A/RES/63/166 6. Stresses that all allegations of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment must be promptly and impartially examined by the competent domestic authority, and that those who encourage, order, tolerate or perpetrate such acts must be held responsible, brought to justice and punished in a manner commensurate with the severity of the offence, including the officials in charge of the place of detention where the prohibited act is found to have been committed; Takes note in this respect of the Principles on the Effective Investigation 7. and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Istanbul Principles) 6 as a useful tool in efforts to prevent and combat torture and of the updated set of principles for the protection of human rights through action to combat impunity; 7 5F 6F Calls upon all States to implement effective measures to prevent torture 8. and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, particularly in places of detention and other places where persons are deprived of their liberty, including education and training of personnel who may be involved in the custody, interrogation or treatment of any individual subjected to any form of arrest, detention or imprisonment; Also calls upon all States to adopt a gender-sensitive approach in the 9. fight against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, paying special attention to violence against women and girls; 10. Calls upon States to ensure that the rights of persons with disabilities, bearing in mind the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,4 are fully integrated into torture prevention and protection, and welcomes the efforts of the Special Rapporteur in this regard; 0H 11. Encourages all States to ensure that persons convicted of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment have no subsequent involvement in the custody, interrogation or treatment of any person under arrest, detention, imprisonment or other deprivation of liberty; 12. Emphasizes that acts of torture 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; 13. Strongly urges States to ensure that no statement that is established to have been made as a result of torture is invoked as evidence in any proceedings, except against a person accused of torture as evidence that the statement was made; 14. Stresses that States must not punish personnel for not obeying orders to commit or conceal acts amounting to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; 15. Urges States not to expel, return (“refouler”), extradite or in any other way transfer a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that the person would be in danger of being subjected to torture, and recognizes that diplomatic assurances, where used, do not release States from their obligations under international human rights, humanitarian and refugee law, in particular the principle of non-refoulement; _______________ 6 7 Resolution 55/89, annex. See E/CN.4/2005/102/Add.1. 3