Why torture must not be sanctioned by the United States.

In the wake of September 11th, many people in the United States believethat torture is justifiable in the name of national security. A recent publicopinion poll indicated that one in three Americans believegovernment-sanctioned torture of suspected terrorists is an acceptable meansof gatheringinformation.1 Asphysicians, we have spent our professional lives documenting medical evidenceof torture and caring for torture survivors. In the course of our work, wehave encountered hundreds of individuals who have suffered unspeakable painand degradation at the hands of government authorities throughout the world.Our experiences documenting the effects of these practices have clearly shownus that torture does not make any one person or society safer or moresecure.