by Lily Seabrooke

Created on: June 09, 2010

The definition of the word 'torture' has consistently been difficult. Article One of the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Punishment, hereafter referred to as simply the Convention, defines the term 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.

To constitute torture under the Convention's definition, the harm inflicted upon a victim must amount to “severe pain or suffering”. Julianne Harper, in her article defining torture acknowledges that unfortunately, it is 'virtually impossible' to ascertain how severe inhuman treatment must be to qualify as torture.1

A report from the American ABC in August 2009 detailed an investigation into the 'inhumane' tactics used by CIA interrogators on detainees. The CIA's definition of “waterboarding” was leaked to the ABC News, describing the process in plain English. “The prisoner is bound to an inclined board, feet raised and head slightly below the feet. Cellophane is wrapped over the prisoner's face and water is poured over him. Unavoidably, the gag reflex kicks in and a terrifying fear of drowning leads to almost instant pleas to bring the treatment to a halt”. 3

One of the central difficulties in defining torture is distinguishing between coercive interrogation against torture. As legal theorist Richard Posner has argued, “almost all official interrogation is coercive, yet not all coercive interrogation would be called 'torture'..” But, by every degree of coercion, moral problems occur. Sleep deprivation will not leave physical or even psychological scars, but as Menachem Bergin, who was interrogated in Soviet Russia, remembered, “anyone who has experienced this desire [for sleep] knows that not even hunger or thirst are comparable to it”.5. While the Convention against Torture prohibits

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