TORTURE:

version 1.40 – for Autodifesa / Self Defense

“As time passes, Torture comes into light…”

Index

Initially the Matteo and Giovanna’s case could seem a series of miscarriages of justice and a problem of bureaucracy. As time passes, errors can be no longer considered the cause, but the results! Torture is one of the main causes, and some officials are the perpetrators. Torture became evident into the 2010 August’s facts that involved civil police and mayor and other authorities into a singular phenomenon called “social mobbing”: even their faults came to surface they deliberately refused to repair their damage. . Torture Definition "Torture means 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." [Article 1 of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment is the internationally agreed legal definition of torture] The full definition of torture in the convention is: "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." This definition excludes "pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions", which seems designed to permit the death penalty. Torture is also an offence under English law. The International Criminal Court Act 2001 similarly defines torture as "the intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, upon a person in the custody or under the control of the accused; except that torture shall not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to, lawful sanctions". The Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture defines torture more broadly. It includes the "use of methods upon a person intended to obliterate the personality of the victim or to diminish his physical or mental capacities, even if they do not cause physical pain or mental anguish". Links: http://www.apt.ch (association for the prevention of torture)

Main Index