Title 42 — The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-73
§2000dd–0 Additional prohibition on cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment
Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 21D— - DETAINEE TREATMENT › § 2000dd–0
Summary
The U.S. government must not subject anyone it holds or controls, anywhere and of any nationality, to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. That phrase refers to cruel, unusual, and inhumane acts identified by the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments and by U.S. statements to the UN Convention Against Torture (December 10, 1984). The President must make rules and procedures to ensure this is followed.
Full Legal Text
Title 42, §2000dd–0
The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(1)No 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)In 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)The President shall take action to ensure compliance with this section, including through the establishment of administrative rules and procedures.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
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.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
42 U.S.C. § 2000dd–0
Title 42 — The Public Health and Welfare
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73