On the definition of torture: The necessity and difficulty of conceptualizing the unlimited production of suffering

Abstract

The definition of torture is far from a simple matter that could be clearly delimited through the difference between this punitive practice and other types of punish-ment. The limits of torture can certainly be elusive in their pursuit of a radical disruption of the human. To address this issue, this article focuses on the subject of characterizing torture through a dual plan. On the one hand, a critical reading of the most commonly used definition, contained in the text of the Convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, will be taken. On the other hand, we will articulate a definition proposal built from three interconnected dimensions that refer to capture (linked directly or indirectly to the public-state structure), uninhabitable (referred to the production of a suffering body without protection) and alterity (related with the unrecognized subjectivities it is projected upon).