We study torture as a mechanism for extracting information from a suspect who may or may not be informed. We show that a standard rationale for torture generates two commitment problems. First, the principal would benefit from a commitment to torture a victim he knows to be innocent. Second, the principal would benefit from a commitment to limit the amount of torture faced by the guilty. We ana...

Introduction The documentation of torture inside a prison raises a certain number of issues specific to the fact that those people interviewed are still in custody. Quite obviously, there will be pitfalls to avoid, and safeguards to ensure, that will not be present when documenting torture within the relative safety and calm of a centre for torture survivors. In a prison, the prisoners who have...

Doctors from both non-democratic and democratic countries are involved in torture. The majority of doctors involved in torture are doctors at risk. Doctors at risk might compromise their ethical duty towards patients for the following possible reasons: individual factors (such as career, economic or ideological reasons), threats, orders from a higher ranking officer, political initiatives, work...

This qualitative study describes how immigrant survivors of torture in the United States built relationships among each other to form a psychological sense of community. Eight men and seven women from 11 different countries were recruited through a torture treatment center and a survivor-led advocacy and support coalition. This qualitative study explored how participants described their experie...

We study torture as a mechanism for extracting information from a suspect who may or may not be informed. We show that a standard rationale for torture generates two commitment problems. First, the principal would benefit from a commitment to torture a victim he knows to be innocent. Second, the principal would benefit from a commitment to limit the amount of torture faced by the guilty. We ana...

Ticlopidine, Trials, and "Torture" To the Editor: The title of the editorial by van Gijn and Algra, "Ticlopidine, Trials, and Torture," may leave the impression that real torture is a phenomenon of the distant, cruel past, and that the word "torture" can now be used to describe any misconduct towards persons or, as in this case, scientific data. Torture, however, is a sad and unacceptable reali...

BACKGROUND The National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs conducted a large voluntary research project among torture rehabilitation centers in the United States (US). Its goal is to fill the void in the literature on demographic and diagnostic data of torture survivors across a large country. METHODS Twenty-three centers across the US collaborated over six years, utilizing training and...

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS To increase awareness of torture among otolaryngologists, and to describe methods and complications of head and neck torture. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective review. METHODS Five cases of survivors of torture were evaluated in an otolaryngology practice in an urban hospital setting. RESULTS The subjects presented with widely variable symptoms and physical manifestations r...

Current knowledge about doctor participation in torture was reviewed at the symposium Torture and the Medical Profession. This particular topic has received increasing attention during the last few years, and the meeting may be seen as one in a series, following particularly Doctors, Ethics, and Torture in Copenhagen, 1986 and Physicians, Ethics, and Torture in Montevideo 1987 (1,2). The backgr...

We study torture as a mechanism for extracting information from a suspect whomay or may not be informed. We show that a standard rationale for torture generates two commitment problems. First, the principal would benefit from a commitment to torture a suspect he knows to be innocent. Second, the principal would benefit from a commitment to limit the amount of torture faced by the guilty. We ana...