The tragedy of torture: a global concern for mental health nursing

Torture, a tool of aggressive political regimes, exists in over 100 nations around the world and, as documented in archaeological evidence, has been a part of the dark side of human history, since at least 1500 B.C. In 1864, the first Geneva Convention aimed at protecting wounded soldiers in wartime, and 120 years later, in 1984, the United Nations adopted a specific Convention against Torture. Earlier, in 1975, nurses, through the International Council of Nursing (ICN), adopted a position on caring for people who had been tortured. Danish nurses and physicians have been leaders in advocating the elimination of torture in the world. Yet, nurses in the United States, until the adoption of a resolution by the American Academy of Nurses, October, 2001, had been quite silent about this human pain. With the tragedy of 9/11 still fresh in our minds, nurses are urged to be vigilant in curtailing any torture of prisoners associated with this event. Treatment plans for victims follow many of the interventions used with posttraumatic stress disorder, yet there are unique differences as well.