Lessons From the Spanish Inquisition

Type:

Book Chapter

Author:

Ron E. Hassner

Published:

2022

Publisher:

Cornell University Press

This chapter draws on two types of sources for information about contemporary torture. It cites from the testimonies of junior interrogators, who took an active part in torture, to establish current torture practices. The chapter also draws on this second source, high-ranking intelligence officials, whenever their testimonies are in broad agreement with one another or where their statements about torture run counter to, or are neutral with respect to, their organizational preference. The chapter hopes to show that what little we know about contemporary torture confirms some of the patterns that emerge from the author's analysis of the Spanish Inquisition. As the chapter suggests, information about contemporary torture is sparse and untrustworthy. The chapter concludes with a note of caution: there is a lot more about contemporary torture that we do not know than we do know. It then argues that such utilitarian claims are also an unhelpful distraction from the moral problem of torture.

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