It is now more then ten years since the UN Convention against Torture came into force in 1987. Yet, as human rights organizations testify, the practice has by no means been successfully brought to an end. In this wide-ranging volume, some of the world's leading authorities on the subject examine various aspects of the question and assess the positive prospects for change that may now exist.

The contributors look at the state of international law, including the groundbreaking criminal tribunals in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. They survey the continuing existence of torture worldwide, paying special attention to a more thorough understanding of its perpetrators, to the gendered stereotype of the torture victim as a male prisoner of conscience, and to the complex problem of the involvement of non-state actors in torture. They focus on the treatment and rehabilitation of torture and the question of asylum. The concluding Parts examine the current state of the international struggle against torture, including the relatively new institution of truth commissions, as well as the role of NGOs, pressure by governments and public opinion generally.