Arguably, there are many ways of extracting some confessions from individuals. As a matter of fact, some nations or even groups inflict pain in order to extract information that they require. During interrogation, torture entails all sorts of methods that do not exactly cause physical pain, but entails tremendous psychological suffering and pain that profoundly causes disruption in the victim's personality. Governments sometime use torture as an indispensable tool of interrogation for collecting strategic intelligence. In most cases, torture is among the most extreme forms of human violence that lead to psychological and physical consequences. In fact, this method of extracting confessions in terms of humanitarian, social and legal system has been used for many decades, and by the look of things it is still spreading, and tend to take place in the entire world. Studies assert that torture has enduring ill-effects on both the perpetrators and survivors and it is mostly ineffective in collecting and obtaining information during interrogation. In general perspective, there are many countries that use torture in order to extract some confusion in terms of social, legal and humanitarian grounds, which has led to ill effects to the victims and perpetrators.
Despite the fact that international codes and law have been put in place to prohibit torture, it is widely in use, which is the reason for internal conflicts, as well as international misunderstanding. Recently, the issue pertaining to torture has stirred tremendous debates with respect to extracting confessions and interrogations. Torture is believed to have long lasting and profound psychological and physical ill-effects (Schulz 291). As a matter of fact, it causes collective ill-effects; this implies that the ill-effects of torture is not only limited to the victim, but goes beyond to affect friends, family members as well as the perpetrators. Based on tremendous study, it is evidence that physical and psychological torture have the same mental effects.
Conversely, one of the main ill-effects of torture is the psychological effects. Many people think of torture in terms of the infliction of unendurable and unimaginable pain. Torture goes beyond this pain; this is because such pain remains in the torture chambers. The most ill-effect is what the victim walks out of the torture chambers with. Despite this ill-effect, torture is still practiced in approximately 50% of the countries in the world; this includes approximately 80% of the G-20 nations. Regardless of the ban, torture is used to make the victim confess based on legal, social, and humanitarian grounds (Reys 591). In is crucial to comprehend that the ill-effects caused by torture take place behind the law. This is because torture has been banned in the global arena. International law has unequivocally and entirely prohibited torture in all circumstances. Moreover, there are various international conventions and laws that assert that torture is a crime that goes against humanity and curtails people rights and freedom.
The ill-effects of torture go beyond the immediate physical pain. Many people who have undergone the torture suffered from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), which entail intrusive thoughts, insomnia, severe anxiety, memory lapses, as well as depression. The study shows that torture causes paramount destruction of the victim's health. The methods used in the torture chambers to make detainees feel responsible for what takes place inside there. In fact, it induces shame, guilt, grief, fear, as well as extreme humiliation (Gerrity 23). Individual who have undergone torture show various characteristics of anxiety disorder. Undeniably, Physicians for Human Right asserts that these sorts of characteristics cause tremendous destruction of the personality and the senses.
Certainly, many negative effects of torture have been documented by many medical practitioners and scholars. One of the ill-effects of torture is the issues of nightmares and sexual dysfunction. In this case, people who have undergone torture are at risks on not enjoying conjugal rights or even getting children. This is because of the torture that one underwent that may cause destruction of sexual organs (Schulz 293). The nightmare that this individual's undergo will always affect their social life, and the life of people within him/her.
The ill-effects of torture surround the life of the victim forever. This includes the familial, economic and psychological functioning. The psychologists who carried out studies with torture victims and Guantanamo reported extreme psychological outcomes. In fact, the results showed a tremendous relationship between torture victims of the Korea, Vietnam, and the WW II. As a matter of fact, ill-effects of torture leads to changes in the body's ability of the victim, especially in responding to stressful situations, this is because of the alteration of stress hormones. Another effect is the changes on attentiveness and arousal. Torture affects the neurotransmitter system of individuals leading to loss of arousal and attention sensitivity (Reys 593).
The ill-effects of torture are interconnected and multidimensional; this is because no part of the torture survivors is untouched. While the physical pain inflicted may disappear after some time, physical effects will forever remain in the life of the victim. In fact, in some extreme ends it may entirely change the physical image of an individual. Torture has physical ill-effects that will always act as a reminder of the actions that took place during the torture. The physical impairments that torture may cause include blindness, amputations, deafness, infectious diseases, malignancies, and poorly healed physical fractures (Gerrity 31). The victims claim that the physical ill-effects of torture are a tangible reminder that will permanently be part of their life, reminding them of the trauma they underwent.
The physical ill-effects of torture is also believed to go beyond what is seen. Most victims of torture who have physical deformities cannot support themselves completely. This will lead to economic and social problems. As a matter of fact, victims of torture cannot focus on looking for economic resources because their ability and strength has been taken away from the torture experience. Socially, the victims cannot socialize due to physical deformities such as amputation, deafness and blindness that were inflicted by torture. Hence, the physical ill-effects are far much reaching that what is physically seen.
Psychological ill-effects that also affect the victim are social withdrawal from the society and total loss of trust of people within them. It is evident that people who survive torture focus on living on their own since they believe that people around them could be perpetrators of torture. In fact, they develop a phobia of many things, especially the fear of betrayal. The victims of torture have also been diagnosed with cognitive impairments and reduced ability to learn. These sorts of changes are a clear indication of how life of an individual who is subjected to torture can be adversely affected. Cognitive impairments affect the victims' ability to formulate ideas, remember, and reason, as well as concentrates (Reys 600). In life, if someone cannot carry out such cognitive functions, then it is evident that such an individual has been converted to be absolute deniable since cognitive functioning controls other human functions.
Torture is taken to be a double edged sword. Perhaps, this is because the victims and perpetrators are both harmed by torture. Studies show that many people who are part of the torture process developed various psychological deviations, and in most cases develop sadistic satisfaction. Torture satisfies the emotions of the perpetrators through painful reaction, pleading and screaming of the victims, but this reaction affects them adversely (Gerrity 43). It is evident that torture is an inhuman act that should not be justified at all. In fact, in some occasions the use of torture to extract confessions based on legal, humanitarian and social grounds may not lead to correct information. Therefore, the ill-effects that torture causes are far reaching as much compared to the real intention of torture or the outcomes of torture.
In conclusion, the ill-effects of torture affect both the victim and the perpetrators. These ill-effects include psychological, physical, emotional, social, and cognitive. The most critically ill effects are the psychological effects; this is because it goes beyond the wall of torture chambers. The aftermath of torture is mostly associated with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). The stakeholders should focus on ways to extract confession instead of using torture, in fact, alternative and productive strategies need to be implemented. Torture has been legalized in the world, but many countries still use torture as a way of extracting information and confessions. Responsible stakeholders should ensure that the international laws and rules are followed.
Work Cited
Gerrity, Ellen. The Mental Health Consequences of Torture. New York, NY [u.a.: Kluwer, 2001. Print.
Reys, Hernan. The Worst Scars are in the Mind: Psychological Torture. International Review of the Red Cross. Vol 89 Issue 867, September 2007, 591-615
Schulz, William F. The Phenomenon of Torture: Readings and Commentary. Philadelphia: Penn, 2007. Print.
