AMERICAN TORTURE TECHNIQUES - Let the TRUTH be known !!!!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
By Tom Head, About.com
President Obama has made a decision not to allow pictures of torture victims and the techniques that were used on the victims. He claims that allowing such pictures would "harm U.S. troops". The pictures may not be allowed for the public at this time, but pictures of the Abu Ghraib have already been made public, and there has been a national outrage centered around those pictures. But the facts must be known. This article may lack the pictures promised by the U.S. Government now that Obama has had them sensored, but the stories such as the one below has already been published by Tom Head, from About.com that explains about the torture techniques. President Obama claims that it is against the law to use a method called 'waterboarding' but former Vice President Dick Cheney openly admits that Bush's administration used it, and that he agrees to it.
(BELOW) A victim of torture at Abu Ghraib prison. The prisoner is simultaneously being subjected to forced standing, Palestinian hanging, forced nudity, and sexual humiliation (as his face is hidden by a woman's underwear).
Public domain. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
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The Big Question: The Bush
administration has been accused of using "torture-lite," or "moderate
physical pressure," against detainees. In practical terms, what does
this mean?
Psychological Torture: The
number one criterion for American torture is that it must leave no
physical marks, and psychological torture certainly qualifies. Whether
U.S. officials are threatening to execute a prisoner's family or just
falsely claiming that the leader of his terror cell is dead, it's hard
to imagine a form of torture that is more effective--or easier to get
away with--than a steady diet of misinformation and threats.
Sensory Deprivation: When
you're locked up in a cell, it's already remarkably easy to lose track
of time. Eliminate all noise and light sources--or, as was done to the
Guantanamo prisoners at one point, simply bind, blindfold, and earmuff
a prisoner into temporary oblivion--and life becomes a hellish,
sanity-destroying experience. Whether prisoners subjected to long-term
sensory deprivation can still tell fiction from reality is, of course,
another question.
Starvation and Thirst: Maslow's
hierarchy of needs identifies basic physical needs as the most
fundamental--more fundamental than religion, political ideology, or
community. A prisoner who is being given enough (unpleasant) food and
water to survive, but only just, can go as long as a week before
looking physically thinner--but will soon find that his or her life
revolves around the quest for food.
Sleep Deprivation: Studies
have shown that missing a night's sleep temporarily drains 10 points
from a person's IQ. Consistent sleep deprivation, through harassment,
exposure to bright lights, and exposure to loud, jarring music and
recordings, can drastically impair judgment.
Waterboarding: Water
torture, one of the oldest and most common forms of torture, came to
the United States with the first colonists and has cropped up many
times since then. In the latest incarnation, waterboarding, a prisoner
is strapped down to a board and then dunked in water until nearly
drowned, then brought back, gasping, to the surface. The interrogator
repeats the procedure until the desired result is obtained.
Forced Standing: "I
stand for 8-10 hours a day," Donald Rumsfeld wrote in a 2002
interrogation memo. "Why is standing limited to four hours?" Rumsfeld
would probably feel a little differently about this if he had to stand in place for 8-10 hours, which can cause ankle swelling, bruising, and excruciating pain.
Palestinian Hanging (aka Palestinian Crucifixion): This
form of torture, referred to as "Palestinian hanging" due to its use by
the Israeli government against Palestinians, involves binding the
prisoner's hands behind his or her back. After fatigue sets in, the
prisoner will inevitably fall forward--putting full body weight on the
shoulders, and impairing breathing. If the prisoner is not released, death by crucifixion results. Such was the fate of U.S. prisoner Manadel al-Jamadi in 2003.
Sweatboxes: In
this form of torture, sometimes referred to as the "hot box" or simply
as "the box," the prisoner is locked up in a small, hot room which, due
to lack of ventilation, essentially functions as an oven. When the
prisoner cooperates, he or she is finally released. Long used as a form
of torture within the United States (most recently against one Alabama
activist in 1998), it is particularly effective in the arid Middle East.
Sexual Abuse and Humiliation: Various
forms of sexual abuse and humiliation documented in U.S. prisons
include forced nudity, forcible smearing of menstrual blood on
prisoners' faces, forced lapdances, forced transvestitism, and forced
homosexual acts on other prisoners. These abuses and alleged abuses
should be considered in light of the fact that most detainees are
deeply religious Muslims, and many are married.
More About the Bush Administration and American Torture Techniques
The Torture Bill What the President Didn't Say Former CIA Director Dubs Cheney "Vice President of Torture"
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