Torture
By Andrew Impey
Defined by law as "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or emotional, is indirectly inflicted on a state for such purposes as obtaining information…”. It’s probably the oldest method of extracting the truth from someone and arguably one of the most effective.As far as the Romans were concerned, a slave’s testimony was only admissible if it had been extracted through torture, based on the fact that slaves weren’t to be trusted. Much of the ancient and medieval torture was carried out on people already assumed to be guilty and therefore bodily harm was a given as it was assumed they would eventually be executed anyway.
Methods of torture are varied and the devices that have been used over the centuries to inflict the pain were often gruesome. Be it whipping, stretching, burning, abusing or just simple beating, it was generally only a matter of time as to when people would submit and relinquish their secrets.
Many of us would like to believe that torture is largely a thing of the past but unfortunately that is far from the truth. The Geneva Convention and organisations such as Amnesty International do at least mean that future incidents shouldn’t go unchecked in most countries; although the recent embarrassing revelations about rendition flights indicate that the system isn’t completely faultless.Effectiveness
Unless you are James Bond, eventually the truth will come out. Everyone has a pain threshold, mine’s located somewhere between the word’s ‘fetch’ and ‘scalpel’. 5/5
Ethics
Hard to defend this one as most methods are utterly brutal with the express aim of causing pain. 0/5
How to get out of it
If you can come up with a damn good story, preferably one that is eminently plausible, you may be able to fool your tormentors. However, if all else fails, try bribery - everyone has their price.
Back to Top Ten Ways to Get the Truth
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