According to international law, torture is defined as "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person in order to obtain information or a confession.” Normally, we think that such activities only exist under oppressive regimes like North Korea. But as the recent example of CIA operatives destroying videotapes of their torturing of Guantanamo detainees makes clear, these activities are being perpetrated by the U.S. as well.
