Citation

Martirena G. J. Med. Ethics 1991; 17(Suppl): 23-25.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1991, BMJ Publishing Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

11651122

Abstract

For those who live in the Third World, the subject we are going to discuss constitutes a brutal and indelible experience. Those people in the modern world who think of torture as being a simple instrument of power evolved by ambitious groups of the elite in our communities are making a big mistake. Torture is a deliberate and anonymous act of authoritarianism by the state, carried out to maintain its total domination and to attain through foul means the realisation of its ideology for the country, without allowing the various sectors of the society as a whole to express their opinions....May 1990: the countries of Latin America appear to the world as free and democratic. Yet, for those of us who live there, the democratic regime is so protected that the authoritarian leaders can maintain their organisation and armed forces. Over the last few years, those possessed by the gift of power, who violated and mutilated human rights, have begun to show traces of legality: impunity, lapses in the punitive power of the state, just obedience, amnesty, reprieves....

Language: en