- Ashcroft Refuses to Release Torture Memo to Congress (June 8, 2004)
...rrogations, but he said he knows of no presidential order that would allow torture for al Qaeda captives. Angry Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committe... - US Denies Qaeda Suspect Torture (December 29, 2002)
...The US military today firmly denied allegations of torture and mistreatment of suspected al-Qaeda detainees in Afghanistan, claiming... - US Loses Block on UN Torture Convention (July 25, 2002)
...United States failed to block a U.N. vote on a plan to enforce a treaty on torture, and its attempts to do so were widely criticized by European and Latin Am... - Mugabe Troops 'Torture Hundreds' (March 29, 2003)
...r rifles. Doctors confirm serious injuries consistent with the accounts of torture. At least one man has died and 500 others have been injured, according... - Torture and Civilian Deaths in Three Counterinsurgencies (May 3, 2004)
...qi urban areas, both U.S. and British soldiers have become involved in the torture of Iraqi prisoners as well. Ironically, the torture of prisoners by the U.... - War Crimes Claim Filed Against Rumsfeld In Germany Over Abu Ghraib (December 3, 2004)
...nd military officers early this week, saying they were responsible for the torture and humiliation of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib. Even t... - Iraqis Accuse US Forces of Torture (July 23, 2003)
...BAGHDAD — Iraqis detained by U.S. troops accused their captors of torture and degrading treatment, rights group Amnesty International reported on We... - Torture as Pornography (May 7, 2004)
...important, however, not to see these sadistic images as unique. After all, torture and sexual violence are endemic in wartime. In the past, as now, military... - Turned Over to Torture? (November 5, 2003)
...st said Tuesday he was secretly deported to Syria and endured 10 months of torture in a Syrian prison. Maher Arar, 33, who was released last month, said... - Briton Says CIA Threatened Torture (October 4, 2003)
... "war on terror". The account also challenges US denials of the use of torture or the threat of torture on terrorist suspects, thousands of whom have bee... - Torture in Iraq: Appalling. Politicians’ Reactions? Not Much Better. (May 11, 2004)
...If the torture and abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. military personnel is revolting, almo... - Has the War on Terror Changed Attitudes on Torture? (August 13, 2002)
...fore Sept. 11, most people would have blanched at these and other forms of torture, and most still do. But after major intelligence failures allowed 19 men t... - US Ships al Qaeda Suspects to Arab States (July 26, 2002)
...y US sources. These countries ñ Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, among them ñ use torture, which, some officials suggest, extracts information much more quickly tha... - Teaching Torture (July 22, 2004)
...Remember how congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle deplored the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib as "un-American"? Last Thursday, however, the H... - Torturers in America (April 12, 2002)
...ic filed a lawsuit against Vukovic under the Alien Tort Claims Act and the Torture Victim Protection Act. A final ruling in that trial is pending. Similar... - Beatings and physical violence
- Disfigurement
- Drowning or Water cure
- The rack
- Rape
- Sleep deprivation
- The wheel
- The thumbscrew
- Pressing
- Whip
- Bastinado
- Strappado
- Sensory deprivation
- Boot
- Boiling
- Iron maiden
- Choke pear
- Wire jacket
- Scold's Bridle
- Judas Chair
- Spanish boot
- interrogation or the "third degree"
- Shot, either with a bullet to the back of the head, or by a firing squad
- Burning at the stake
- Crucifixion
- Crushing by elephant
- Disembowelment
- Drawing and quartering
- Electric chair
- Gas chamber
- Hanging
- Impaling
- Lethal injection (supposed to be next to painless, but agonizingly painful if the anaesthetic drugs fails to keep the paralysed victim unconscious as he/she dies)
- Sawing
- Stoning
- UN Convention Against Torture
- U.S. Decries Abuse but Defends Interrogations, by Dana Priest and Barton Gellman. The Washington Post, December 26, 2002; Page A01. Numerous CIA agents anonymously confirm the use of torture against terrorism suspects, while the government refuses to comment.
- Medical Foundation for Care of Victims of Torture
- Rotten.com article about the Inquisition
Torture
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Torture is the infliction of severe physical or psychological pain as a means of cruelty, intimidation, punishment, for the extraction of a confession or information. Torture is prohibited by the UN Convention Against Torture, and is considered a severe violation of human rights. Still, torture is a controversial issue, with debates over whether or not certain acts constitute torture, and whether torture is ever justified, and which countries or political groups use or have used torture, and for what ends.
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Use of torture by governments
Torture was used by many governments and countries in the past (especially in the Middle Ages). Especially, torture was believed to be a legitimate way to obtain testimonies and confessions from suspects for use in trials. Still, the use of torture may be ineffective, since tortured suspects will often admit to anything and even invent facts in order to have torture cease. The Inquisition was famous for the use of torture; judicial torture was abolished in France at the beginning of the French revolution.Torture remains a popular method of repression in totalitarian regimes, terrorist and organized crime, and is frequently used by democratic governments as well. During the Algerian war of 1955-1962, the French military used torture against National Liberation Front. Paul Aussaresses, a French general during the Algerian war, defended the use of torture in a 2000 interview in the Paris newspaper Le Monde. In an interview on the CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes, in response to the question of whether he would torture Al-Qaeda suspects, his answer was, "It seems to me it's obvious."
CIA agents have anonymously confirmed to the Washington Post in a December 26, 2002 report that the CIA routinely uses so-called "stress and duress" interrogation techniques, which are claimed by human rights activists to be acts of torture, in the US-led war on terrorism. These sources state that CIA and military personnel beat up uncooperative suspects, confine them in cramped quarters, duct tape them to stretchers, and use other restraints which maintain the subject in an awkward and painful position for long periods of time.
The Post article continues that sensory deprivation, through the use of hoods and spraypainted goggles, sleep deprivation, and selective use of painkillers for at least one captive who was shot in the groin during his apprehension are also used. The agents also indicate in the report that the CIA as a matter of course hands suspects over to foreign intelligence services with far fewer qualms about torture for more intensive interrogation. The Post reported that one official said, "If you don't violate someone's human rights some of the time, you probably aren't doing your job." The US Government denies that torture is being conducted in the detention camps.
The United Kingdoms forces have been criticised for using torture against IRA suspects during the 1970's. Although primarily non-physiological some methods employed did utilise physical discomfort e.g. seating the prisoner on a block of ice.
Israel has used torture since at least the 1970s, but it was only in 1987 the Israeli Supreme Court formed a special commission headed by retired Justice Moshe Landau, to review the whole question of torture. In their report they sanctioned the use of "moderate physical pressure". The human rights group B'Tselem estimate that 85% of all Palestinian detainees are tortured. The methods used includes prolonged sleep deprivation; prolonged sight deprivation using blindfolds or tight-fitting hoods; forced, prolonged maintenance of body positions that grow increasingly painful; and verbal threats and insults. Almost always they are also combined with confinement in tiny, closet-like spaces; exposure to temperature extremes, such as in deliberately overcooled rooms; prolonged toilet and hygiene deprivation; and degrading treatment, such as forcing detainees to eat and use the toilet at the same time. Beatings are also common. [1] [2]
The use of torture has been criticized not only on humanitarian grounds, but on the grounds that evidence extracted by torture tends to be extremely unreliable and that the use of torture corrupts institutions which tolerate it. Torture victims have often reported that the purpose is as much to force acquiescence on an enemy as it is to gain information.
To prevent torture, many legal systems have a right against self-incrimination. The United States includes this right in the fifth amendment to its constitution, which in turn serves as the basis of the Miranda warning that is issued to individuals upon their arrest. Additionally, the US Constitution's eighth amendment expressly forbids the use of "cruel and unusual punishments", which is widely interpreted as a prohibition of the use of torture.
Human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International, are actively involved in working to stop the use of torture throughout the world.
Torture and Medicine
Organisations, like the Medical Foundation for Care of Victims of Torture try to help survivors of torture to obtain medical treatment and to gain forensic medical evidence to obtain political asylum in a safe country and/or to prosecute the perpetrators.
Torture is often difficult to prove successfully, particularly when some time has passed between the event and a medical examination. Many torturers around the world use methods designed to have a maximum impact while leaving only minimal traces. Medical and Human Rights Organisations worldwide have collaborated to produce the Istanbul Protocol, a document designed to outline common torture methods, consequences of torture and medico-legal examination techniques.
Torture often leads to lasting mental and physical health problems.
Physical problems can be wide ranging e.g. sexually transmitted diseases, musculo-skeletal problems , brain injury e.g. post-traumatic epilepsy and dementia or chronic pain syndromes.
Mental health problems are equally wide ranging, common though are post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety disorder.
Treatment of torture related medical problems might require a wide range of expertise and often specialised experience. Common modalities of treatment are psychotropic medication, e.g. SSRI antidepressants, counselling, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, family therapy and physiotherapy. .
Torture Devices and Methods
Torture devices
Psychological Torture
Stress and Distress Tactics used by Police
Some methods imployed by law enforcement and states are seen by some as being tantamount to torture.
Methods of Execution to carry out Capital Punishment
A method of killing a prisoner for a capital crime which involves, or has the potential to involve, a great deal of pain or mutilation is considered to be torture and unacceptable to many who support capital punishment.
See also:
External Links