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Originally Posted by pan6467
Ah, but some will say pain in any aspect is torture. Nowhere did I say anything about withholding sleep for 72 hours.
I am simply stating my view on what I accept on torture maybe very different than another's. Thus if I answered "I don't believe in torture" and later I say, "I believe withholding a day's rations and some sleep truly acceptable".... I may have 5 people here jumping on me telling me how I just approved torture. And I am sure there would be some who would agree with me that that is not torture.
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To some extent, torture is like porn. It's hard to define, but you know it when you see it.
When someone is in custody - either someone accused of a crime awaiting trial, someone incarcerated as punishment for their crimes, or a prisoner of war, the authority imprisoning them is supposed to abide by basic rules. You are supposed to provide them with the basic necessities of life. You aren't supposed to mistreat them, or threaten to mistreat them. This is basic to any civilized society. Guidelines like the ones quoted above are useful, but really, it's impossible to be exhaustive. If you enumerate 100 methods of torture, someone is going to come up with method 101. So in the end, you *have* to go to intent, and how it makes the person feel. Did you inflict pain on the person, or put them under extreme duress? Did you try to extract a confession, or information beyond the standard 'name, rank serial number'? Did you fail to provide for their basic needs?
I actually just finished (re-re-re-) reading a great story by Louis McMaster Bujold - "The Borders of Infinity", part of her Miles Vorkosigan series. A great story. One of the key aspects of the story is that The Bad Guys have taken several thousand prisoners of war. Instead of housing them in cells, they simply put them all in a giant, temperature-controlled force-field. Each prisoner is given clothes, a sleeping mat, and a cup for water. There are water fountains and sanitary facilities scattered around. Food is delivered three times a day. Every letter of the laws regarding treatment of prisoners of war is followed. It sounds like no torture is going on - except the situation is inhumane in the extreme. Bored prisoners form gangs that beat up weaker groups and individuals, steal their clothes and sleeping mats. Rape any unprotected women. The food is delivered right on time - but only to one place, all in a huge pile - so every meal time, there is a riot as bullies grab all the food they can and hoard it. No matter how many rules you make, someone will always find a new, creative way to inflict suffering. So the rules have to be vague and open to interpretation.