Torture

One calls torture the activity consisting in producing an intense or long, psychological or physical suffering, while avoiding or at least by delaying the Mort. It can produce after-effects and mutilations, but it is an side effect, or possibly a means of making suffer, and not an aim in itself.

The of torture one holds its victim with its mercy, it cannot escape. The objectives and the motivations of of torture can be varied:

  • revelation of secret information, obtaining consents;

  • Punishment of real or imaginary faults;
  • to terrorize populations or political organizations, by targeting members of a group of particular people, so that the others remain passive of fear of being victims in their turn;
  • sadistic pleasure ;
  • psychological preparation, aiming at convincing the victim which it is weak in order to obtain its complete tender;
  • ordinary tagging along of of torture which does not make (according to him) only follow the orders or the procedures;

Torture is prohibited by the Convention against torture and other sorrows or treatments cruel, inhuman or degrading (Geneva Convention) (adopted by the General meeting of the United Nations the December 10th 1984 and coming into effect the June 26th 1987) and the third Geneva Convention. However, torture is still practiced all over the world, often under cover either of a vague definition in the Loi, or of fuzzy local legislations.

Private tortures

The shadies, including the terrorist organizations and the Organized crime, use sometimes torture. " chauffeurs" , burning the feet of their victims to obtain the nest egg from it, were famous. See for example the Drivers of Orgères.

The use of torture by the governmental authorities

The Middle Ages

With the the Middle Ages and until the 18th century in Europe, one regarded it as a legitimate means to obtain consents or information on behalf of the suspects, information used during the lawsuit.

The Inquisition is famous to have largely made use of torture; this authority published even a Manuel of the inquisitor officializing these practices.

The use of torture in a legal framework was practiced a long time. In France, it was of two kinds: the preparatory question and the preliminary question . The first was removed by a royal decree of August 24th, 1780, the second in 1788.

Totalitarian modes

Torture remains a method of common repression in the dictatorships and totalitarian modes.

Torture at the 20th century

Torture was practiced at the time of the war of Algeria.

See also: Torture during the war of Algeria

Torture is practiced by China, in particular in Tibet.

See also: Tibet#Droits_de_la_personne_au_Tibet

August 1st

Torture with the 21e century

Following its War against terrorism and in order to protect itself from the contemporary pressures against torture and its prohibition on its territory and by its agents, the United States via the CIA, uses of the process called Extraordinary returning . It is a question of removing a person which one wants to extirpate information and of unloading it in a country where he could be tortured “discreetly” by the agents of the country where he is. The last example in date is that of a Imam removed twice in Italy and renewed in Egypt, where he was tortured. If it is not a phone call of distress, there is no more no news of him. A warrant for arrest was deposited against 22 people, suspected of belonging to the CIA and of having taken part in these removals.

See also: Prison_de_Guantanamo#Tortures

The Russian army and the detention center ORB-2, use torture in Chetchnia in order to obtain the consents of the prisoners. The latter are beaten, burned with cigarette ends of cigarette and tortured with electricity.

In China, Wang Zhenchuan admits publicly that “the majority of the miscarriage of justices in China are the consequence of consents extorted under torture”.

In Algeria, torture is used against people suspected of holding information concerning of the terrorist activities.

Effectiveness and effects of torture

When torture is used to obtain consents, it is used to weaken the victim. With consents, failing to have the truth, the of torture ones have an official version which the victim itself recognized. Thus, if it reconsiders its declarations, it will nothing but do be contradicted and thus be discredited. Sometimes the victim gives information which will be verifiable (for example: position of a hidden object, treasure or bends), which a posteriori watch effectiveness of the process.

Methods and apparatuses of torture

Torture with the Middle Ages

With the Middle Ages, various methods of tortures were used by the torturers. Let us quote inter alia the rest, the Poire of anguish, the laced boots, the Question by water, the torture of the wheel, that of the stake, or that of the Vierge of iron.

Torment of the chain

The torment of the chain was used in the the USSR of Stalin to obtain consents. It consisted in depriving the prisoner of sleep and making him undergo ceaseless interrogations. The defendant confessed the most whimsical crimes. Torture was one of the instruments of Soviet repression at the time of the Grande Terror, in the years 1930.

It was a psychological and physical torture.

Asphyxiates by absorption of water

After their Takeover by force of March 9th, 1945 in French Indo-China, the Japanese, in particular the services of their secret police, the Kempetaï , often had recourse to this form of torture to obtain information.

Torture using chemicals

The victims can be forced to introduce products, chemical or not (crushed glass…) to inflict the pain and of the internal damage.

Irritating products can be introduced into the Rectum or the Vagin, or applied to the genitals.

Chemical torture using drugs or of drugs

Chemical torture can consist in managing with a person a drug for one long period, thus causing strong a dependence, then a painful weaning which can last several years. The forced administration of drugs is also used, often with toxic amounts, to punish political dissidents and or monk.

Torture by deprivation of sleep

This torture is very frequently employed in the world.

Torture using electricity

See also: Gégène

The perception of the existence and the need for torture

In France

After the stop Selmouni of the European Court of the human rights, in 1999 (in which the court, for the first time, describes as torture of the acts made by a French authority), general secretary of a trade union of police officers, the SGP, declared that “police officers have the impression that they work for nothing and now they know even more in which legal frameworks” (French or European) “they must act. On this point, we wait of the Minister of Interior Department which it defends his troops more than it did it until now”; for the Professional federation independent of the police force, “there is not to play the children of chorus” at the time of a interrogation. The National union of the police officers found “exaggerated the qualification retained by the European Court which gives a report on tortures”. For Gerard Boyer, general secretary of Alliance National police force, the stop in general constitutes “an important resignation of France not without consequences on the image of the work of the police officers”. One can note:
  • that the facts complained of to the police officers were in any event repressed by the French right, as their judgment by the French penal judge shows it;
  • that the French jurisdictions, with regard to the facts, arrived appreciably at the same conclusions as the CEDH;
  • that in front of the CEDH, the police officers had not left to the procedure, which opposed a private individual to the French government (the “judgment” of France by the CEDH is thus without influence on the civil procedure and penal directed against the police officers).

Fight against torture

Of share the world, many governmental organizations (ONG) is activated to try to exert a pressure on the States practitioner the torture, among which one can quote international Amnesty or the Worldwide organization against torture (OMCT). In France, the Association Primo Levi, is an actor of foreground within the framework of the care and support which it offers to the people victims torture and political violence.

See too

Related articles

External bonds

  • Convention of the United Nations on torture

  • European Committee for the prevention of torture (CPT)

  • Treated instruments of martyrdom and various modes of torment employed by the pagan ones against the Christians, Antonio Gallonio (1605, edition 1904) (pdf)

Notes and reference

Simple: Torture

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