Rethinking Torture: A Foucauldian Critique on Justification of Interrogational Torture

Many jurists and politicians insist on justifying the use of torture. In this paper I will analyze the results of the detention and interrogation program of CIA, set up in 2002 to investigate and prevent future terrorist attacks. I will demonstrate, using Foucault’s methodology for the analysis of power, that the use of largescale torture, regardless of any justification, serves the purpose of imposing control over unsubmissive populations in complex political scenarios. My conclusions indicate the need to change the way we study the torture to, from a better understanding of the phenomenon, make decisions more efficient on how to fight it.

KEYWORDS: Interrogational torture; Justification; Biopolitcs;