Torture

Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for various reasons, including punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties.

Some definitions are restricted to acts carried out by the state, but others include non-state organizations. Most victims of torture are poor and marginalized people suspected of crimes, although torture against political prisoners or during armed conflict has received disproportionate attention. Judicial corporal punishment and capital punishment are sometimes seen as forms of torture, but this label is internationally controversial. A variety of methods of torture are used, often in combination; the most common form of physical torture is beatings. Since the twentieth century many torturers have preferred non-scarring or psychological methods to provide deniability.

Torturers more commonly act out of fear or due to limited resources than sadism. Although most torturers are thought to learn about torture techniques informally and rarely receive an explicit order, they are enabled by organizations that facilitate and encourage their behavior. Once a torture program is begun, it usually escalates beyond what is originally intended and often leads to involved agencies losing effectiveness. Torture aims to break the victim's will and destroy their agency and personality and is cited as one of the most damaging experiences that a person can undergo. Many victims suffer both physical damage—chronic pain is particularly common—and mental sequelae. Although torture survivors have among the highest rate of post-traumatic stress disorder, many are psychologically resilient.

Torture has been carried out since ancient times but in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, many Western countries abolished the official use of torture in the judicial system, although torture continued to be used throughout the world. Public opinion research has shown general opposition to torture. Torture is prohibited under international law for all states under all circumstances and is explicitly forbidden by several treaties. Opposition to torture stimulated the formation of the human rights movement after World War II, and torture continues to be an important human rights issue. Although prevention efforts have been of mixed effectiveness, institutional reforms and elimination of incommunicado detention have had positive effects. Although its incidence has declined, torture is still practiced by most countries.