• To break down the personalities of individuals viewed as threats to authoritarian regimes
• To terrorize and/or destroy entire communities, including ethnic, religious, and political or apolitical groups

Q:  Who are the people who torture?
A:  Torturers may include the police, the military, paramilitary forces, state controlled counter-guerrilla forces, prison officers, members of death squads, health professionals, opposition forces or any government official.

It is TASSC's belief that those who torture, those who give the orders to torture, and those who manufacture the implements of torture are all torturers  since they are part of the torture process.   While some torturers derive satisfaction from inflicting pain, it is more likely that they are "just doing a job,"-- a job that many have received training to do effectively.  Those who order torture are among the most powerful and often the most prominent leaders in the society.  Regardless of their high status, they are still torturers.

Q:  What are some methods of torture?
A:  Although torture is practiced in diverse areas of the world, the methods and techniques employed are remarkably similar

• Asphyxiation: the submersion of the head in water, contaminated water or liquid containing feces and other waste; strapping the head into a plastic bag filled with chemicals that the victim is forced to inhale (examples of this technique include:  water-boarding, water pit, etc.)
• Burning:  Using cigarettes, cigars or red–hot iron bars
• Electric Shock:  Using cattle prods or multiple electrodes which shock various parts of the body (for example, genitals, tongue, teeth, ears, and the head
• Falanga:  Prolonged beatings of the soles of the feet
• Sexual torture:  Rape and/or electric shocks to the genitals, forced pregnancy
• Forced witness and/or participation in the torture, rape, and/or execution of others
• Mock execution
• Sensory deprivation: Long-term interrogation, sleep, water, and food deprivation
• Stress positions: Standing for long periods of time, hanging the person by the arms or legs from a hook or a rope from the ceiling, short-shacking
• Solitary confinement
• Threats against family members and close acquaintances
• Use of hallucinogenic drugs
• Dog attacks

Q:  Who are the tortured?
A:  The tortured are both the apolitical and the politicized.  Prisoners of war and civilians alike suffer torture.  They include, among others, children, the physically disabled, farmers, leaders of ethnic minorities, student leaders, journalists, religious workers, teachers, lawyers, doctors and nurses.  No ethnicity, gender, age, class, profession, religion, sexual orientation, or political belief guarantees exemption from torture.

Q:  Where do survivors live?
A:  Torture survivors live all over the world.  Many have fled into exile after their ordeals.  Others have remained in their countries of origin or in refugee camps or detention centers.

Survivors of torture may be working in offices beside us, cleaning our homes, and caring for our children, attending the same schools, universities, churches, or simply sitting next to us on the bus.

Q:  How many torture survivors are there in the world?
A:  It is estimated that nearly half a million torture survivors live in the United States alone.  The total number of torture survivors worldwide is difficult to assess, for survivors often remain silent about their past, some out of fear or continued persecution and others because of unwarranted feelings of shame or a belief that no one would understand if they did speak about what had been done.   

Q:  Does one ever "get over" having been tortured?
A:  The tortured Austrian philosopher, Jean Amery Jean Amery said it well, "Anyone who has been tortured remains tortured. Anyone who has suffered torture never again will be at ease in the world…faith in humanity, already cracked by the first slap in the face, then demolished by torture is never acquired again."

Survivors are profoundly marked by their experiences.  The psychological effects often include but are not limited to the following:

• Recurrent and intrusive nightmares
• Insomnia
• Intense fear of sleep and the dark
• Flashbacks
• Chronic anxiety
• Depression
• Feelings of betrayal
• Survivor's guilt
• Difficulty in trusting others
• Fear of people in uniform (e.g. police officers, physicians, etc.)
•  Withdrawal
• Suicidal thoughts
• Sense of powerlessness and lack of control in one's life
• Problems with concentration and memory

Q:  What are some of the long-term physical effects of torture?
A:  The consequences of torture are multidimensional and interconnected. No part of the survivor's life is untouched.  While the effects of the physical pain that was suffered diminish over time, lasting physical impairments resulting from torture, such as amputation, hearing loss, blindness, muscle impairment, inability to bear children, sexual dysfunction, sexually transmitted diseases, scars, and poorly healed fractures are permanent reminders of the trauma suffered.

Q:  What can I do to abolish torture?

• Become familiar with the issue of torture
• Contact and/or visit your local Members of Congress and urge them to support TASSC's Campaign to Repeal the Military Commissions Act of 2006, MCA (aka The Torture Law)
• Invite a torture survivor to speak at your church, your school, etc.
• Hold a "Get Up-Stand Up" house meeting where you and your friends can discuss concrete ways that you can support the Campaign to Repeal the MCA of 2006. 

Q:  How can I support torture survivors?
A:  Many torture survivors were told by their torturers:  "If you survive to tell others what happened to you, no one will believe you.  No one will care."

     Show that you care by:

• Providing support for TASSC's Helping Hands PrograM
• "Adopting" a survivor
• Supporting local treatment centers in your area
• Holding a "Get Up-Stand Up" house meeting where you and your friends can discuss concrete ways that you can offer support to those who have been tortured