Editing Torture (section)

==Definitions==
{{main|Definitions of torture}}
Torture{{efn|From [[Middle Latin]] {{lang|la|tortura}}: {{gloss|pain inflicted by judicial or ecclesiastical authority as a means of persuasion}}, ultimately from a Latin root meaning {{gloss|to twist}}.{{sfn|Whitney|Smith|1897|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=IfBOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA6396 6396]}}}} is defined as the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on someone under the control of the perpetrator.{{sfn|Nowak|2014|pp=396–397}}{{sfn|Carver|Handley|2016|p=38}} The treatment must be inflicted for a specific purpose, such as punishment and forcing the victim to confess or provide information.{{sfn|Nowak|2014|pp=394–395}}{{sfn|Pérez-Sales|2016|pp=96–97}} The definition put forth by the [[United Nations Convention against Torture]] only considers torture carried out by the state.{{sfn|Carver|Handley|2016|pp=37–38}}{{sfn|Nowak|2014|p=392}}{{sfn|Hajjar|2013|p=40}} Most legal systems include agents acting on behalf of the state, and some definitions add [[non-state armed groups]], [[organized crime]], or private individuals working in state-monitored facilities ([[patient abuse|such as hospitals]]). The most expansive definitions encompass anyone as a potential perpetrator.{{sfn|Pérez-Sales|2016|pp=279–280}} Although torture is usually classified as more severe than [[cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment]] (CIDT), the threshold at which treatment can be classified as torture is the most controversial aspect of its definition; the interpretation of torture has broadened over time.{{sfn|Hajjar|2013|p=40}}{{sfn|Carver|Handley|2016|pp=37–38}}{{sfn|Saul|Flanagan|2020|pp=364–365}} Another approach, preferred by scholars such as [[Manfred Nowak]] and [[Malcolm Evans (academic lawyer)|Malcolm Evans]], distinguishes torture from CIDT by considering only the torturer's purpose, and not the severity.{{sfn|Carver|Handley|2016|p=37}}{{sfn|Nowak|2014|p=391}} Other definitions, such as that in the [[Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture]], focus on the torturer's aim "to obliterate the personality of the victim".{{sfn|Pérez-Sales|2016|pp=3, 281}}{{sfn|Wisnewski|2010|pp=73–74}}