Page "Torture" Paragraph 39

Torture still occurs in liberal democracies despite several international treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Convention Against Torture making torture illegal.

Despite such international conventions, torture cases continue to arise such as the 2004 Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal committed by military police personnel of the United States Army.

The US Constitution and US federal law prohibits the use of torture, yet such human rights violations occurred.

Soldiers involved in the violations have been tried and sentenced to prison, and additional court cases are pending on other persons who engaged in such violations.

At least one alleged person who engaged in a violation, an alleged homicide, was granted qualified immunity.