A
UNITED
NATIONS
General Assembly
Distr.
GENERAL
A/RES/53/139
1 March 1999
Fifty-third session
Agenda item 110 (a)
RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
[on the report of the Third Committee (A/53/625/Add.1)]
53/139. Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
The General Assembly,
Recalling article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,1 article 7 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,2 the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Being
Subjected to Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,3 and its resolution
39/46 of 10 December 1984, by which it adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession the
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and all its
subsequent relevant resolutions,
Recalling that the World Conference on Human Rights, held at Vienna in 1993, firmly declared that
efforts to eradicate torture should, first and foremost, be concentrated on prevention and called for the early
adoption of an optional protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment, which is intended to establish a preventive system of regular visits to places of
detention,4
1
Resolution 217 A (III).
2
See resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.
3
Resolution 3452 (XXX), annex.
4
A/CONF.157/24 (Part I), chap. III, sect. II, para. 61.
99-77047
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