>Here in Frankfurt a not so far in the past was a case of an abducted child. Police only threatened the kidnapper with "torture" to get an idea where the kid was, not knowing if he was alive. The kidnapper showed them where the dead body was.
>
>There is still some legal wrangling over all this (the interviewer stood by his decision and had to go, the kidnapper i AFAIK is still mounting legal proceedings) and I know that there are a few imaginable other situations:
>
>The kidnapper being "tortured" and they find the kid alive
>The kidnapper being "tortured" and keeping quit
>Somebody innocent being tortured and having no idea where to send them to find the kid
>
>Now imagine it would have been your kid.

The idea that 'torture doesn't work' is to some extent true if you are trying to get someone to betray their core beleifs. POWs, political prisoners, But those who commit crime out of self-loathing and weakness ( and this includes a great deal of the fringe element drawn to radical political action ) break very quickly when met with determination and the absolute certainty that the interrogator will stop at *nothing* to obtain the information.

>
>>Sure, tickle his feet all you want, but don't start ripping out his nails. The truth is that torture has been shown over and over to be an unreliable method of obtaining valid information. It says more about the torturer than the victim afaic.
>>