A/HRC/13/39/Add.5 detainees I interviewed during my mission to Indonesia, often incarcerated for drug-related crimes, indicated to have been tortured to provide information on their drug suppliers.31 63. Torture is also inflicted on detainees with the aim of extracting intelligence from them, especially in the context of the fight against terrorism. Since 2006, I conducted numerous interviews with former detainees of the United States detention facility in Guantánamo Bay or so-called “black sites”. In many cases, torture was perpetrated by the CIA to gather intelligence on the Al-Qaida network and other terrorist groups. The purpose of using torture on most of the detainees was therefore to extract information on other terrorism suspects and potential plots. (c) Extraction of money and corruption 64. Torture, or the mere threat of it, is very often used to extract money from victims, their families or friends. Such extortion can take place inside or outside a detention setting. 65. Low and irregularly paid salaries, a lack of safeguards against the abuse of power and a certain degree of greed are the main contributing factors which cause officials of the administration of justice to extract money from those whose well-being they should be responsible for. In many countries visited, corruption was an endemic practice and money extracted through the threat of torture was used to top-up the officials’ low wages. The recourse to extortion was perceived to be totally legitimate due to the State’s shortcomings. After all, according to broad opinion, it is because of their criminal activity that the administration of justice has to work. 66. This abuse of power goes so far, that for example in Togo, many detainees I interviewed indicated that they would not be provided with any drinking water unless they paid for it.32 In Indonesia, corruption was found to be “quasi institutionalized”33 and detainees were offered to be “spared” from ill-treatment in return for money. In Paraguay, detainees even had to pay bribes for their “accommodation” in cells.34 (d) Punishment 67. Torture as a form of punishment is mostly inflicted in the context of detention. Detainees who have violated prison rules or may have attempted to escape are often severely punished by physical as well as mental ill-treatment. This was openly acknowledged by the responsible authorities on several occasions such as in Togo, where officers-in-charge admitted to the occasional use of violence, especially when a detainee was suspected of having committed a grave crime or did not obey orders.35 Torture as a punishment is also inflicted in cases in which the victim has been caught red-handed by the police; instead of waiting for a legal sentence by a judge, officers impose the “sentence” they deem appropriate.36 (e) Intimidation and suppression 68. Torture is also inflicted for the purpose of intimidation or suppression in various contexts. Their commonality is that by inflicting torture, the victims and their peers, who 31 32 33 34 35 36 20 A/HRC/7/3/Add.7. A/HRC/7/3/Add.5. A/HRC/7/3/Add.7, para. 37. A/HRC/7/3/Add.3, para. 68. A/HRC/7/3/Add.5. See also chapter III. D. on corporal punishment in this document.