The Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) was adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on December 10, 1984. It entered into force on June 26, 1987, following the twentieth accession or ratification by a state party. As of 2005, there were 138 state parties to the Convention. The United States ratified it on October 21, 1994, but with a proviso that nothing in CAT would require or authorize legislation or other action by the United States that is prohibited by the U.S. Constitution, as interpreted by the United States. Further, upon signing CAT in 1988, the United States expressed a number of reservations, the broadest being that the Convention's definition of "cruel, degrading or inhuman treatment or punishment" must be consistent with interpretations of the...