Is a secular dictatorship that tortures its opponents any better than a theocracy that tortures its opponents? If your balls are getting crushed by the secret

Is a secular dictatorship that tortures its opponents any better than a theocracy that tortures its opponents? If your balls are getting crushed by the secret police, does it really matter if they do so in the name of Allah or Assad? I am as secular as they come, but I see no difference here. The root problem for me is the tyranny itself, and not its particular ideological flavor.