Toward the Prevention of Torture

Over the past three months,The Journalhas published several articles dealing with human torture, from ancient times to the present day. Some of the information was so detailed and graphic that it caused some readers extreme discomfort. Some documentation was not as rigorous as that which we require for our usual scientific and clinical articles, but studies of abuses such as state-sponsored cruelty cannot be subjected to the same standards as controlled laboratory experiments. We believe that the evidence from various sources, published here and elsewhere, demonstrates conclusively that physicians have played many roles in the torture and systematic abuse on which too many of the world's governments rely to maintain their power. 1-4 The great importance of the subject to those within and outside the medical community requires that responsible reports be widely disseminated. The Journalhas a great ethical heritage and prides itself on its broad consideration