Study: Broader Torture Definitions Needed

Prisoners Who Endure Poor Treatment Suffer Same Distress As Tortured Captives

(AP)  Prisoners who endure poor or degrading treatment suffer much of the same long-term psychological distress as do captives who are tortured, suggests a study published Monday.

Experts point to human rights abuses by the U.S. military in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan, and say the findings underscore the need for a broader definition of torture.

"What is the basis for the distinction between torture and other cruel and degrading treatment? Science should inform this debate," the study's lead author, Metin Basoglu of the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College in London, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. The study was published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

Steve H. Miles of the University of Minnesota's Center for Bioethics said the findings "show that the severity of long-lasting adverse mental effects is unrelated to whether the torture or degrading treatment is physical or psychological."

"The wrongness of these inflicted harms is compounded by the fact that most abused prisoners, including those in the present war on terror, are innocent or ignorant of terrorist activities," said Miles, who was not involved in the study.

The Bush administration has said the United States uses legal interrogation techniques — not torture — to gain information that could head off terror attacks. It insists the United States complies with the U.N. Convention Against Torture.

Yet Washington's definition of torture, as interpreted by the Justice Department after reports surfaced of American abuses in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan, is fairly narrow.

It excludes mental pain and suffering created by acts that do not cause severe physical pain, such as blindfolding, hooding, forced nudity, isolation and deprivation of sleep or light, the researchers said, citing a Dec. 30, 2004, Justice Department memo. The document also contends that for an act to be considered torture, there must be proof that it inflicts "prolonged mental harm."

"The implications of such a narrow definition of torture have raised serious concerns in the human rights community," said the study. "These findings suggest that physical pain per se is not the most important determinant of traumatic stress in survivors of torture."

The study involved interviews with 279 victims who suffered ill treatment and torture while imprisoned in the 1990s in the former Yugoslavia.

The researchers said they found that aggressive interrogation techniques, humiliating treatment, verbal abuse, threats against a captive's family and being forced to watch an acquaintance being tortured produced much of the same long-term mental trauma as physical torture.

"Sham executions, witnessing torture of close ones, threats of rape, fondling of genitals and isolation were associated with at least as much if not more distress than some of the physical torture stressors," they wrote.

Such experiences were just as likely as physical torture to lead to depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, said the study.

"Ill treatment during captivity ... does not seem to be substantially different from physical torture in terms of the severity of mental suffering they cause," it concluded. "These procedures do amount to torture, thereby lending support to their prohibition by international law."

Shukrije Gashi, a pro-independence activist in Kosovo, was jailed by Yugoslav authorities in 1983 and spent nearly two years as a political prisoner. Strictly speaking, she wasn't tortured, but 2½ decades later it still feels that way, she says.

Gashi was confined to a cramped, unventilated cell and fed small rations of often-rotten food. Allowed to shower just once a month, she endured frequent beatings and verbal abuse.

Today, she still trembles whenever she sees the police. Her ordeal, she says, is "a spiritual burden that stays with you forever."

Gashi copes by writing poetry and running a center for conflict management.

But 24 years later, she still can't erase the indelible memories of what she endured. "The treatment in prison was horrific," she said. "I remain psychologically burdened. Memories of the violence follow me like a shadow."

[montraville]

Torture doesn't work. More importantly, the US risks it's reputation for honesty and democracy when it practice physical and mental duress measures. People do admire US principles and ideals around the world, it's a minority who hate us, and they turn into terrorists because they want to take the world back into the middle ages.

So we must ignore the people who want to tear us down and concentrate on practicing our ideals. Then more people will admire us, and support us, and we'll be at less risk.

[us_infidel]

Too bad. They should thank whatever it is they pray to that we aren't like 90% of the other countries that torture. They not only suffer psychologically, they suffer physically.....missing digits, limbs, eyes, etc.

We're the good guys compared to the rest.

[randalds]

Torture is torture is torture. To say we don't torture as badly as other people is cold comfort. It's still wrong. I mean do we really want our troops to fight under a banner that says "Join us! We don't torture as much!" Really brings out that old patriotic feeling doesn't it? we're not supposed to be the "good guys" because were not as bad as the enemy! We're supposed to be the good guys period!

[notblue]

We must never mistreat individuals who would dedicate there lives to slaughtering innocent civilians on unprecedented scales, it's just not right. Instead we confusse them with love and generosity in the hopes they will lead us to otherts involved in there nafarious plans, it could work! NOT!!!

[montraville]

You're saying torture should be used for retribution and punishment. I think they're talking about it as an interrogation technique, which doesn't work. (Actually, I'm not certain that you realize there's a difference.)

If you want to punish people who hurt America, that's another issue. But of course, sadistic punishment in that case has the effect of degrading the punisher more than the convict. Punishment and retribution are exacted for society, not the enjoyment of the person inflicting it.

[inventagod]

"If you want to punish people who hurt America, that's another issue"

Very shortsighted, very dangerous remark.

If Bu$h is saying he wants to torture those who hurt America, there may be a different view seen by the world court.

Our current administration bought most of the 'detainees' at Gitmo and beyond, from warlords with an axe to grind. This does not mean that the tortured ones were ever guilty of anything more than being in the wromg place, and may have never hurt the USA in any way....

[book54552134]

The issue of whether US officials have tortured prisoners or rendered them to 3rd parties for that practice is no longer in question. The question that remains is how far up these directives came from & whether any US officials involved in such war crimes will ever be held accountable.
I agree with Andrew Sullivan who wrote an article in the Times of London 9/24/06 entitled: "Torture by any other name is just as vile."
It will be interesting to see the end results of the indictments issued in Italy against 48 US agents. (The first of which I'm sure will be many European lawsuits against the US regarding torture.) I suspect changes in the War Crimes Act made by the GOP Congress at the direction of the Bush Administration will largely nullify any actions taken by the Italian courts.
The US, at the direction the the Bush Administration, has descended into a barbaric era in which it observes only those laws both Constitutional as well as International, (Geneva Conventions,) which it deems convenient at any point in time.
History will judge us thus.

[montraville]

"Very shortsighted, very dangerous remark."

(...only if taken out of context, which may not have been clear, sorry about that. I oppose torture for either coercive or punishment reasons, or any reason.)

[book54552134]

Your post is right on point on just about every issue you addressed.
However, I would add that there is another group who would sacrifice our democratic values but for an entirely different reason you gave -
they're blind loyalty to a political party (which includes Dubya) for reasons that involve mostly greed.
There are a few million (out a total population of 300,000,000) who have made huge windfalls as the result of the policies (tax & war) of this Administration, & they will support all other decisions of this Administration as well, in order to help to prop up those who they perceive (the GOP) as having made that possible & to maintain that windfall for as long as possible.
These people have a lot of time & money at their disposal, for that purpose.

[sharncedar]

I am reminded of Robbespiere, the French tyrant who sent so many to the gullotine, and when his turn came he was described as losing his senses and body control with fear. When he had Danton killed, Danton died like a hero, proud and defiant. When Robbespiere at last was taken in his own snare, he cowed, whimpered, acted unmanly, white like a ghost with fear, body fluids upon himself.

I wonder how the current administration will hold up to torture. I wonder how the Washington lifers who so blithely ordered these tortures will react when their turn comes. For that priceless picture, it is worth leaving torture legal for a while. These things have a way of working themselves out. I can imagine their whimpering, screaming, defecating, and other unmanly actions. It will be an image the world needs to see. Those who live by the sword, die by the sword.

Then afterwards we can make torture illegal, but not just yet. There are so many white, fat, sickly men who are ripe for the cells at Gitmo.

[randalds]

I realize that the "we should do whatever we want and screw our values" mob is still small, but they amaze me nonetheless.

Posted by DefndLiberty at 09:06 PM : Mar 05, 2007

I agree. Our values are what we're supposed to be fighting for or at least that's what the phony patriots in the White House say. Yet they want us to give up our freedom to save our freedom. To give up our values to save our values. It doesn't make sense. As for me as I've said in the past, I'd rather face down a thousand 9-11's then surrender one right or one value that makes us Americans to the phonies in this administration. I don't know who they think they speak for, but they don't speak for real Americans. THEY are not real Americans.

[randalds]

I wonder how the current administration will hold up to torture. I wonder how the Washington lifers who so blithely ordered these tortures will react when their turn comes. For that priceless picture, it is worth leaving torture legal for a while. These things have a way of working themselves out. I can imagine their whimpering, screaming, defecating, and other unmanly actions. It will be an image the world needs to see. Those who live by the sword, die by the sword.

Then afterwards we can make torture illegal, but not just yet. There are so many white, fat, sickly men who are ripe for the cells at Gitmo.

Posted by SharnCedar at 11:04 PM : Mar 05, 2007

I don't know how they'd hold up (though I suspect not well) but I'd give much to see it in person when/if it does happen to the likes of Bush, Cheney and gutless cowards of their ilk. Put it on TV! On pay-per-view! they're so rightfully hated in this world the money raised would run into the billions.

[joule3]

Maybe we should just lop off their heads and then it won't be an issue.

[dallison7]

THE WORLD NOW HAS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ON HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH!!

WHAT HAVE WE BECOME??

GOD HELP US!!

[us_infidel]

We're the good guys compared to the rest. If we were fighting an enemy with a code of conduct and obeying the rules of war, it would be easy to dispense with Draconian measures. But we're not. We're fighting a fanatical bunch of cowards who hide in the shadows and commit atrocities against civilians and our troops.

And one of ours is worth 100,000 of theirs, so I say pull out he dental drills and observe polarity on the electrodes you connect them up to.

[anopinion1]

i would assume we torture them to get them to talk right?????
so if they would just talk they can end the torture at any time????? c-mon people we arent smashing fingers and toes one by one with a sledge hammer to get answers...

and about our own prisons. if we just legalize most of the drugs people are in prison for, then all we have left is the real felans....and we should treat them like ***, make them think about why they raped or killed or robbed the people they did...feed them enough just to barely make it...show them sunlight maybe once a week.

[montraville]

"We're the good guys compared to the rest. If we were fighting an enemy with a code of conduct and obeying the rules of war, it would be easy to dispense with Draconian measures."


Except that the draconian measures don't work anyway.

Throwing away the scabbard telegraphs to the watching world that these people have hurt us very badly and we need revenge. Did we need revenge against the Nazis, Japanese, Koreans, or Vietnamese? No.

When we express our rage in that extraordinary and unprecedented way, which contradicts our basic principles, the rest of the world is going to infer that we've been hurt in some extraordinary and unprecedented way, that we're vulnerable to these people in some way we weren't vulnerable to our other enemies.

The world will get a mistaken impression of us.

We're not especially vulnerable to them, and when we act like we are, we look WEAK.

By all means punish the people who perpetrated the 9-11 attacks, but don't go around trumpeting to the world that we were permanently injured by them. We weren't.

[montraville]

I think we all have to reflect that the system our forefathers set up is really amazing and beautiful. I think since the baby boomers got older, and realized that getting older stinks, they've been angry and didn't had a way to express that anger.

When things started going haywire in this decade, all of a sudden they had a target.

Since the baby boomers never matured (and frankly the young people today are more mature then their parents ever were) they can't handle dealing with adult responsiblities, like living up to the standards our forefathers established. This pro-torture agenda is really just another selfish anti-authority rant, like in the 70s.