On Torture

AloysiaB 28 April 2009, 03:20PM

© AI

On the 16th April, 2009, President Obama authorised the release of four memo's written by members of the Office of Legal Council (OLC) between 2002 and 2005.The release of these memos along with the recent leaked ICRC report are a stark reminder of what has occurred in the name of freedom and democracy and the need for accountability.

"I look after your body only because we need you for information."

Health professional who was present whilst Mr Bin Attash was shackled into a painful standing stress position

When the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted, it was a time of great sorrow. The world had just witnessed the horrendous crimes against humanity committed during World War two. The drafters of the UDHR wanted to ensure that it never happened again, that we could reach a new level of civilisation and that a new respect for human dignity would be reached. When the recent memo's were released, it would be easy to think that we had slipped into some kind of time warp, where human rights were not part of regular discourse, and where patriotic language meant that perpetrators of human rights violations were justified in their actions.

The mere fact that torture has become a debate in 2009 is something of concern. Have we not moved past the cruelty of the torture chambers of the dark ages? Are we as a society not stunned when we hear people justify the immense pain and suffering of another human being? Has the fear of terrorism been so deeply ingrained in our consciousness that we will do anything to protect ourselves from this politicised threat?

The memo's strikingly sanitise the language of torture and pain. The crafters of these memo's have been careful to use the art of separation. It is always easier to commit atrocities against those we feel separate to; they are not our fathers, husbands, mothers, brothers or friends.

"You describe that in an initial confrontational incident, Zubaydah showed signs of sympathetic nervous system arousal, which you think was possibly fear." Jay S. Bybee

John Cory, a retired Vietnam veteran recently posted an article in response to the release of the memo's. He commented most eloquently;

"Harsh interrogation techniques, coercive tactics, enhanced techniques - These are the rebranding tools for torture. In order to avoid turning our eyes away or burying our heads in the sand, we grab politically acceptable words and terms to diminish the sting and shame of actual torture, so we can brag about being a moral society open to the discussion of stressful questioning of enemy combatants. Sterile words remove us from the very real sins of torturing human beings. And the more we become adept at anesthetic language, the easier it becomes to talk without vomiting when we speak our sins aloud. The easier it becomes to torture. The easier it becomes to maintain the nobility of torture as a tool of patriotism."

With all of the talk of 'terrorists', 'the worst of the worst' and the 'evil ones' it becomes easy to forget that not one of these men or women subject to rendition and detention in offshore U.S. facilities have ever been provided a fair trial. The majority have not even been charged. There was no screening process upon capture when large bounties were offered. These men and women have had no way of defending themselves as they have been continually denied access to US courts. We must no longer be dragged into the political rhetoric of hatred.

The truth about the detention and ill-treatment of those detained is slowly being revealed. No one can now deny that human rights abuses have taken place, no matter what justifications are used.

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© David Herthnek

The 'war on terror' has been used by the US and its allies as an excuse to condone torture. Help to build a secure community - by donating today.

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