Article 5:
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Introduction

Reed Brody
What is the importance of article 5 of the UDHR and what sorts of developments has it brought about in international law?
Like Articles 3 and 4, Article 5 is not simply an Enlightenment reflex, but a profound reaction to what went on in the concentration camps during the Second World War. It provides that no person shall be subjected to “torture” or to “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

Peter Danchin, Columbia University