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Hossein Raeisi

Torture is one of the shameful achievements of humanity that, due to its placement between the power dynamics of the ruling authority and the social body, has always been present in various forms in the power structure. The more corrupt, undemocratic, and unstable the ruling power is, the more effective torture will be for it.

Due to the immoral and conflicting nature of any form of abuse towards the dignity and human rights of a victim, it is absolutely prohibited. The use of torture, even towards criminals or offenders, only changes the label of the perpetrator. This means that no ethical or legitimate action can be justified by an illegal act (torture), and it is not acceptable in any legal, ethical, or moral sense. The torturer is a criminal who serves their own ideological or professional goals. It does not matter if they achieve their goal through fear or intimidation, artificial execution, sexual abuse, or any other means. Whether it is for the so-called “rescue” of others or for futile and wrongful reasons, it is all wrong and has no value in legal and ethical literature, as well as in the eyes of human dignity and equality.

Torture in legal literature refers to various forms of inflicting pain and suffering on the victim or their associates in order to obtain information, perform a task, or to punish them for their actions, which can have a detrimental effect on their mental, physical, or moral well-being. The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 1984, which defines torture in Article 1 as: “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

Based on this convention and interpretations made by the United Nations, the prohibition of torture is “absolutely prohibited” in all circumstances against all individuals suspected of committing a crime or as punishment. This prohibition is “non-derogable and cannot be justified by invoking domestic law” and is considered a “peremptory norm of international law” that must be respected by all countries. It is also recognized as a crime against humanity in the Statute of the International Criminal Court (Article 7 of the Rome Statute).

With the explicit and permanent prohibition of torture in its various forms, today sometimes in the face of torturers and some victims, words serve the executioner. Torture is declared appropriate and desirable for extracting important information and the victim’s (according to the executioner’s or historian’s perception) being a troublemaker gives the torturer a moral and legal justification. While words may sometimes betray, the truth does not change with their betrayal. The nature of torture in the age of security and in immoral and uniform conditions.

Creativity has never resulted in solving crises or providing public goods through the use of force; even if such an event cannot be justified by a corrupt act, it always reveals corruption and destruction in the structure of the system that seeks to torture and supports torturers. Giving legitimacy to such a structure through the use of interests, security, or seemingly legal or divine punishments will never change the position of torturers as criminals, even if they perform their duties or enforce regulations, even divine ones. It does not matter if it is a doctor who turns a blind eye to torture and, for example, blinds someone as retribution, or if they use cables and whips to restrain a bomb maker; they are all responsible for their actions, whether in a position of power or in a state of subjugation and submission to power.

As a result, torture, whether in the form of punishment such as cutting off limbs or whipping, or in the form of obtaining even vital and important information, is not justified. Valuing futile actions and turning a blind eye to the basic human rights is unacceptable.