Ethical and Psychiatric Aspects of Torture: A Canadian Study

In the last two decades widespread use of torture by totalitarian governments has been reported in over 60 countries. This situation concerns physicians who are sometimes called upon to see the victims. This paper reports the psychiatric findings in a group of 41 Latin American refugees who arrived in Canada from 1977 to 1979 and alleged to have been subjected to political persecution and torture under the military rulers of their own countries. Most of them, young educated men, were apprehended violently and imprisoned under conditions below the minimum international standards. Systematic physical and psychological torture was the rule, including blindfolding, beatings, electrical shocks, sexual abuse and threats of execution or sham executions. These experiences were followed by a cluster of psychiatric symptoms and physical evidence of trauma compatible with the history given. This pattern constitutes the torture syndrome included under category 308 and 309 of the DSM-III and ICD-9. The alleged professional conduct of 19 doctors who saw 21 of these patients is discussed. A list of codes of medical ethics, intended to guide and protect doctors confronted with this difficult problem, is included.