According to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment: "For the purposes of this Convention, torture means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.” (http://www.hrweb.org/legal/cat.html)

 

Torture consists of the voluntary infliction of severe psychological or physical suffering, either at the insistence or with the permission of state officials, with the aim of destroying the victim’s individuality. Torture is often used out of vengeance, to punish, to extract information or a confession, or to create a climate of terror and fear within a population.

 

Psychological and/or physical destruction is not a consequence of these acts, but their purpose

Torture distinguishes itself from other forms of abuse by the degree of suffering it inflicts. It encompasses numerous ways of inducing both physical and psychological pain that are striking similar all over the world. The most common methods include electroshocks, drowning, suffocation, burns, sexual abuse, physical blows, not to mention psychological torture whose effects often last longer: isolation, threats, humiliation, simulated executions or amputations, witnessing others (even loved ones) being tortured, etc.

 

Torture continues to evolve…

Although the goal remains the same, the methods of torture continue to evolve: those who torture now try to engrave the cruelty in the victim’s memory so that he or she will never truly be able to recover. Thus, torture is not purely a physical experience, but a psychological one as well. For example, having to hold a position that in the long-term becomes agonizing inspires a certain self-hatred and the person will begin to inflict pain upon him or herself; the torturer never has to lay a hand on his or her victim. Another example is being forced to threaten loved ones or watch another be tortured; these situations create a feeling of powerlessness that is “even worse than torture.” Profound humiliation can also break a person. Experiments conducted by psychiatrists in collaboration with the CIA illustrate without a shadow of a doubt that the purpose of torture is to destroy the victim through sensorial deprivation and the removal of any means of establishing one’s bearings.