Torture in United States
Torture Definition
Bodily pain or hurt inflicted with the object of compelling a disclosure of guilt or of knowledge in respect of a crime or its perpetrator. It was imposed by various means, and under sanction of law.
Torture in Foreign Legal Encyclopedias
| Link | Description |
|---|---|
| Torture | Torture in the World Legal Encyclopedia. |
| Torture | Torture in the European Legal Encyclopedia. |
| Torture | Torture in the Asian Legal Encyclopedia. |
| Torture | Torture in the UK Legal Encyclopedia. |
| Torture | Torture in the Australian Legal Encyclopedia. |
For starting research in the law of a foreign country:
Browse the American Encyclopedia of Law for Torture
Scan Torture in the appropriate area of law:
| Link | Description |
|---|---|
| Torture | Torture in the Family Law Portal of the American Encyclopedia of Law. |
| Torture | Torture in the IP Portal of the American Encyclopedia of Law. |
| Torture | Torture in the Commercial Law Portal of the American Encyclopedia of Law. |
| Torture | Torture in the Criminal Law Portal of the American Encyclopedia of Law. |
| Torture | Torture in the Antritrust Portal of the American Encyclopedia of Law. |
| Torture | Torture in the Bankruptcy Law Portal of the American Encyclopedia of Law. |
| Torture | Torture in the Constitutional Law Portal of the American Encyclopedia of Law. |
| Torture | Torture in the Tax Law Portal of the American Encyclopedia of Law. |
| Torture | Torture in the and Finance and Banking Portal of the American Encyclopedia of Law. |
| Torture | Torture in the Employment and Labor Portal of the American Encyclopedia of Law. |
| Torture | Torture in the Personal Injury and Tort Portal of the American Encyclopedia of Law. |
| Torture | Torture in the Environmental Law Portal of the American Encyclopedia of Law. |
Explore other Reference Works
| Resource | Description |
|---|---|
| Torture in the Dictionaries | Torture in our legal dictionaries |
| http://lawi.us/torture | The URI of Torture (more about URIs) |
| Torture related entries | Find related entries of Torture |
Legal Issue for Attorneys
Bodily pain or hurt inflicted with the object of compelling a disclosure of guilt or of knowledge in respect of a crime or its perpetrator. It was imposed by various means, and under sanction of law.
Notice
This definition of Torture is based on The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary. This entry needs to be proofread.
Torture
In Legislation
Torture in the U.S. Code: Title 18, Part I, Chapter 113C
The current, permanent, in-force federal laws regulating torture are compiled in the United States Code under Title 18, Part I, Chapter 113C. It constitutes “prima facie” evidence of statutes relating to Crimes and Criminal Law (including torture) of the United States. The readers can further narrow their legal research on the topic by chapter and subchapter.
Resources
See Also
Guantánamo Bay; Interrogation; Justice; Post-Traumatic Stress; Refugees; Reparations; Resiliency; Restitution Principle; Sexual Harassment; Terrorism; Trauma; Traumatic Bonding; Violence; Vulnerability; War
martyrdom; violence; war and the body.
Further Reading (Books)
Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. 2002. Geneva, Switzerland: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/6/cat/treaties/opcat.htm
Goldfield, Anne E., Richard F. Mollica, Barbara H. Pesavento, et al. 1988. The Physical and Psychological Sequelae of Torture: Symptomatology and Diagnosis. Journal of the American Medical Association 259: 2725-2729.
Krug, Etienne G., James A. Mercy, Linda L. Dahlberg, and Anthony B Zwi, eds. 2002. World Report on Violence and Health. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/violence-injury-prevention/violence/world-report/en/introduction.pdf
Mollica, Richard F. 2000. Invisible Wounds: Waging a New Kind of War. Scientific American 282: 54-57.
Mollica, Richard F. 2004. Surviving Torture. New England Journal of Medicine 351: 5-7.
Mollica, Richard F. 2006. Healing Invisible Wounds: Paths to Hope and Recovery in a Violent World. Orlando, FL: Harcourt.
Quiroga, Jose, and James M. Jaranson. 2005. Politically-Motivated Torture and Its Survivors: A Desk Study Review of the Literature. Torture 15 (2-3): 1-111.
Richard F. Mollica
Daniel Hovelson
Peters, E. (1985). Torture. Blackwell, Oxford and New York.
Further Reading (Articles)
Torture: Evil Practice Must End, States News Service; June 18, 2012
Torture and the Inhumane, Criminal Justice Ethics; June 22, 2007; Davis, Michael;
Torture Is Not a Game: On the Limitations and Dangers of Rational Choice Methods, Political Research Quarterly; March 1, 2012; Howes, Dustin Ells
Torture: Vilest Act of Humans – EDITORIAL, The Daily Mirror (Colombo, Sri Lanka); June 26, 2014
Torture, American style -The surprising force behind torture: democracies, The Boston Globe (Boston, MA); December 16, 2007; Darius Rejali Darius Rejali a professor of political science at Reed College is the author of “Torture Democracy ” out this month.
Torture in the Eyes of the Beholder: The Psychological Difficulty of Defining Torture in Law and Policy, Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law; January 1, 2011; McDonnell, Mary-Hunter Morris Nordgren, Loran F. Loewenstein, George
TORTURE: THE ICRC WILL DO MORE TO HELP VICTIMS., States News Service; June 24, 2011
Torture as a Crime under International Law, Albany Law Review; December 22, 2003; van der Vyver, Johan D.
TORTURE IS NORM, AND PUBLIC SHRUGS, PROF SAYS.(METRO), The Capital Times; December 19, 2007; Derby, Samara Kalk
TORTURE IS ILLEGAL, IMMORAL AND INEFFECTIVE.(EDITORIAL)(GUEST COLUMN)(Column), The Capital Times; January 11, 2008
Torture Survivor Battles Its Use; Nun Was Tormented in Guatemala prison.(NATION)(CULTURE, ET CETERA), The Washington Times (Washington, DC); October 24, 2002; Witham, Larry
TORTURE SHOULD NOT BE AUTHORIZED, The Boston Globe (Boston, MA); February 16, 2002; PHILIP B. HEYMANN
Torture since the Revolution, Daily News Egypt (Egypt); November 5, 2012
Torture, Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity; January 1, 2005
Torture is Evil, Not a Forensic Technique., Khaleej Times (Dubai, United Arab Emirates); May 6, 2009Torture Probe: Who’s Being Protected under the Searing Bright Light?, The Humanist; July 1, 2009; Swanson, David
Torture Warrants and the Rule of Law, Albany Law Review; June 22, 2008; Parry, John T
TORTURE: DOES IT MAKE US SAFER? IS IT EVER OK? A HUMAN RIGHTS PERSPECTIVE/TRUTH, TORTURE AND THE AMERICAN WAY: THE HISTORY AND CONSEQUENCES OF U.S. INVOLVEMENT IN TORTURE, NACLA Report on the Americas; January 1, 2006; Thornton, Christy
On torture, U.S. must clean house U.S. must fully renounce use of torture; Nation won’t regain moral leadership without fully renouncing the practice.(NEWS), Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN); May 30, 2010
Torture justifiable in some cases., New Zealand Herald (Auckland, New Zealand); September 8, 2009
Main Elements of a Claim Under § 1605A FSIA
Listed acts
According to research about Torture from the Federal Judicial Center:For purposes of § 1605A, “torture” has the meaning given to that term in section 3 of the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991: Torture means any act, directed against an individual in the offender’s custody or physical control, by which severe pain or suffering (other than pain or suffering arising only from or inherent in, or incidental to, lawful sanctions), whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on that individual for such purposes as obtaining from that individual or a third person information or a confession, punishing that individual for an act that individual or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, intimidating or coercing that individual or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind.284 One of the most important elements of this definition is its severity requirement. Courts must examine the “degree of pain and suffering that the alleged torturer intended to, and actually did, inflict upon the victim.”285 The purpose is to ensure that the conduct proscribed by the 1984 United Nations Convention Against Torture286 and the Torture Victim Protection Act is “sufficiently extreme and outrageous to warrant the universal condemnation that the term ‘torture’ both connotes and invokes.”287 This examination will typically require a factual inquiry. As the court in Price v. Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya pointed out, torture does not automatically result whenever an individual in custody is the subject of physical assault.288 However, deprivation of adequate food, light, toilet facilities, and medical care over a prolonged period of captivity has been found to meet the statutory requirement. Note: FSIA is the acronym of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976.
Resources
See Also
Popular Topics related with Torture
- Foreign Immunity
- U.S. Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act
- Foreign Sovereign Immunity in International Law
- Immunities Definition
- Immunity Clause
- Immunity of Heads of State
- Jurisdictional Immunities