[2] The Inter-American Convention defines torture more expansively than the United Nations Convention Against Torture, including "the use of methods upon a person intended to obliterate the personality of the victim or to diminish his physical or mental capacities, even if they do not cause physical pain or mental anguish."

[4] On December 18, 2002, the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was adopted and sponsored by the United Nations.

[5]  Unlike the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture, this protocol issued that places where people are stripped of their liberties be visited by other independent international and national bodies.

Within Article Five of its second chapter on civil and political rights the convention states that no person shall be tortured and that people deprived of their liberty, such as those who are imprisoned, shall not be subject to such treatment either.

The Convention's main purpose is to strengthen opposition and prohibition of torture globally through its support of allied countries and states.