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What is Torture
Torture as defined by the United Nations Convention Against Torture is “an 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 sanctio ns."
Legal Status of Torture
On December 10, 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. Article 5 of the United Nations General Assembly states " No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment ".Since that time the use of torture has been regulated by a number of international treaties, of which the two major ones are the United Nations Convention Against Torture and the Geneva Conventions . Amnesty International states that most torture occurs in custody and the police officers as the most likely offenders. Most of these detentions are illegal especially in India and the person held in custody is kept in secret locations without any contact with the outside world. Amnesty also stresses on the “Right to Fair Trail,” suggesting that the way a person is treated when accused of some crime “provides a concrete demonstration of how far a state respects human rights.” The Right to fair trial it believes is indispensible to the protection of other rights of the individual such as right to freedom from torture and right to live. Amnesty in its efforts to eradicate torture from across the world further introduced what are known as “ Amnesty International's 12-Point Program for the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment by Agents of the State.”
National law
Countries which have signed the "United Nations Convention Against Torture", have a treaty obligation to include the provisions into domestic law. The laws of many countries therefore formally prohibit torture. However, such legal provisions are by no means a proof that the signatory country does not use torture. There are instances where torture has been reported in countries that have banned use of torture.
Use of torture
Despite many efforts by the international organizations torture goes unabated. In the data that we have collected over the last few years on disappearances in Panjab one aspect that we have encountered almost unfailingly was the consistent use of torture by the police. This trend continues unabated even now when the state has declared the condition normal, not that it in any ways condones its act during the period of “insurgency.” Some of the methods of torture in use by the police in Panjab might appear to be too graphic and not belonging to the modern world. It is still necessary for us to look into what goes on in the dark and dingy interrogating rooms of the Police Stations in Panjab. Torture chambers were included in many ancient castles for the purpose of torture, similar things continue to exist in Panjab Police stations.
Torture devices and methods
• Flagellation, whipping and beating
• Branding and Burning Tortures
• Ripping out teeth/nails
• Choking and drowning
• Stretching of limbs
• Psychological abuse
Effects of torture
Organizations like the Medical Foundation for Care of Victims of Torture try to help survivors of torture obtain medical treatment and to gain forensic medical evidence to obtain political asylum in a safe country and/or to prosecute the perpetrators.
Torture is often difficult to prove, particularly when some time has passed between the event and a medical examination. Many torturers around the world use methods designed to have a maximum psychological impact while leaving only minimal physical traces. Medical and Human Rights Organizations worldwide have collaborated to produce the Istanbul Protocol , a document designed to outline common torture methods, consequences of torture and medico-legal examination techniques. Typically deaths due to torture are shown in autopsy as being due to "natural causes" like heart attack, inflammation or embolism due to extreme stress. For survivors, torture often leads to lasting mental and physical health problems. Physical problems can be wide-ranging, e.g. musculo-skeletal problems, brain injury, post-traumatic epilepsy and dementia or chronic pain syndromes. Mental health problems are equally wide-ranging such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety disorder.
 
 
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