So let's look more closely at definitional issues and then return to the apparent excuses which if valid would revamp the charge of evil.
The 1948 universal declaration of human rights says. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The 1975 UN declaration against torture defines torture as any act by which severe pain or suffering, physical or mental is intentionally inflicted by a public official or a person for such purposes as obtaining information, or a confession, punishing him or intimidating him or other persons. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from lawful sanctions to the extent consistent with the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners. It adds, torture constitutes an aggravated and deliberate form of cruel inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In the 1984 UN convention against torture, the following words were deleted to the extent consistent with the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners