A/HRC/21/42 D. Prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment 52. Stigma can also be seen to relate to the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment, as provided under, inter alia, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (art. 7), and the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (art. 16). Inhuman or degrading treatment is interpreted as extending beyond acts causing physical pain to include mental suffering. In the case of degrading treatment, the aspect of humiliation plays a greater role even than the severity of the suffering,32 showing close links to the ways in which stigmatization is experienced. 53. Inhuman or degrading treatment can result from acts, but also from omissions, and States bear responsibility for both.33 The Special Rapporteur has emphasized that ―because evacuation of the bowels and bladder is a necessary biological function and because denial of opportunities to do so in a lawful and dignified manner can both compromise human dignity and cause suffering, such denial could, in some cases (for example, where it results from deliberate actions or clear neglect) amount to cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment‖ (A/HRC/18/33/Add.4, para. 58). This may be of particular relevance to prisoners, homeless persons, slum dwellers and others who are unable to access facilities as a result of the stigma they face. The Human Rights Committee has found that the lack of adequate sanitation in prisons can amount to inhuman treatment. 34 54. States are also obliged to protect individuals from acts or omissions of third parties. In that regard, the Human Rights Committee explained that ―it is the duty of the State party to afford everyone protection through legislative and other measures as may be necessary against the acts prohibited by article 7 [of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights], whether inflicted by people acting in their official capacity, outside their official capacity or in a private capacity‖.35 This scope of the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment has significant implications for the measures States need to take. They need to address stigma that could result in situations amounting to degrading treatment due to the lack of access to adequate sanitation facilities, for example, in private schools or care institutions, or due to the deliberate denial of access to water or sanitation in that sphere. It is not sufficient for States to simply prohibit such treatment and criminalize it;36 they need comprehensive and positive measures to prevent and address it. E. Right to privacy 55. According to article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ―no one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honour and reputation‖. It guarantees the respect for the individual existence and autonomy of the human being. 37 The right to privacy includes the right to be different. 38 Human rights law awards the same 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 14 Manfred Nowak, UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – CCPR Commentary, 2nd revised ed. (Kehl am Rhein, Engel, 2005), p. 165 (para. 14). Committee against Torture, general comment No. 2 (2008) on the implementation of article 2 by States parties, para. 15. See, for example, Human Rights Committee communication No. 619/1995, Deidrick v. Jamaica, Views adopted on 9 April 1998, para. 9.3. General comment No. 20 (1992) replacing general comment 7 concerning prohibition of torture and cruel treatment or punishment, para. 2. Ibid., para. 8. Nowak, CCPR Commentary (note 32 above), p. 378. Ibid., p. 379.