[lit-ideas] Re: Is torture wrong by definition?
- From: Eric <eyost1132@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 03 Apr 2006 17:04:47 -0400
Here's what the CIA may be doing to some captives.
These techniques "have been authorized for about a
dozen high value al Qaeda targets — Khalid Sheik
Mohammed among them. According to the sources, all
of these have confessed, none of them has died,
and all of them remain incarcerated. .... The
sources told ABC that the techniques, while
progressively aggressive, are not deemed torture,
and the debate among intelligence officers as to
whether they are effective should not be
underestimated."
-----
The CIA sources described a list of six "Enhanced
Interrogation Techniques" instituted in mid-March
2002 and used, they said, on a dozen top al Qaeda
targets incarcerated in isolation at secret
locations on military bases in regions from Asia
to Eastern Europe. According to the sources, only
a handful of CIA interrogators are trained and
authorized to use the techniques:
1. The Attention Grab: The interrogator forcefully
grabs the shirt front of the prisoner and shakes him.
2. Attention Slap: An open-handed slap aimed at
causing pain and triggering fear.
3. The Belly Slap: A hard open-handed slap to the
stomach. The aim is to cause pain, but not
internal injury. Doctors consulted advised against
using a punch, which could cause lasting internal
damage.
4. Long Time Standing: This technique is described
as among the most effective. Prisoners are forced
to stand, handcuffed and with their feet shackled
to an eye bolt in the floor for more than 40
hours. Exhaustion and sleep deprivation are
effective in yielding confessions.
5. The Cold Cell: The prisoner is left to stand
naked in a cell kept near 50 degrees. Throughout
the time in the cell the prisoner is doused with
cold water.
6. Water Boarding: The prisoner is bound to an
inclined board, feet raised and head slightly
below the feet. Cellophane is wrapped over the
prisoner's face and water is poured over him.
Unavoidably, the gag reflex kicks in and a
terrifying fear of drowning leads to almost
instant pleas to bring the treatment to a halt.
According to the sources, CIA officers who
subjected themselves to the water boarding
technique lasted an average of 14 seconds before
caving in. They said al Qaeda's toughest prisoner,
Khalid Sheik Mohammed, won the admiration of
interrogators when he was able to last between two
and two-and-a-half minutes before begging to confess.
"The person believes they are being killed, and as
such, it really amounts to a mock execution, which
is illegal under international law," said John
Sifton of Human Rights Watch.
The techniques are controversial among experienced
intelligence agency and military interrogators.
Many feel that a confession obtained this way is
an unreliable tool. Two experienced officers have
told ABC that there is little to be gained by
these techniques that could not be more
effectively gained by a methodical, careful,
psychologically based interrogation. According to
a classified report prepared by the CIA Inspector
General John Helgerwon and issued in 2004, the
techniques "appeared to constitute cruel, and
degrading treatment under the (Geneva)
convention," the New York Times reported on Nov.
9, 2005.
complete story at:
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=1322866
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