying orders to commit or conceal acts amounting to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment nor allow pleas of respondeat superior as a criminal defence in cases in which such orders were obeyed; 4. Emphasizes that acts of torture or inhuman treatment are grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, that acts of torture and cruel treatment in armed conflict are serious violations of international humanitarian law and in this regard constitute war crimes, that acts of torture can constitute crimes against humanity and that the perpetrators of all acts of torture must be prosecuted and punished, and in this regard notes the efforts of the International Criminal Court to end impunity by seeking to ensure accountability and punishment of perpetrators of such acts, in accordance with the Rome Statute, bearing in mind its principle of complementarity, and encourages States that have not yet done so to consider ratifying or acceding to the Rome Statute; 5. Also emphasizes that States must take persistent, determined and effective measures to prevent and combat all acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, stresses that all acts of torture must be made offences under national criminal law punishable by appropriate penalties that take _______________ 6 25-20949 See resolution 70/1. 3/11