TORTURE
Dr.
Abhishek Karn
Asst.
Professor
Dept.
of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, UCMS
Torture
of human beings is as old as human race itself.
In
order to increase influence over others, strong human beings have always beaten
the weak folk.
Reasons
for torture can include punishment, revenge, political re-education,
interrogation or coercion of the victim or a third party.
It
is considered to be a violation of human rights, and is declared to be
unacceptable by the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The
U.N. convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
or punishment has defined 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
third person, information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or third
person has committed or is suspected to have 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.”
