Topic
Torture
About: Torture is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 8173 publications have been published within this topic receiving 109895 citations.
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30 Sep 2004
TL;DR: The authors argue that the prohibition on torture is not just one rule among others, but a legal archetype, a rule which is emblematic of our larger commitment to break the link between law and brutality.
Abstract: Revelations of ill-treatment of prisoners by American forces at Abu Ghraib and the publication of memoranda showing that Bush administration lawyers have been seeking to narrow the application of the Convention against Torture and other similar provisions – these developments make it necessary for us to think afresh about the character and significance of the various legal prohibitions on torture. This paper argues that the prohibition on torture is not just one rule among others, but a legal archetype – a rule which is emblematic of our larger commitment to break the link between law and brutality. Characterizing the prohibition as a legal archetype affects how we think about the implications of authorizing torture (or interrogation methods that come close to torture); it affects how we think about issues of definition in regard to torture; and it affects how we think about the fragility and contingency of the provisions of positive law that stand between us and barbarism.
132 citations
TL;DR: The case notes documenting the psychological well-being of 100 survivors of torture and other forms of organised state violence were analysed retrospectively and post-traumatic stress disorder showed the strongest association with experience of torture.
Abstract: The case notes documenting the psychological well-being of 100 survivors of torture and other forms of organised state violence were analysed retrospectively. The most common diagnoses were post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depression, and somatoform disorders. Of these, PTSD showed the strongest association with experience of torture. It is possible that PTSD has a dimensional nature, and that reactions to different stressors are heterogeneous.
131 citations
Book•
20 May 2002
TL;DR: The Atrocity of Torture, Horror, Abjection, and Terror as discussed by the authors is a collection of essays about the politics of atrocity, horror, belief, and belief.
Abstract: 1. Politics of Atrocity 2. Horror, Abjection and Terror 3. The Atrocity of Torture 4. War, Horror, Beliefs 5. Urbicide 6. Ethnic Cleansing 7. Witnessing Atrocity 8. Trauma, Truth and Reconciliation 9. Atrocity, Trials and Justice Conclusion
130 citations
Book•
15 Mar 2008
TL;DR: This is the first book in a Western language to explore the history, iconography, and legal contexts of Chinese tortures and executions from the antiquity till their abolition in 1905.
Abstract: This is the first book in a Western language to explore the history, iconography, and legal contexts of Chinese tortures and executions from the antiquity till their abolition in 1905 The book questions the logic by which states justify tormenting individuals and the varied ways by which human beings have exploited the symbolism of bodily degradation for political claims.
130 citations
TL;DR: The distinction between torture, coercion, and manipulation has been studied extensively in the literature as discussed by the authors, and there is no clear agreement on the distinction between the three categories of torture, or whether such techniques as sleep and sensory deprivation, isolation, or prolonged questioning should count as forms of torture.
Abstract: Why is torture morally wrong? This question has been neglected or avoided by recent moral philosophy, in part because torture is by its nature especially difficult to discuss. Torture involves degrees of pain and fear that are often said to be utterly indescribable; indeed, these experiences are sometimes said to destroy in their victims the very hope of any sort of communication or shared experience whatsoever. Torture has proved surprisingly difficult to define. There is no clear agreement on the distinction between torture, coercion, and manipulation, or whether such techniques as sleep and sensory deprivation, isolation, or prolonged questioning should count as forms of torture. In addition, we may be fearful of deriving some sort of perverse titillation from the subject, or of being able to dispassionately contemplate the agonies of real victims of torture. Those who have not suffered torture may well feel What’s Wrong with Torture? DAVID SUSSMAN
130 citations