A/HRC/43/49 40. In practice, “powerlessness” arises whenever someone has come under the direct physical or equivalent control of the perpetrator and has effectively lost the capacity to resist or escape the infliction of pain or suffering (A/72/178, para. 31). This is typically the case in situations of physical custody, such as arrest and detention, institutionalization, hospitalization or internment, or any other form of deprivation of liberty. In the absence of physical custody, powerlessness can also arise through the use of body-worn devices capable of delivering electric shocks through remote control, given that they cause the “complete subjugation of the victim irrespective of physical distance” (A/72/178, para. 51). A situation of effective powerlessness can further be achieved through “deprivation of legal capacity, when a person’s exercise of decision-making is taken away and given to others” (A/63/175, para. 50; and A/HRC/22/53, para. 31), through serious and immediate threats, or through coercive control in contexts such as domestic violence (A/74/148, paras. 32–34), through incapacitating medication and, depending on the circumstances, in collective social contexts of mobbing, cyberbullying and State-sponsored persecution depriving victims of any possibility of effectively resisting or escaping their abuse. “Lawful sanctions” exception 5. 41. The definition of torture in the Convention explicitly excludes “pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions” (art. 1 (1) ). At the same time, the saving clause in article 1 (2) of the Convention makes clear that this exception may not be interpreted in a manner prejudicial to other international instruments or national legislation which does or may define torture more widely. The term “international instrument” has been shown to cover both binding international treaties as well as nonbinding declarations, principles and other “soft law” documents.29 Most notably, the “lawful sanctions” clause can be accurately understood only in conjunction with the 1975 Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Being Subjected to Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, from which it is directly derived, and which excludes only those lawful sanctions from the definition of torture that are “consistent with the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners” (art. 1). For example, therefore, even if permitted by domestic law, none of the following methods of inflicting mental pain or suffering can be regarded as “lawful sanctions”: prolonged or indefinite solitary confinement; placement in a dark or constantly lit cell; collective punishment; and prohibition of family contacts.30 42. Importantly, in order to be “lawful”, sanctions cannot be open-ended, indefinite or grossly excessive to their purpose, but must be clearly defined, circumscribed and proportionate. For example, while it may be lawful to punish a witness for refusing to testify in court with a fixed monetary fine or even imprisonment of a pre-defined length, the use of open-ended detention and accumulation of monetary fines as a progressively severe means to coerce the recalcitrant witness to testify would defeat the very object and purpose of the Convention and, therefore, amount to psychological torture irrespective of its “lawfulness” under national law.31 More generally, the Special Rapporteur aligns with the understanding that the word “lawful” refers to both domestic and international law. 32 D. Predominant methods of psychological torture 43. In the present section, the Special Rapporteur aims to provide an overview of the characteristics, rationale and effects of some of the most predominant methods of psychological torture. In contrast to physical torture, which uses the body and its physiological needs as a conduit for affecting the victim’s mind and emotions, psychological torture does so by directly targeting basic psychological needs, such as 29 30 31 32 12 Zach, “Definition of torture”, pp. 56-–59. United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules), rule 43. See, most notably, the individual communication sent by the Special Rapporteur in the case of Chelsea Manning, communication No. AL USA 22/2019, 1 November 2019. Zach, “Definition of torture”, note 147.