This issue deals with historical, legal, social, psychological and political questions relating to torture. It includes a discussion on the legal interpretations of the notion of torture, cruel or inhuman treatment and psychological torture, and analyses the context in which torture occurs and has occurred in the past. While looking at torture from the victims' and society's point of view, it also considers it from the perpetrator's perspective by trying to explain what brings a person to inflict torture. The issue further reflects the torture debate in the United States, particularly after the Abu Ghraib incident.