What about deniable encryption, where you can give them a key that decrypts the ciphertext to innocuous stuff while concealing the real key that decrypts to the real plaintext? What does the crowbar do for the attacker then?
"Perpetrators often attempt to justify their acts of torture and ill-treatment by the need to gather information. Such conceptualisations obscure the purpose of torture... The aim of torture is to dehumanise the victim, break his/her will, and at the same time set horrific examples for those who come in contact with the victim. In this way, torture can break or damage the will and coherence of entire communities." -- Physicians for Human Rights
