It's easy to overlook torture. After all, most of us have never seen torture taking place, and most of us never will. Most of us will be lucky enough to escape being made to suffer in order to serve the will of another.

Torturers are counting on the general public, the non-tortured, to remain silent. They need our indifference to give safe space for their abuses. They're betting that because torture has never happened to us personally, we won't care enough to stop it from happening to other people.

Any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him, or a third person, information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in, or incidental to, lawful sanctions."[1] In addition to state-sponsored torture, individuals or groups may be motivated to inflict torture on others for similar reasons to those of a state; however, the motive for torture can also be for the sadistic gratification of the torturer.