Allegations Of Torture Research Articles

Eliminating All Empathy: Personalism and the "War On Terror"

Eliminating All Empathy:Personalism and the "War On Terror" Derek S. Jeffreys (bio) Yesterday, the World Day against torture was celebrated. May the common commitment of the institutions and citizens totally ban this intolerable violation of human rights which is radically opposed to human dignity. Pope John Paul II1 As I understand it, technically, unlawful combatants do not have any rights under the Geneva Convention. U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld2 Within months of the September 11 attacks on the United States, public officials, academics, journalists, and lawyers began debating the ethics of torture. Confronting an unconventional and intransigent enemy, the United States and its allies required quick intelligence in order to prevent further terrorist attacks. In such circumstances, some believed that torture would be morally justifiable. Often, they invoked political philosopher Michael Walzer's well-known "ticking bomb" scenario. In it, a colonial official in a civil war captures a rebel who knows the location of bombs in a city. [End Page 16] To stop a bombing, should he torture the rebel? Walzer maintains that he should, but argues that he would incur moral guilt for committing torture. In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, many have agreed with Walzer's account of the ethics of torture.3 These ethical debates are no mere ivory-tower exercises. They have occurred when the United States waged war in Afghanistan and Iraq, and battled al Qaeda terrorists worldwide. In the first few years after the September 11 attacks, the United States imprisoned more than 70,000 people around the world, most notoriously in Saddham Hussein's former prison, Abu Ghraib.4 In 2004, the world was shocked to see photographs of Iraqi prisoners standing naked in human pyramids, fleeing attack dogs, and connected to electrical wires. These horrific images sparked worldwide outrage. The debate about Abu Ghraib, however, was only the most public one about American policy toward detainees in the "war on terror." The United States held hundreds of prisoners at its naval base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. At this facility, allegations of abuse and torture began emerging, some leveled by FBI agents and military lawyers. For example, in August 2004, an FBI agent reported that on a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a detainee chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the floor, with no chair, food or water. Most times they urinated or defecated on themselves, and had been left there for 18–24 hours or more. On one occasion, the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee was shaking with cold. . . . On another occasion, the [air conditioner] had been turned off, making the temperature in the unventilated room well over 100 degrees. The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his hair out throughout the night. On another occasion, not only was the temperature unbearably hot, but extremely loud rap music was being played in the [End Page 17] room, and had been since the day before, with the detainee chained hand and foot in the fetal position on the tile floor.5 In 2003, the public learned that officials in the U.S. departments of Justice and Defense had redefined torture, legitimizing new forms of abusing detainees. All these developments raised difficult ethical questions about how the United States employs torture. Disturbingly, in the face of these developments, many Christians have remained silent. Those who often speak out against abortion, euthanasia, or embryonic stem cell research have said little about the prisoner abuse scandals and documents on torture. Many who admire the late John Paul II for defending human dignity have stood mute while the United States has been accused of brutalizing persons. Some have condemned abusive treatment of detainees but have uncritically applied ideas about the person's dignity to international politics. Complex military and civilian institutions devise and carry out interrogation policies. They do so in a political context, interpreted by media and political institutions. Too often, those who condemn torture and abuse naively ignore...

Coercive US Interrogation Policies

AS WORLD ATTENTION HAS FOCUSED ON ALLEGAtions of torture and ill treatment (cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment) by US forces, there have been questions about the role of physicians and other health professionals in abusive interrogations. Considerable light has been shed on these allegations by documents released in 2004 and 2005 under the Freedom of Information Act and official US Department of Defense (DoD) investigations initiated since the Abu Ghraib investigations in 2004, including an internal review of medical practices regarding detainees by the US Army surgeon general. Following the release of these documents and reports, in June 2005, the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs released new ethical guidelines for all health care personnel, including physicians, nurses, and medics. The new guidelines are troubling, however, because they do not come to terms with the participation of physicians and other health care professionals in officially authorized interrogation practices that are absolutely prohibited by international human rights law, the Third Geneva Convention, and US military and domestic law that criminalizes torture, including psychological torture. While the new DoD ethical guidelines apply to all health care personnel, we focus on how the guidelines enable physicians to facilitate and monitor abusive interrogation practices and subvert well-established ethical duties to support health and human dignity.

When Doctors Torture: The Anus and the State in Egypt and Beyond

his was no ordinary doctor's office. His sarcophagal desk made him look like a statue on a gravestone. His card announced he was a Deputy Minister of Justice. The walls bore awards from international associations, a reliquary of professional renown. He headed Egypt's national Forensic Medical Authority, an agency responsible for scientific investigation of crimes-and for evaluating allegations of official torture. We were interviewing this plump man with salt-andpepper hair, who answered in alternate, brusque Arabic and English, and curtly tried to change the subject. No more at ease than he, we shifted in our seats. In a corner, half-concealed behind a tactful curtain like the Wizard of Oz, was a small examining table. We knew it was the scene of the crime, where the doctor committed torture.

Herrera Rubio v. Colombia

Human rights — Arrest and detention — Search of homes — Disappeared persons — Right to life — Summary or arbitrary executions — Torture and ill-treatment — Paramilitary forces — Responsibility of States — Security of persons — International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966International tribunals — Procedure — United Nations Human Rights Committee — Optional Protocol to International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 — Communication alleging violations of Covenant — Burden of proof — Sufficiency of State party’s reply — Duty to investigate disappearances and killings — Duty to investigate allegations of torture

Melding War and Politics in Namibia: South Africa's Counterinsurgency Campaign, 1966-1989

Namibia was the last League of Nations mandated territory to receive independence because the South African Government not only refused to place it under the United Nations trusteeship system but also refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of any trans-tribal African nationalism in the territory which they termed South West Africa. Following the 1966 decision of the International Court of Justice to uphold the South African position on Namibia, African nationalists under the banner of the South West African People's Organization (SWAPO of Namibia) undertook a lengthy insurgency campaign involving military operations by the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN). The brunt of the South African counterinsurgency campaign was waged by the South African Defense Force (SADF) in conjunction with the local police units. This article considers the conflict between the SADF and the PLAN in terms of small unit warfare, imported and localized counterinsurgency doctrine, the efficacy and application of civic action by SADF units, allegations of torture made by both sides, the recruitment of SADF and local territorial forces, and the international political ramifications of this lengthy, near-intractable war.

Medical appraisal of allegations of torture and the involvement of doctors in torture

Today, torture is used in more than 90 countries. In most of these countries, the authorities try to conceal the use of torture. Therefore torture methods which do not leave marks are more often selected. Consequently, appraisal of statements of torture is mostly based on interviews with exprisoners. The statement of torture is compared with the description of symptoms in the period following imprisonment and with the result of the clinical examination, which is often normal. In the evaluation of the validity of a statement reservations often have to be made for minor disagreements between the single elements of the examination, for example because of impaired concentration during the examination and loss of consciousness during the torture. Furthermore, the statement may be incomplete because of psychological inhibitions and imperfect interpretation. Assessment of allegations of medical involvement in torture is also based on information given by the ex-detainee. The presumed doctor's examination technique and the treatment carried out and prescribed by him, are compared with the context in which he acted. Only very rarely do torture victims have marks from e.g. injections or suturing which can be related to medical treatment in torture centres. The critical evaluation of data collected during in-depth interviews with torture victims is the core of documentation of torture and medical involvement in torture. The national medical associations share the responsibility of ensuring that their country's doctors comply with the ethical rules and do not in any way participate in or omit to report torture.

United States v. Lira

642Jurisdiction — Executive — Consequences of illegal arrest and expulsion — Arrest in Chile of Chilean national by Chilean authorities — Alleged mistreatment — Expulsion to United States for trial on criminal charges — Alleged complicity of United States in arrest, mistreatment and expulsion — Whether circumstances of arrest precluding trial in the United StatesState responsibility — Acts of officials of other States — Defendant arrested by Chilean officials at request of United States Government — Allegations of torture and ill-treatment of defendant by Chilean officials — Whether United States responsible for acts of Chilean officials — The law of the United States

First Day at the Police Academy: Stress-Reaction-Training as a Screening-Out Technique

This article draws its data from a larger ethnographic study of police academies in Massachusetts. The full study includes seven months of intensive field observations in seven regional police academies. The current article offers an ethnographic narrative account designed to draw out the first day in police training. In particular, to describe stress-reaction-training (SRT) programs. Recently, following allegations of brutality and torture in a municipal police academy in Massachusetts, SRT came under scrutiny. This close inspection of SRT revealed that no previous empirical study has examined this strategy of training/screening. In addition to detailed descriptions of SRT, this article considers the relationship between SRT and desocialization/resocialization of police recruits. Finally, this article offers several policy implications evident from the analysis. Included among these implications are recommendations for formal curriculum development, a limitation on duration, careful monitoring of recruits during SRT, and validation of the approach.

Beatriz Vasilskis v. Uruguay

72 Human rights — Fair trial — Trial by military court in camera — Accused denied lawyer of own choice — Delay in bringing case to trial — Whether accused denied proper opportunity to prepare defence — Torture, inhuman and degrading treatment — Conditions of imprisonment — Enforcement and remedies — Right to a national remedy — Whether allegations of torture properly investigated by State — International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966, Articles 7, 10 and 14International tribunals — United Nations Human Rights Committee — Evidence and procedure — Duty of State party to provide detailed information — Burden of proof — International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966, Optional Protocol

Human rights abuses and the medical profession

Allegations of torture are on the increase and the medico-legal and ethical problems can no longer be ignored by the medical profession. While jurists fail to give effective legal guidelines as to what amounts to ‘torture’, reports indicate that doctors are often engaged in activities which are difficult to reconcile with any conception of medical ethics. There is a clear need for the medical profession to re-evaluate their involvement in circumstances that are a direct antithesis of their professional occupation. The skills of doctors with forensic expertise allow detection of human rights abuses and thereby its potential reduction. There is scope for the reduction torture or ill-treatment, if the profession maintain high standards of medical practice and ethics.

López v. Uruguay

29The individual in international law — In general — Human rights and freedoms — Persecution for trade union activities — Detention without trial — Abduction — Arbitrary arrest and detention — Detention incommunicado — Allegations of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment — Forced confessions — Delay of trial — Proper legal representation — International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 — Optional Protocol — U.N. Human Rights Committee — Procedure — Findings of facts in absence of evidence from State party — Whether derogations from Covenant justifiable — Allegations of violations on territory of another State — Whether considerations by Committee barred — Whether violations within scope of application of Covenant

De Touron v. Uruguay

261 The individual in international law — In general — Human rights and freedoms — Detention without access to lawyer or family — Trial by military court — Trial not held in public — Judgment not made public — Habeas corpus not available — Allegations of torture — International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights — Optional Protocol — U.N. Human Rights Committee — Procedure — Right of individual petition — Evidence — Consideration of same case by another human rights tribunal

Investigations of Torture Allegations by the Forensic Psychologist

The problem of defining torture is raised and some of the reasons for its use enumerated. Torture may be committed at four levels of nil legality, relating to domestic and international law and the attitude of the legislature and law enforcement agencies. The work of the forensic psychologist as it relates to the investigation of allegations of torture is then described, with special reference to studies in post-war Germany and post-war Korea. In this work, the forensic psychologist follows a similar pattern and sequence of investigation to that adopted by the forensic pathologist and some examples, drawn from the personal experience of the author and his colleague, are provided. Mention is finally made of alternatives to torture which rely on non-noxious psychological processes.