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42 U.S.C. § 2000dd–0

U.S. CodeFederal
Additional prohibition on cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment
About This Law
/us/usc/t42/s2000dd–0
Title
42 — The Public Health and Welfare
Chapter
CH21D
Release
119-84
Release Date
2026-04-17

Section Text

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(1) In generalNo individual in the custody or under the physical control of the United States Government, regardless of nationality or physical location, shall be subject to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. (2) Cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment definedIn this section, the term “cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment” means cruel, unusual, and inhumane treatment or punishment prohibited by the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, as defined in the United States Reservations, Declarations and Understandings to the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment done at New York, December 10, 1984. (3) ComplianceThe President shall take action to ensure compliance with this section, including through the establishment of administrative rules and procedures. (Pub. L. 109–366, § 6(c), Oct. 17, 2006, 120 Stat. 2635.) Editorial Notes Codification Section was enacted as part of the Military Commissions Act of 2006, and not as part of the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 which comprises this chapter.

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