Torture

Torture is the use of pain to extract a confession. Nations in the Axis of Evil have been accused of using torture regularly. It was commonplace in the Middle Ages where many people such as witches were tortured to extract confessions. International conventions have severely restricted its use.

The US has been accused of using torture as interrogation method at Guantanamo and also kidnapping people of middle eastern descent in a process known as extraodinary rendition.

The UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment defines torture as:

"...any 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 sanctions."