Torture: The Truth

After 9-11, interrogation methods which the US used in their ‘war against terror’ are said to be nothing short of illegal, brutal torture. Several programs have been aired on the television about what is really going on. After seeing the first program ‘Torture: The Guantanamo Guidebook’ I was shocked at what I saw. This post is an attempt to get across to you what that program got across to me.

Last night (01-03-05) a program was on called ‘Torture: The dirty business. This is what the T.V guide described it as:

“Torture is a multinational industry – but its headquarters is in the USA. In this programme Andrew Gilligan examines the CIA’s practice of abducting terrorist suspects and transferring them to states such as Egypt and Syria, where torture is routine. The programme also exposes the British government’s refusal to condemn the use of torture by the government of Uzbekistan, for the sake of the ‘evidence’ it produces: 'selling our souls for dross', in the words of the former British ambassador.”

The programme looked at how men were abducted, ushered to the nearest jail, locked up for several days, ushered to a private government jet and flown to a foreign country, Egypt & Syria in this example. They were then interrogated brutally and accused of being members of Al-Qaeda and other terrorist networks. This was all without a lawyer present, without their ‘one phone call’, without even being told why they were there, who had captured them and when they would be released. They would then be tortured until they admitted their part in the network, even if they weren’t involved.

The torture that these men received was brutal, so brutal they would be happy to die, just to end the torture. One man was placed in ‘the grave’, as he liked to call it, for over ten months. This ‘grave’ was just bigger than the human body, no lighting, no heating, just a drain type door above them.

Like Britain, the USA has complied with the United Nations Convention Against Torture which prohibits them from inflicting severe pain or suffering, physical or mental. In response to this the Bush government has compiled several methods of inflicting ‘stress’, which they claim do not qualify as torture.

This is an account of what is claimed to have happened in Guantanamo Bay;

“Prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere report being ordered to stand motionless for hours at a time; being subjected to ‘environmental manipulation’ (extremes of heat and cold); being bombarded with bright lights and loud music ranging from heavy metal to Barney the Dinosaur; and having their sleep patterns ‘adjusted’ by frequent interruptions. In a treatment labelled ‘pride and ego down’, detainees are insulted and denigrated, with racial and religious abuse commonplace. Many report being paraded naked in front of others – a particularly humiliating experience for devout Muslims. The goal is to break the detainees by inducing shame and despair.”

Another account is as follows;

“In 1971, British Army interrogators hooded suspected IRA members and forced them to lean forwards against a wall while white noise played continuously. This treatment combined two techniques which are still in use. Ordering detainees to maintain uncomfortable ‘stress positions’ produces the pain of torture without physical contact. It also helps break victims psychologically: by making an effort to maintain a stress position, victims effectively take responsibility for their own suffering. The ‘sensory deprivation’ represented by hooding and white noise has a more direct effect, leading to confusion and psychological disturbance. It is estimated that victims begin to hallucinate after 40 minutes.”

The US has been accused of holding prisoners like this for up to 18 hours. If you start hallucinating after 40 minutes, what is your mind state going to be like after 18 hours? Another case was in Saudi Arabia in 2001 when two British men were systematically beaten over a period of weeks until they confessed to crimes they had not committed. The countries where torture has taken place have formed a complex international network – and most of them have a British connection.

Afghanistan

The USA has formed several detention camps in Afghanistan since 2001. One British citizen who was captured in Afghanistan confessed under torture to having been with Osama Bin Laden on a certain day. In reality he had been working at Curry’s in Tipton, Cuba.

Guantanamo Bay

This is a US base leased from Cuba. The US government initially argued that neither Cuban nor US law applied there.

Diego Garcia

The US is believed to hold detainees at ‘Camp Justice’ on Diego Garcia, a British-owned island in the Indian Ocean.

Egypt

Many terrorist suspects have been ‘rendered’ to Egypt, where a state of emergency is in force and torture is widespread.

Gambia

In 2002 Wahab Al-Rawi and his brother Bisher were arrested on a business trip from Britain to Gambia. After interrogation by US intelligence, Wahab was released. Bisher, who is an Iraqi citizen, was flown to Guantanamo Bay, where he remains.

Iraq

According to a US Army report, the Abu Ghraib abuses were an isolated incident. Similar photographs have since surfaced from a British Army base in Iraq.

Israel

Israeli interrogators claim that their use of torture has prevented suicide bombings, although this has been disputed.

Saudi Arabia

Suspects in Saudi jails are routinely tortured into confessing. Victims have included two British men.

Syria

Denounced by George Bush as part of the ‘axis of evil’. Syria has tortured terrorist suspects on behalf of the USA.

Uzbekistan

Notorious for their brutal torture methods. MI6 has described information obtained from Uzbekistan as ‘high-grade intelligence’.

The US and UK have give several ‘reasons’ for this torture;

“Torture may extract vital information”

“It’s an emergency”

“They don’t deserve any better”

“It’s not really torture”

This brutality is going on right now, as I write this post, as you read it.

Why? Why can’t it stop? Why is it happened? Why has it begun?

I hope you are now a bit more enlightened on the torture situation in the world and please post your comments about this. There are several campaigns running against this worldwide torture, they can be visited here;

Amnesty International UK

Cage Prisoners

Human Rights Watch

Peace and Progress

World Organisation Against Torture

Another interesting article is about how much money and time the CIA have spent to ‘perfect’ their torture methods;

Boston.com

[edit on 2-3-2005 by phixion]

[Mod edit - Trimmed link]

[edit on 9/9/05 by JAK]

I had a friend out here in China and he was from Britain. He told me horror stories about what British soldiers do. When they've killed a body they will cut off the male genetils and put them in the dead persons mouth. They will then write slurs against the victims race or ethnicity or ideology on their skin with knives.

If this is a true account of what they do when people are dead we can only imagine what they can do when they are alive.

All this reporting about torture is brainwashing mind control to make people think it's ok. The truth is torture is a bloody work that scars people physically and emotionally for life. It's not just about time stress and things like that. They actually brutally make people putty in their hands and mold it how they want. For confessions, and as those photos from Iraq make it seem, for fun.

[edit on 2-3-2005 by 00PS]

And your view on the torture situation is....

I think there is another thread floating around about this somewhere on here...I try to find it for ya....be right back

I found it...and it was closed! Continue cautiously

www.abovetopsecret.com...

[edit on 3/2/2005 by LadyV]

Yeah heres my thread I made while I was watching the programme.

How to torture sombody

[edit on 2-3-2005 by phixion]

Originally posted by phixion
Yeah heres my thread I made while I was watching the programme.

How to torture sombody

[edit on 2-3-2005 by phixion]

Then why are you posting another one?

Originally posted by LadyV

Originally posted by phixion
Yeah heres my thread I made while I was watching the programme.

How to torture sombody

[edit on 2-3-2005 by phixion]

Then why are you posting another one?

Two different topics. The original one was just letting people know about the program, this one is about what I have learnt from watching it.

I'm on Diego Garcia right now. There aren't any prisoners here currently. I've heard the rumours that at one time they had prisoners here at one time, but the people I have talked to that have been here a while have said that it's just an urban legend.

Camp Justice, or "tent city" as it was once known, doesn't have the facilities to hold a very small amount of prisoners. Diego Garcia is a small island!

Yeah but to be fair if torture was going on over there I'm guessing it wouldn't be a public showing. Who ever was carrying it out would want to keep it very hush hush i'm sure.

Torture has been used for thousands of years and will continue to be so long as the human nature for domination and exploitation exists. It is wrong and horrible.

Originally posted by bzap
Torture has been used for thousands of years and will continue to be so long as the human nature for domination and exploitation exists. It is wrong and horrible.

Unfortuantly human nature for domination will always exsist, it's who we are. Has anyone seen the film 'equilibrium'? People have to take pills to destroy their emotions, this would end our fight for domination & exploitation wouldn't it? If you didn't have any emotions?

www.imdb.com...

CIA Flying Suspects To Torture?

Another article on what is going on.

cbs4boston.com...

torture is an old story.

it has been around for many centuries, so there is nothing "new" in this tortures, performed by the united states army, the c.i.a. or whoever. it has always been a very "grey area", since we all know torture is illegal by all international laws, but everybody is still doing it!

why?
to get the information.

why cant we stop it?
because we dont have any "real power" to do that.

why is it happening?
because it is in human nature to domination and power and that is also the easiest way, for the information to get out.

why has it begun?
i dont know who started it,
and i dont know who will end it,
but it has been around as long as the mankind.
sad but true.

IRAQ'S military commander said today that about 10,000 insurgents were now in detention in the country and predicted that Iraqi forces would be able to take control of security in six months.
"We have 10,000 of them in detention," joint chief of staff General Babakir Zebari told AFP without providing details.

Source

If this is true, how does the 'new Iraq' plan to deal with them? Keep them locked up forever or judge each case in a democratic Iraqi court?

I wonder what the punishment would be.

Sanc'.

Originally posted by Souljah
torture is an old story.

it has been around for many centuries, so there is nothing "new" in this tortures, performed by the united states army, the c.i.a. or whoever. it has always been a very "grey area", since we all know torture is illegal by all international laws, but everybody is still doing it!

why?
to get the information.

Stop right there.

You're right saying everybody is still doing it, but you miss the striking difference between torturing to get information and torturing for fun.

In Abu-Ghraib, torture was not performed for the purpose of getting the information. It was just for fun.

Just as in all the other U.S. camps. The thing is, someone got the photos from Abu-Graib and there are not any photos from the other camps.

"No photos - no evidence - no torture" is quite a primitive mentality.

Torture is being carried out all over the world 'for fun'. America is now being accused of having people transported to countries just to be tortured. People who American WANT to be in terrorist groups, not people who ARE in terrorist groups.

True, some forms will always be employed to get information, and with new technology comes more advaced methods. It is terrible, but doing it for fun is horrific.

Those British torture photos were a hoax, just so you know.

news.bbc.co.uk...

I am sorry to admit it but I have found evidence that the detainees at GITMO are being tortured. This has to be the cruelest thing ever done to a man by his fellow man. It almost makes me ashamed to be an American. The people responsible for this need to be held accountable.


[Torture at GITMO

Originally posted by Lunatix


but you miss the striking difference between torturing to get information and torturing for fun.

I'm not sure that the torturing metioned here is for either of theose motives in the grand scheme of things.

I think that there is a greater possibility that the torturing is solely to get a confession, regardless of whether the suspect is guilty. They want results, confessed terrorists to parade to the media: if he's Middle Eastern, in a camp, and signed a confession - everyone will believe he's a terrorist, whether his confession was made falsely just to stop the torure doesn't matter. Its just another part in the 'War On Terror'.