GroundRules
← Search the law
US Code · Through Public Law 119-103 (09/02/2026)

42 U.S.C. § 2000dd: Prohibition on cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment of persons under custody or control of the United States Government

Read at publisher ↗
Where this section sits in the code
  1. Title 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
  2. CHAPTER 21D—DETAINEE TREATMENT

(a) In generalNo individual in the custody or under the physical control of the United States Government, regardless of nationality or physical location, shall be subject to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. (b) ConstructionNothing in this section shall be construed to impose any geographical limitation on the applicability of the prohibition against cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment under this section. (c) Limitation on supersedureThe provisions of this section shall not be superseded, except by a provision of law enacted after December 30, 2005, which specifically repeals, modifies, or supersedes the provisions of this section. (d) Cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment definedIn this section, the term “cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment” means the cruel, unusual, and inhumane treatment or punishment prohibited by the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, as defined in the United States Reservations, Declarations and Understandings to the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment done at New York, December 10, 1984.

Collected 2026-09-10T06:00:34Z. Source file · JSON

Browse this collection