By Daniel Pearson

Most Americans can’t imagine being held prisoner by a foreign government, cut off from outside communication and then tortured.

But the truth is torture and/or "ill treatment" -– as defined by the U.N. Convention Against Torture -– by state officials occurs in more than 150 countries including the U.S, according to a new report by Amnesty International USA.

"Torture is an affront to human dignity that can never be justified and must be stopped in every corner of the world," said William Schulz, executive director of Amnesty International. "Those who try to justify torture are as guilty as those who inflict the beatings, electric shocks, rapes, or mock executions."

On October 18, Amnesty launched a new Web site -- FAST (Fast Action Stops Torture) -- to get the attention of government officials as torture happens and mobilize efforts to stop it faster than ever before.

"With a couple of mouse clicks we can send off messages to government officials," said Joe Baker, director of Internet communications for Amnesty International's U.S. offices. "New technology really speeds up the process and gives us a way to take action quickly."

It has been difficult for groups such as Amnesty to fight torture where it happens. Governments often don't acknowledge when their police have detained someone, and mobilizing human rights supporters scattered around the globe is a difficult task at best.

In the past the only way to gain the attention of government officials and the public was to send out messages via telex, telegram, press release or mail campaigns. Now Amnesty International’s Urgent Action Network coupled with the FAST site will expedite this process.

"It will help enable us to put a stop to government torture within a few hours of notification," Baker said. "To have these pieces in place so we can take immediate action is an invaluable tool."

Supporters can join FAST by registering on the site. When Amnesty International learns someone is under "imminent threat," FAST will alert its network of people via e-mail, pagers and cell phones with instructions to sign and send electronic protest letters. Within hours of the original alert torture practices can be exposed and hopefully ended though the publicity generated by worldwide attention.

"Victims of torture and ill treatment often come from the poorest or most marginalized sectors of society," an executive summary of Amnesty International's "Torture Worldwide: An Affront to Human Dignity" report states. "Torture feeds off discrimination; it is easier for the torturer to inflict pain on someone who is from a vulnerable social, ethnic or political group."

Amnesty International monitors policing in many countries and it finds what it calls a clear relationship between racism by law enforcement officials and acts of torture.

"Many victims of police brutality in Europe and the U.S. are people of color, while across Europe, Roma people are commonly viewed as criminals and subjected to beatings," the report says.

The report also finds: