Editing Torture (section)

===Punishment===
[[File:China; the mutilated body of a man who had been dismembered Wellcome V0031254.jpg|thumb|The mutilated body of a man who was [[dismembered]] during the [[Boxer Rebellion]]]]
Torture for punishment dates back to antiquity and is still employed in the twenty-first century.{{sfn|Hajjar|2013|p=14}}
A common practice in countries with dysfunctional justice systems or overcrowded prisons is for police to apprehend suspects, torture them, and release them without a charge.{{sfn|Oette|2021|p=331}}{{sfn|Kelly ''et al.''|2020|p=73}} Such torture could be performed in a police station,{{sfn|Celermajer|2018|pp=167–168}} the victim's home, or a public place.{{sfn|Jensena ''et al.''|2017|pp=404, 408}} In South Africa, the police have been observed handing suspects over to [[vigilantes]] to be tortured.{{sfn|Kelly ''et al.''|2020|p=75}} This type of extrajudicial violence is often carried out in public to deter others. It discriminatorily targets minorities and marginalized groups and may be supported by the public, especially if people do not trust the official justice system.{{sfn|Kelly ''et al.''|2020|p=74}}

The classification of [[judicial corporal punishment]] as torture is internationally controversial, although it is explicitly prohibited under the [[Geneva Conventions]].{{sfn|Nowak|2014|pp=408–409}} Some authors, such as [[John D. Bessler]], argue that capital punishment is inherently a form of torture carried out for punishment.{{sfn|Nowak|2014|p=393}}{{sfn|Bessler|2018|p=3}} Executions may be carried out in brutal ways, such as [[stoning]], [[death by burning]], or dismemberment.{{sfn|Quiroga|Modvig|2020|pp=414, 422, 427}} The [[death row phenomenon|psychological harm of capital punishment]] is sometimes considered a form of psychological torture.{{sfn|Bessler|2018|p=33}} Others do not consider corporal punishment with a fixed penalty to be torture, as it does not seek to break the victim's will.{{sfn|Evans|2020|loc=The Definition of Torture}}