ABSTRACT
The social nature of the torturer's world explains why it is so difficult for individuals to exit from the group. Probably all ex-torturers who have spoken out about their experience have at one time or another feared being killed by their former colleagues. The torturers who focused on the Argentinian pianist's hands could just as easily be zealots, coolly tailoring their torture to gain maximum advantage, or professionals using threats that exert maximum pressure. The skilled torturer can reach the breaking point sooner than the incompetent one. Resistance and compliance, innocence and guilt, might be irrelevant for the ultimate fate of the victim who stands alone facing a group of torturers. The information, the confessions, and, ultimately, the broken people, are the end products of the torturer's work. Sometimes torturers even use human rights language as Orwellian newspeak for their torture.
