36 During the time Mrs. María Elena Loayza-Tamayo was detained, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment during criminal investigations into the crimes of treason against the fatherland and terrorism was common practice in Peru […].49 95. The Court must now determine whether the facts referred to above constitute torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, or both, in violation of Article 5(2) of the American Convention. It must be clearly understood that, regardless of the nature of the acts referred to, they are strictly prohibited under international human rights law. To this end, the European Court of Human Rights has noted, in reference to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, that same strictly prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment regardless of what the victim has done. Article 3 provides for no exceptions, in contrast with most of the principles of the Convention […] and […] does not permit derogation even in the case of a public danger which threatens the life of the nation.50 The aforementioned Tribunal has specified, on repeated occasions, that said prohibition applies even in the most difficult of circumstances for the State, such as those involving aggression by terrorist groups or large-scale organized crime.51 96. Along the same lines, the Inter-American Court has warned that the fact that a State is confronted with terrorism should not lead to restrictions on the protection of the physical integrity of the person. Specifically, the Court has stated that [A]ny use of force that is not strictly necessary, given the behavior of the person detained, constitutes an affront to human dignity […] in violation of Article 5 of the American Convention. The need to conduct investigations and the undeniable difficulties inherent to combating terrorism are not grounds for placing restrictions on the protection of the physical integrity of the person.52 97. The European Court has underscored that fact that one of the elements considered in defining torture in Article 1 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment is the intentional infliction of physical or mental pain or suffering for certain purposes, such as obtaining information from a person, or intimidating or punishing him/her.53 98. as The Inter-American Convention Against Torture, in Article 2, defines torture any act intentionally performed whereby physical or mental pain or suffering is inflicted on a person for purposes of criminal investigation, as a means of intimidation, as personal punishment, as a preventive measure, as a penalty, or for any other purpose. Torture shall also be understood to be the use of methods upon a person intended to 49 Loayza-Tamayo Case, supra note 12, para. 46.l. 50 Eur. Court HR, Ireland v. United Kingdom, Judgment of 18 January 1978. Series A Vol. 25, para. 163. 51 cfr. Eur. Court HR, Labita v. Italy, Judgment of 6 April 2000, para. 119; Eur. Court HR, Selmouni v. France, Judgment of 28 July 1999, para. 95; Eur. Court HR, Chabal v. United Kingdom, Judgment of 15 November 1996, Reports 1996-V, paras. 79 and 80; and Eur. Court HR, Tomasi v. France, Judgment of 27 August 1992, Series A Vol. 241-A, para. 115. 52 Castillo-Petruzzi et al. Case, supra note 9, para. 197 and Loayza-Tamayo Case, supra note 12, para. 57. 53 cfr. Eur. Court HR, Mahmut Kaya v. Turkey, Judgment of 28 March 2000, para. 117.