seeker from Afghanistan, told Human Rights Watch that police beat him severely during an arrest near Omonia square.107 He said that he has been in pain ever since: One day we sold clothes on the streets…. The police caught us and took 50 T-shirts …. That was eight months ago in Omonia square. They kicked me several times inside the police car while the car was driving. One police man was on my left side, one was in the front. The officer in the front kicked me. He kicked me several times, for about 15-20 minutes…. The car was a van like a Pajero but I don’t know its brand. I was taken to the police station near Omonia. The police beat me all over my body and 2-3 kicks into my chest. Since then I had that problem. I cannot carry anything heavy or else I feel pain.… At night I cannot sleep on my belly. I can only sleep on my back. When I sleep on my left side I feel pain in my chest.108 Legal Standards on Torture, Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment International human rights law unambiguously bans torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. It is widely recognized to be a binding and absolute norm of customary international law from which no derogation is permitted. Torture is defined as any act by which severe pain or suffering is intentionally inflicted on a person with the consent or acquiescence of a public official, for a purpose such as obtaining information, punishing for an act, or for any discrimination-based reason.109 107 The police station near Omonia square has been the subject of serious allegations of ill-treatment. A video showing acts of ill-treatment at the police station came into the public domain. The Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture condemned police behavior during its fact-finding mission to the Omonia police station in strongest terms. European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), “Report to the Government of Greece on the visit to Greece carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 20 to 27 February 2007,” CPT/Inf (2008) 3, Strasbourg, February 8, 2008, http://www.cpt.coe.int/documents/grc/2008-03-inf-eng.pdf (accessed September 1, 2008), paras. 7, 13, 15, 41. 108 Human Rights Watch interview with Nurullah F., Athens, May 27, 2008. 109 The Convention against Torture defines torture as “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions;” Convention against Torture and 39 Human Rights Watch December 2008