Washington, DC, 28 June 2025 —
Torture is defined, under the UN Convention Against Torture, as the intentional infliction of severe physical or mental pain or suffering for purposes such as obtaining information, punishment, intimidation, or coercion, when done by or with the consent of public officials. Despite international laws prohibiting torture, many governments around the world continue to engage in or tacitly support the practice, often in the name of national security, counterterrorism, or political control. While some countries overtly use torture as a tool of repression, others outsource it through covert programs like the United States’ “extraordinary rendition.” Rendition is state-sanctioned torture.
The Perpetuation of Torture
Several factors contribute to the persistence of torture globally. Weak enforcement of international treaties is a leading contributing factor to the perpetuation of torture. State secrecy and national security exceptions allow governments to camouflage torture practices. Some governments do not bother to hide it, and torture via political repression, using authoritarian tactics. Foreign complicity also plays a significant role, as seen in rendition programs or aid to regimes that torture.
More than 170 countries have ratified the UN Convention Against Torture, yet enforcement remains uneven and impunity widespread. Syria has long been considered one of the worst offenders. The Assad regime, especially during the ongoing civil war, used torture systematically in intelligence facilities and prisons. Human rights organizations, including The Genocide Report, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International, have documented horrific practices in places like Sednaya Prison, where detainees were tortured, beaten, electrocuted, and starved.
China has been accused of using torture both as a tool of criminal interrogation and political suppression. In Xinjiang, reports indicate that Uighur Muslims have been subjected to forced confessions, sleep deprivation, and sexual violence in so-called “re-education camps.” The Chinese government denies these allegations, calling them internal matters or anti-China propaganda.
Torture has been institutionalized within Egypt’s security and police forces. Since the 2013 military coup, there have been numerous reports of beatings, electric shocks, and other abuses, especially against political prisoners and activists. Despite these practices, Egypt continues to receive military aid from Western allies.
Torture in Iran is frequently used against political dissidents, journalists, and protesters. Common methods include whipping, mock executions, and prolonged solitary confinement. Detainees from the 2022 – 2023 protests reported brutal interrogations and coerced confessions.
Russia’s security services have been implicated in torture both within its borders and in occupied territories, such as Chechnya and, more recently, Ukraine. Documented practices include electrocution, suffocation, and beatings, often in unofficial detention centers known as “filtration camps.”
Extraordinary Rendition
Though the United States officially prohibits torture, it has played a significant role in facilitating it through “extraordinary rendition.” Extraordinary rendition refers to the covert practice by which governments transfer suspected terrorists, or other persons of interest, to foreign countries for detention and interrogation, often bypassing legal extradition procedures. This practice gained international attention for its secretive nature and use of torture in foreign prisons, prompting heated debates and public outcry over national security, human rights, and the rule of law.
Extraordinary rendition undermines international law, particularly the United Nations Convention Against Torture, which prohibits transferring individuals to countries where they face a substantial risk of torture. Legal scholars question the practice’s constitutionality, noting that it bypasses habeas corpus rights and violates principles of due process. Human rights organizations have documented numerous cases where detainees reported abuse, lack of due process, and indefinite detention without trial. Courts in the US have largely avoided direct rulings on rendition cases, often citing the “state secrets” doctrine, which limits judicial review of matters considered vital to national security.
While some US officials have acknowledged the use of rendition, accountability has been limited to non-existent. The 2014 Senate Intelligence Committee Report partially declassified details of the CIA’s torture program, concluding it was both inhumane and ineffective, but no criminal charges were filed.
Although its use has reportedly declined under later US administrations, extraordinary rendition remains a potent symbol of the imbalance between national security and civil liberties. The lack of transparency and accountability surrounding the program continues to raise questions about the erosion of international norms and the moral compromises made in the name of security.
CIA Black Sites
The US CIA operated secret prisons, or “black sites,” in countries like Poland, Lithuania, Thailand, and Afghanistan. Detainees were subjected to “enhanced interrogation techniques” such as waterboarding, stress positions, and sensory deprivation, which many legal experts classify as torture.
Two accounts of US rendition, brought to public scrutiny, were those of Maher Arar and Khalid El-Masri. Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen, was detained by US authorities in 2002 and sent to Syria, where he was held for nearly a year and subjected to torture. A Canadian inquiry later exonerated him and awarded compensation, though the US never admitted wrongdoing. Khalid El-Masri, a German citizen, was mistakenly identified as a terrorist and abducted by the CIA. He was held in Afghanistan for months before being released without charges. The European Court of Human Rights later ruled his detention unlawful.
Several European countries were implicated for allowing rendition flights to pass through their airspace or for hosting CIA “black sites.” The European Parliament condemned the practice in 2006, urging greater transparency and accountability.
Meanwhile, some governments have defended rendition as a necessary tool in an asymmetric war, arguing that traditional law enforcement mechanisms are inadequate to counter non-state actors engaged in terrorism. But let’s face it… Anyone will confess to anything when they are being tortured, just to make it stop. Extraordinary rendition exists at the murky intersection of law, ethics, and geopolitics. It highlights the dangers of operating in legal gray zones, where the urgency of security may overshadow the commitment to human rights.
Global Perspective
Torture remains one of the gravest human rights violations still widely practiced by governments across ideological spectrums. While regimes like Syria and China use torture domestically as a tool of repression, democracies like the United States have undermined global norms by justifying or outsourcing torture by resorting to indirect participation through extraordinary rendition and black sites. This erosion of accountability can embolden other governments and weaken the moral authority of international institutions. Eliminating torture requires not only legal prohibitions but also political will, transparency, and a commitment to universal human dignity.
Photo credit: The Garden of Good and Evil by amandabslater. Licensed under CC BY SA 2.0. The Garden of Good and Evil ~ Alfredo Jaar, 2017. The steel cells reference “black sites,” the secret detention facilities around the world operated by the US CIA. The structures are partly obscured from view, in the same way as the “black sites,” and the torturous activity happening is hidden from public view. The cells have a one-square-meter base inspired by the poem, “One Square Metre of Prison” by the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, who was imprisoned many times and spent much of his life in exile.
Lara Kajs is the founder and executive director of The Genocide Report, an NGO nonprofit organization in Washington, DC. She is the author of Assad’s Syria, and Stories from Yemen: A Diary from the Field, available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple Books, and independent bookstores worldwide. Distributed by Ingram. Ms. Kajs frequently speaks about atrocity crimes, forced displacement, and International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Follow and connect with Lara Kajs on Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, and Bluesky.