By Yervand Kondrahjian | Staff Writer

The practice of torture has evolved from ancient techniques, such as the Roman Colosseum’s gladiator fights, to electrocution and direct death threats to loved ones. The obvious reasons behind torture are to break someone down to admit to something, give up secret information, or a darker side of just inflicting pain on an enemy. It is unacceptable that in today’s world there are still a number of people and even governments who condone or encourage torture. In fact, there’s no guarantee to obtain the expected constructive results, its effects on both the torturer and tortured are horrendous, and it’s inhumane.

It has been long believed that torturing someone will break them and lead them to give up important or confidential information, but that isn’t true. Recent studies have come to show that someone under pressure, especially physical torture, is more likely to give false or misleading information than to spit out the truth. A recent experiment had a group of participants play an interrogation simulation game where they were asked to keep certain information hidden from other participants. They would then be subjected to torture by having their hand submerged in icy water. Another participant would begin pressuring them for information and when they wouldn’t give it up, the water temperature was dropped as a form of torture. The participants were told beforehand that they could choose to give up the information given to them in confidence, give false information, both, or neither. In the end, the percentage of tortured participants that gave up false information was higher than that that told the truth (Houck, Shannon C.; Conway, Lucian Gideon III. Journal of Applied Security Research, 2015). Other similar studies have been conducted and the conclusions drawn have often shown that physical torture doesn’t necessarily lead to its intended result. In other words, the truth being sought out isn’t always divulged. This shows that there’s really no scientific backing to the idea that torture would lead to finding out important information in warfare or criminal cases, let alone mafia-type interrogations.

Though it may seem obvious that the tortured subject, should they survive, would suffer many psychological side-effects, the less obvious truth is that the torturers suffer as well. The tortured person will have to live with the memories of the physical, mental, and emotional pressures exerted on him/her during the process. They recall things like threats to family members or loved ones, have recurring nightmares of certain physical abuse done to them, and bodily scars they must see on a daily basis. The torturer is none the luckier because they too will be mentally and emotionally affected. Some torturers end up having sympathy for some of the people they subject to such cruelty, and that often turns into guilt that later eats them up on the inside. 

Some people who torture others might also get carried away and soon enough blur the lines between torturing as a part of a job and bullying or harming people in real life. Either way, both will inevitably be affected for life, in some form.

Last but most definitely not least, torture is an extremely inhumane act. The very thought of inflicting physical and mental abuse on another human is abysmal, so why should it be any different when it comes to criminals or prisoners of war (POWs). In the name of humanity, we create full campaigns against domestic violence, discrimination and profiling, child abuse, bullying, and any other acts of mishandling others. Why should this be any different? Any infliction of harm is a crime in and of itself, and torture is on the top of the list. No matter how hard some try to twist the fact that torture is abuse on all levels, it can’t be seen as anything else regardless of the intent behind it. All governments should be under international observation and forced to abide by laws protecting people from torture. 

There is no argument convincing enough to show torture in a positive light that can in any way aid or advance humanity. The torture of another human being is inhumane, negatively affects all involved, and guarantees no results. So, to conclude, torture as an interrogation tactic has no scientific validation and therefore should be stopped. Psychology has advanced enough in the last few decades to help offer us alternative, non-violent solutions that achieve torture’s desired results without inflicting such abuse on other humans, and hence, without losing our humanity.