Torture

TORTURE, a forensic-medical term denoting the intentional, repeated infliction of physical pain by various methods, accompanied by suffering and cruelty. Biologically, the drive for cruelty occupies an intermediate position between the sexual drive and the drive for self-preservation. We encounter it in both animals and humans during attack and defense. Phylogenetically, the tendency toward sexual aggressiveness (see Sadism), respectively toward enduring this cruelty (see Masochism), is sharply fixed. From this point of view, the "drive to master" in the broad sense of the word can also be considered. The law does not define the concept of "torture." According to current legislation, torture is an aggravating circumstance when determining a particular measure of social defense for crimes associated with violent acts involving the infliction of physical pain or bodily injury (Articles 142, part 2; 146, part 2 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR, 1926 edition). From this point of view, torture corresponds to "special cruelty" provided for in Article 47, and the "especially agonizing" method of committing an act provided for in Article 136. "The court must first of all establish that the method of action chosen by the perpetrator was especially agonizing, which can be ascertained from examining the means and their combinations in the execution of the crime, regardless of whether the deceased actually suffered or not. There may be cases where the victim of such an agonizing method of deprivation of life died at the very beginning of its application or lost consciousness and felt nothing, and yet even with such results, the agonizing method of deprivation of life is present" (Criminal Code of the Soviet Republics, commentary 19 to Article 142). Since the court evaluates the method of action according to the signs of torture, suffering, or special cruelty, the physician should only ascertain the special features of the case: the duration or repetition of the violent acts, the nature and degree of physical sensations, etc. Another matter is clarifying the personality of the perpetrator who committed the act with the aforementioned signs. Psychopathological analysis here is highly essential. When considering such cases, the question of the psychopathological development and the structure of the perpetrator's personality, as well as the pathological mechanisms that led to the latter, should always be raised. In addition, it is necessary to keep in mind cases of self-torture and false accusations of torture, especially among individuals prone to fabrication and blackmail.

N. Brukhansky.