After reading "Torture and Democracy" by Darius Rejali I've been better informed about a history of disguised torture techniques used throughout the past 200 years. The book takes an in depth look at torture and analyzes behaviors, trends and traditions that have brought torture to where we see it today. It is in essence an encyclopedia of torture.Rejali explains that torture is an ancient craft passed down from teacher to apprentice. His book has been described as a field manual on torture, being the first of its kind. The key conclusion of this book is that when human rights abuses are internationally monitored it doesn’t stop torture, however, it forces torturers to better conceal their methods. This means that they use techniques that don't show as much evidence of physical abuse.
A key theme throughout his book is that it isn't hard for governments to stop torture, and adhering to human rights. International monitoring of torture forces governments to come up with 'cleaner' forms of torture so that they appear compliant to legal norms but they are in essence being hypocrites. Another beneficial aspect of clean techniques is that it makes victims' testimony less credible due to the lack of physical evidence.
A common misconception is that torture has not been prevalent in democratic states, but the reality is that 'clean' forms of torture have developed in democracies. Unfortunately they have become common over time. For example, electro-torture has consistently doubled every decade since 1960. Although water boarding derived from the Spanish Inquisition, it symbolizes the preference of less bloody forms of torture since the Catholic priests deviated from blood shedding methods. Another example of blood free torture, took place during the Atlantic Slave Trade when marks on slaves reduced their resale value.
Rejali expresses that torture is much like a craft in which craftsmen share their techniques. Torture techniques are mainly passed down through tradition being underground practices, not being mainstream knowledge. Two main traditions described in the book are the French and Anglo-Saxon. The French tradition mainly consists of electricity and water as commonly seen in movies. The Anglo-Saxon tradition focuses more on stress techniques including sleep deprivation, forced sitting or standing, exhaustion, and banned military-like punishments. Torture has been institutionalized and is wide scale, and seen in many countries. He stresses that ordinary people pass traditions on such as fraternity hazing, schools, and the military. Therefore, it is a fight against all dark places in society, not only the government in particular.
A key theme throughout his book is that it isn't hard for governments to stop torture, and adhering to human rights. International monitoring of torture forces governments to come up with 'cleaner' forms of torture so that they appear compliant to legal norms but they are in essence being hypocrites. Another beneficial aspect of clean techniques is that it makes victims' testimony less credible due to the lack of physical evidence.
A common misconception is that torture has not been prevalent in democratic states, but the reality is that 'clean' forms of torture have developed in democracies. Unfortunately they have become common over time. For example, electro-torture has consistently doubled every decade since 1960. Although water boarding derived from the Spanish Inquisition, it symbolizes the preference of less bloody forms of torture since the Catholic priests deviated from blood shedding methods. Another example of blood free torture, took place during the Atlantic Slave Trade when marks on slaves reduced their resale value.
Rejali expresses that torture is much like a craft in which craftsmen share their techniques. Torture techniques are mainly passed down through tradition being underground practices, not being mainstream knowledge. Two main traditions described in the book are the French and Anglo-Saxon. The French tradition mainly consists of electricity and water as commonly seen in movies. The Anglo-Saxon tradition focuses more on stress techniques including sleep deprivation, forced sitting or standing, exhaustion, and banned military-like punishments. Torture has been institutionalized and is wide scale, and seen in many countries. He stresses that ordinary people pass traditions on such as fraternity hazing, schools, and the military. Therefore, it is a fight against all dark places in society, not only the government in particular.
1 comment:
Torture has been part of the progress and regression of humanity. It is depressing to know that there are so many countries still (and the US is one of them) who still use this means for whatever purpose it might serve them.
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