As the person is not assaulted, the reasoning goes, the ‘‘severity of pain and suffering’’ criterion (here meaning physical only) is not met. This line of
argumentation is effectively used to manipulate wider public opinion, which has largely come to consider torture to be mainly a ‘‘physical phenomenon’’, thus accepting the (flawed) reasoning that without physical assault there is no torture.The psychological effects of torture – that is, of all methods combined, both physical and psychological, described in detail in the Istanbul Protocol and many other medical publications – are well known.39
Those most frequently encountered are
re-experiencing the trauma (flashbacks, nightmares, stress reactions, mistrust
– even of family members – bordering on paranoia);
avoidance of anything recalling the torture experience (also called emotional
numbing);
hyper-arousal (irritability, sleep difficulties, hyper-vigilance, constant anxiety,
difficulties in concentrating);
depressive symptoms, and what is known as depersonalization (acknowledged atypical behaviour, feeling detached from one’s body).