There have been several instances where soldiers who have returned home from war have brought their torture techniques with them. For example, international torture expert, Darius Rejali has pointed out that historically, techniques used by French Army torturers from Vietnam turned up in Algeria in the 1950's, and then to the Parisian Sutrete by the 1960's1. He also notes that electrical torture techniques used in Vietnam, then appeared in the U.S. when “torturing African Americans on the south side of Chicago in the 1970s and 1980s”2. When soldiers return home from war, what do they do for a living? Some continue in the forces, some become correctional officers, police officers, security guards or private security contractors. It is then in civilian life that these techniques creep into practice.

At present, Travis Bishop, who has served in the U.S. army since 2004, is imprisoned at the Fort Lewis Regional Correctional Facility (RCF)3. Amnesty International has recognised him as a prisoner of conscience because he has refused to participate in hostilities in Afghanistan due to his religious beliefs. Leo Church is another soldier imprisoned at RCF. ‘Truthout’ reports that he was convicted for going Absent Without Leave (AWOL) because he was trying to prevent his family from going homeless. Lawyers for both men have reported that they have been subjected to treatment which contravenes human rights protections. James M. Branum, the civilian lawyer for Mr Bishop and Mr Church has stated that both men have been "strip-searched while possibly being filmed. Bishop and Church have also been watched by female guards during strip-searches, while using the restroom as well as while in the showers. Both soldiers have been denied one in-person visit by their attorneys and all phone calls with their attorneys have been illegally monitored by guards."4 In another case of abuse, it was reported that in 2005 that Michael Levitt, who was also imprisoned in RCF, was chained to what has been described as a “stress chair” for 109 hours. The chair was a metal frame with no seat5.

Does any of this sound familiar? It should. Many reports coming out of US run prisons such as Guantanamo Bay and Bagram Air Base have outlined a host of human rights abuses breaching internationally recognised standards including sexual humiliation and stress positions. Breaches of attorney-client privilege are also of common occurrence.

Although you may think that these allegations pale in comparison to the horrific abuses that continue to come to light in places like Guantanamo and Bagram, this treatment may just be the beginning of something a little more serious. As Rejali puts it, "What happens 'over there', then, shows up in 'a neighbourhood near you'."6

The rate of domestic violence rates among returned service personnel is significantly higher than that in the civilian population7. As recently as 2002, four soldiers murdered their wives at Fort Bragg, North Carolina in the space of 43 days8. In another example of exporting cruelty, a police officer reportedly used techniques he used at work on his wife and daughter9. Violence of this magnitude does not stop at the place of its incursion. The violence of war impacts not only on the survivors, but also those who carried out the torture, their families and the wider society.

One thing that I have attempted to impart on Amnesty blog readers, is that cruelty does not stop at places like Guantanamo or Bagram. Whenever we lower the standard of treatment for one person, or one group of people, we unpick another thread in the social fabric. That treatment becomes more acceptable and inevitably, the cruelty spreads.

References

  1. Rejali, Darius (2007) ‘Torture and Democracy’. Princeton University Press: New Jersey. P.436.
  2. See Mike Otterman “Torture will come Home”
  3. See Amnesty International USA: Soldier imprisoned as conscientious objector: Travis Bishop
  4. See Dahr Jamil (2009)“Attorney Reports Human Rights Abuses of GI Resisters”
  5. ibid.
  6. Rejali, Darius (2007) ‘Torture and Democracy’. Princeton University Press: New Jersey. P.436.
  7. See Heather Wokush “Bringing the Battle Back Home: Linking War and Domestic Violence.”
  8. ibid.
  9. Rejali, Darius (2007) ‘Torture and Democracy’. Princeton University Press: New Jersey. P.436