One idea that was discussed at the Lumet/Fontana Forum was the spiritual and moral consequences that the torturer must inevitably endure by having to engage in acts of torture. The torturer, invariably, becomes less human.
Even if one accepts the argument that torture, in some limited circumstances, can be justified on moral grounds because it might save the lives of thousands more without having to actually kill the person who is being subjected to torture, it is not without a moral cost to both the torturer, and to the society who has granted him the license to engage in such acts.
