In “General Comment No. 2”, the committee against torture—this is going back almost 10 years ago, by the way—recognized that torture in the private sphere qualifies as torture. As I said in my remarks, the committee against torture has a responsibility for monitoring the UN torture convention. I look at it from that perspective. If torture in the private sphere is recognized as torture by the committee against torture, then certainly the international legal perspective on this has shifted.
Torture, yes, of course, at one time it was considered a state crime, but that has changed. Certainly we see laws in place in Australia and France where torture is recognized. There are American states that have taken action on this as well. A few examples would be Michigan and California. At the international level Australia and France have led the way on that. As far as this legislation goes, it is not reinventing the wheel. There is legal precedent.