Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 106 Part 1.djvu/105

 PUBLIC LAW 102-256—MAR. 12, 1992 106 STAT. 73 Public Law 102-256 102d Congress An Act To carry out obligations of the United States under the United Nations Charter and other international agreements pertaining to the protection of human rights Mar. 12, 1992 by establishing a civil action for recovery of damages from an individual who [H.R. 2092] engages in torture or extrajudicial killing. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. Torture Victim Protection Act SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. of 1991. This Act may be cited as the "Torture Victim Protection Act note of 1991". SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF CIVIL ACTION. 28 USC 1350 (a) LIABILITY.—An individual who, under actual or appcurent authority, or color of law, of any foreign nation— (1) subjects an individual to torture shall, in a civil action, be liable for dsimages to that individual; or (2) subjects an individual to extrajudicial killing shall, in a civil action, be liable for damages to the individual's legal representative, or to any person who may be a claimant in an action for wrongful death. 0)) EXHAUSTION OF REMEDIES.—A court shall decline to hear a claim under this section if the claimant has not exhausted adequate and available remedies in the place in which the conduct giving rise to the claim occurred. (c) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—No action shall be maintained under this section unless it is commenced within 10 years after the cause of action arose. SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 28 USC 1350 (a) EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLING. —For the purposes of this Act, the '^°**" term "extrajudicial killing" means a deliberated killing not authorized by a previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples. Such term, however, does not include any such killing that, under international law, is lawfully carried out under the authority of a foreign nation. db) TORTURE,—For the purposes of this Act— (1) the term "torture" means any act, directed against an individual in the offender's custody or physical control, by which severe pain or suffering (other than pain or suffering arising only from or inherent in, or incidental to, lawful sanctions), whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on that individual for such purposes as obtaining from that individual or a third person information or a confession, punishing that individual for an act that individual or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, intimidating or coercing that individual or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind; and

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