Senate ratifies the UN Convention Against Torture, barring deportations where torture is likely

The U.S. Senate ratified the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which President Reagan had signed in 1988. Ratification obligated the United States not to expel, return, or extradite a person to a country where there were substantial grounds to believe they would be tortured. Congress declared the treaty non-self-executing, requiring domestic implementing legislation before it took effect in U.S. courts.