Book tour: Michael Otterman’s ‘American Torture’
21 May 2007, 08:30AM
Award-winning US freelance journalist Michael Otterman will tour capital cities around Australia during June, discussing his new book American Torture. Hosted by Amnesty International Australia, Michael will talk about his research into the US policy of employing torture techniques in order to gather 'information'.
Revelations of such treatment in the 'war on terror' - which includes emotional and physical abuse, violence, sensory deprivation and humiliation - continue to emanate from US-run detention facilities, such as Bagram and Guantánamo Bay.
Michael will discuss with audiences the origins of this interrogation regime and trace how it was refined, spread, and kept legal within the United States. Along the way, he will discuss the effects of state-sponsored torture and deconstruct the myths espoused by its proponents.
According to Michael, the CIA and US military have been exporting interrogation methods since the 1950s to American allies around the world. These methods leave deep psychological wounds but few physical scars.
George W. Bush calls these techniques an 'alternative set of procedures', vital tools needed 'to protect the American people and our allies'. In fact, argues Michael, torture radicalises enemies, yields unreliable information, and is ultimately self-defeating.
According to Michael, since 2001 more than 800 allegations of abuse have surfaced and at least 34 American-held prisoners have been murdered while in custody. He says the United States now holds more than 19,000 prisoners across a vast network of prisons in Iraq, Afghanistan and Cuba.
Michael Otterman was a recent visiting scholar at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPACS) at the University of Sydney. He has covered crime and culture for an array of publications, including Melbourne's Is Not magazine, the Sydney City Hub newspaper, and Boston's Weekly Dig. Check out Michael's website www.americantorture.com
- American Torture is published by Melbourne University Press. It is for sale through Amnesty International Australia for $32.95 and can be ordered through the web shop at www.amnesty.org.au/shop; by phone on 1300 787 830; by fax on 02 8396 7673 or by post to Amnesty International Australia, Reply Paid 66261, Broadway, NSW 2007.
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