Torture Today

Who is affected by torture?


In its 2011 report, Amnesty International Report 2011: The State of the World’s Human Rights, Amnesty International states that in 2011 they documented cases of torture in 98 out of 157 states they examined. The states on this list included some that come as no surprise such as Egypt and Iraq. However, the list also included some states that would not traditionally be expected to appear on such a list—the United Kingdom and the United States, for example. Unfortunately, we know that the U.S. has engaged in extraordinary rendition (extrajudicial apprehension and rendition, typically to a state that practices torture) in its near past, even if President Obama prohibited the practice in his 2009 "Executive Order 13491 -- Ensuring Lawful Interrogations."


It is typically very difficult to estimate how many people worldwide are affected by torture. The Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture estimates that there are 400,000 survivors of torture in the United States alone. The Torture Abolition and Survivor Support Coalition (TASSC) estimates the number is closer to half a million. The reason it is difficult to accurately estimate is because “survivors often remain silent about their past, some out of fear or continued persecution and others because of unwarranted feelings of shame or a belief that no one would understand if they did speak about what had been done” (TASSC).


This is not surprising, because when one reads the stories of those who are tortured, it is easy for a psychologically normal person to be so horrified that one could reject the thought that human being could take such horrific actions against another human. Additionally, because often the victims are those in outcast groups—religious and ethnic minorities, the economically disadvantaged, the disabled—and the perpetrators and those carrying out the torture are frequently those that wear uniforms and have the trust and confidence of their superiors, it is very difficult for survivors of torture to approach anyone, particularly law enforcement officials, to seek justice.


The Center for Trauma and Torture Survivors of Georgia recounts the story of a 39-year-old woman who was tortured before she came to America: “I came to America feeling ashamed to talk about some of the things that has happened to me…Once I arrived here, I was afraid to approach anyone thinking that some of the same things would happen to me here as well” (CTTS, Success Stories). With so many hesitant to tell their stories, it is difficult to get a statistically significant estimate of the number of torture survivors worldwide.


Who is responsible, and are they held accountable?


TASSC emphasizes that the responsibility for torture goes beyond those who carry out the techniques. “It is TASSC’s belief that those who torture, those who give the orders to torture, and those who manufacture the implements of torture are all torturers since they are part of the torture process” (TASSC: Frequently Asked Questions). Under TASSC’s philosophy, the officials that authorize torture—for example, the CIA agents that order the Military Policemen on the night shift to “soften up” a detainee for questioning the next morning, or the officials that write the memos justifying the use of stress positions—are just as much at fault as the MPs that abuse the detainees.


Unfortunately, the 2011 Amnesty International report notes:

"On 9 November, the US Department of Justice announced, without further explanation, that no one would face criminal charges in relation to the destruction in 2005 by the CIA of videotapes made of the interrogations of two detainees – Abu Zubaydah and ‘Abd al-Nashiri – held in secret custody in 2002. The 92 tapes depicted evidence of the use of 'enhanced interrogation techniques', including 'water-boarding', against the two detainees."

Fortunately, other countries are holding their officials accountable. The 2011 Amnesty International report also highlights a landmark case in Turkey where “19 officials including police officers and prison guards [were] convicted for their part in the torture that resulted in the death of political activist Engin Çeber in Istanbul in October 2008” (38). We can only hope that this trend will continue.




DISCLAIMER:
The research and opinions contained are my own and in no way represent the U.S. Governmente