CCTV footage of the torture and killing of a detainee in a police station in Nakhon Sawan, Thailand, offers a vivid demonstration of what it is that constitutes torture. It serves to remind us that what makes torture wrong is not only moral, but political. It reflects and establishes a political condition in which some people can dominate others. As such, it provides a window onto the social and political order of Thailand — and that of every state whose officers torture.
