July 16, 1999

In the War Against Torture, of What Use Is a Dispassionate Definition of Terms?

By ROBERT THURSTON

At a recent scholarly conference, analysis was overwhelmed by eloquence and passion

Torture, according to Amnesty International, occurs in more than 100 countries each year; in 60 of those, it is a recurrent phenomenon. As we struggle with why some people consider it necessary and proper to inflict pain on others, we confront the difficulty of defining the central term. Without a usable definition of torture,

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