faq torture

What is torture?

The ultimate goal of torture is to wipe out the soul, to kill the mind not the body, to make the human a thing with no past or future by destroying its character and personality.

The United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment defines torture as any act which intentionally causes severe physical or mental pain or suffering with the intention of punishing, intimidating or extracting information from him or her. The torture must be perpetrated by a public official or at his or her direction.

An essential element of torture is fear, not just of the individual being tortured, but the whole society. This is because other society members live in fear that it could happen to them. Torture is part of a system that controls and manipulates individuals and societies through fear.

Methods of Torture

Most forms of torture produce physical pain. All forms of torture cause the victim to suffer emotional pain and humiliation. This pain is produced not just because of the methods the torturer uses, but because of the complete control they have over almost every aspect of the victim’s life.

The torture survivor is left wondering when the next bout of torture will come and what it will involve.

Some common methods include:

  • beatings
  • electric shocks
  • stretching
  • submerging in water or other liquid
  • burning
  • being forced to stand or sit in one position for long periods of time
  • rape
  • other forms of sexual assault
  • isolation and solitary detention
  • sleep deprivation
  • starving and refusing to provide water, sometimes followed by forcing the victim to eat and drink fouled products
  • forcing victims to witness or carry out the torture on others, including loved ones threats of death or further torture against the victim or those they are close to

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How many refugees living in Australia have survived torture?

STARTTS believes that up to thirty percent of refugees now living in Australia have been tortured.
Eighty percent of refugees will have experienced torture or other traumatic events such as bombing, rape, the disappearance of friends and family by the military, severe harassment by authorities and witnessing executions, beatings or rape of loved ones.
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What are the effects of torture?

After 22 years I still live with the effects of my traumatic experience. I still have terrible nightmares, hear the screams, I am afraid in the streets and at home. I live with fear: who is coming to my door, who is walking near me, that car that stopped, that surprising noise. Extreme anxiety, stress, indecision, guilt, shame, body pain, emotional pain, memories are with me everyday…When I see a dog I need to cross the street. If I meet someone in a position of authority I am in so much panic that I shiver and sweat profusely. I don’t trust anybody or anything. Sometimes, I don’t get out of the house for weeks.

STARTTS ex-client, Maria Pilar, speaking about the effect of her torture experiences under Pinochet’s Chile
The effects of torture are wide ranging. Torture affects the individual that is being tortured as well as families, communities and the way a whole society functions.

Effects on Individuals

Psychological and emotional effects

* anxiety
* panic attacks
* nightmares, flashbacks and unwanted thoughts and memories
* depression
* memory and concentration problems
* grief
* dissociation or numbing
* sleeping problems
* irritability
* aggressiveness
* eating disorders
* inability to plan for the future/preoccupation with the past
* shame and guilt
* inability to trust
* lack of self-esteem
* inability to feel safe
* overly suspicious
* loss of hope for the future

Physical affects

* chronic pain
* deafness
* poor dental health
* injuries and disabilities including broken bones, fractures, burns and scars
* headaches
* malnutrition
* high blood pressure and heart problems
* delayed growth and development in children
* brain damage
* malnutrition and other diseases caused by crowding and starvation
* tremors, weakness, fainting, sweating and diarrhea

Effects on communities and societies

* Lack of trust between community members
* No clear community leaders
* Unable to feel safe
* Unable to celebrate or take part in normal community events
* Suspicious of police and government
* No clear support systems
* Isolation from one another

Effects on the family

* Unable to communicate
* Lack of trust between family members
* Inability to care for children and show them love and affection
* Reduced attachment to other family members
* Change in traditional family roles (eg father no longer main income earner)
* Excessive limitations placed on children’s freedoms
* Domestic violence
* Isolation from one another and the community
* Marriage breakdown

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Which countries practice torture?

Countries from all over the world and from all sorts of political persuasions practice torture. Research suggests more than 110 countries around the world use torture. Communist governments, democracies, dictatorships, monarchies, socialists and theocracies have all practiced torture, although torture is more common in the developing world. Opposition groups also practice torture.

What does extraordinary rendition have to do with torture?

Extraordinary rendition occurs when a person is transferred from one country to another without any recourse to legal processes such as extradition. Both the United States, and too a lesser extent, Australian governments, have been accused of practicing rendition.

In most reported cases of rendition, a terrorist suspect is taken from a country where torture is illegal to a country that is well-known for practicing torture. Amnesty International has documented numerous cases of individuals being tortured following extraordinary rendition.

Will torture prevent terrorism and other crimes?

It’s so scary when you hear people being tortured. It is so scary when you are beaten. And I would just say anything, anything they want, just to stop the torture.
Maher Arar, Canadian citizen, mistaken for a terrorist suspect who was tortured in Syria

Some military personnel, academics, media commentators and others have called for the introduction of torture in limited circumstances. They suggest that torture is justified if someone is in the custody of the police and knows the whereabouts of a bomb which is about to explode. This is because it will prevent injury and death for possibly thousands of others.

This argument is based on a highly unlikely scenario of police being certain that the person they have in custody is a terrorist, certain that a bomb exists, certain that it is about to explode, certain that the person has the information about the whereabouts of the bomb and the time it is to be detonated, certain that by torturing him or her they will be able to obtain the necessary information to defuse the bomb in time and certain that no other investigative measures are likely to elicit that information.

It is almost inconceivable that police or anyone else, such as the judiciary, are going to be satisfied that all of these certainties exist.

Information elicited through torture is often unreliable. Victims may say anything to stop the pain or provide deliberately misleading information. Both torture survivors and intelligence agencies attest to this.

The argument assumes that torture can be sanctioned and used in only a tiny proportion of extreme cases. STARTTS clients’ experiences demonstrate that this is never the case. There are no countries in the world that practice torture selectively. Once the practice of torture is accepted it is used in all sorts of circumstances against all sorts of people. Methods become increasingly harsh and inhumane.

This experience is backed up by decades of research from Amnesty International. Despite hundreds of thousands of investigations and reports they have not found not one country in the world that practices torture selective: ‘States that use torture and ill-treatment use it broadly. They supplement it with other repressive measures’.

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