ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to elaborate a comprehensive understanding of torture, which might also function as a workable conceptual tool to initiate a meaningful dialogue between psychoanalysis and human rights. It concerns the topic of torture in three fields of inquiry: the responsibility of perpetrators of torture; the issue of reparation for survivors; the problem of 'truth'. G. Mettraux analyzes each element of such a doctrine: the underlying offence, the issue of causation, the superior–subordinate relation, effective control and mens rea. In Argentina, for instance, the defence of superior orders had actually been legally established by the 1987 'Due Obedience Law' and applied to all but the highest military officers. Restitution takes two main forms: material and legal. Material restitution is the most common within state practice and may involve the liberation of individuals who are illegally seized or detained, the restoration of property or of territory illegally taken or occupied, and the return of property.
