" .... torture means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted by or at the instigation of a public official on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or confession, punishing him for an act he has committed, or intimidating him or other persons."
(Article 1, UN Declaration Against Torture, 1975)
"No State may permit or tolerate torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Exceptional circumstances such as a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency may not be invoked as a justification of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."
(Article 3, UN Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 1975)
"The interhuman infliction of significant, avoidable pain and suffering by an organized group according to a declared or implied strategy and/or system of ideas and attitudes. It comprises any violent action that is unacceptable by general human standards and related to the victims' feelings.
Organized violence includes "torture...cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" as in Article 5 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Organized violence includes imprisonment without trial, mock executions, hostage taking, disappearances or any other form of violent deprivation of liberty."
(World Health Organization Concept of Organized Violence)
