Torture
Ander Peña and Adrian Lancho
44D
Alternatiba
2nd Term
Sources of Information:
Torture Videos:
Date:
13th of March 2009
Summary:
What’s Torture?
Laws Against Torture
Supervision of Anti- Treaties
Tortures Used in the Past
Torture in Recent Times
What’s Torture?
Torture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is: any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him, or a third person, information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in, or incidental to, lawful sanctions.
The word 'torture' comes from the French torture, originating in the Late Latin tortura and ultimately deriving the past participle of torquere meaning 'to twist'.
Laws Against Torture
On December 10, 1948 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Article 5 states, "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."Since that time a number of other international treaties have been adopted to prevent the use of torture. Two of these are the United Nations Convention Against Torture and for international conflicts the Geneva Conventions III and IV.
Supervision of Anti- Torture Treaties
The Istanbul Protocol, an official UN document, is the first set of international guidelines for documentation of torture and its consequences. It became a United Nations official document in 1999.
Under the provisions of OPCAT that entered into force on 22 June 2006 independent international and national bodies will regularly visit places where people are deprived of their liberty, in order to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Each state that ratified the OPCAT, according to Article 17, is responsible for creating or maintaining at least one independent national preventative mechanism for torture prevention at the domestic level.
There are some different tortures:
Tortures used in the past
The Romans used torture for interrogation. They did not regard crucifixion as torture, though it was a deliberately horrible way to execute people as an example to frighten others. Prior to crucifixion, victims were often savagely whipped (sometimes to death) with barbed metal lashes, also to frighten others. A slave's testimony was admissible only if extracted by torture, on the assumption that slaves could not be trusted to reveal the truth voluntarily.[40] Over time the conceptual definition of torture has been expanded and remains a major question for ethics, philosophy, and law, but clearly includes the practices of many subsequent cultures.
Modern scholars find the concept of Hell torture to be compatible with society's concept of Justice during the time of Jesus Christ. Romans, Jews, Egyptians and many others cultures during that time included torture as part of their justice system. Romans had crucifixion, Jews had stoning and Egyptians had desert sun death. All these acts of torture were considered necessary (as to deter others) or good (as to punish the immoral).
Medieval and early modern European courts used torture, depending on the accused's crime and social status. Torture was deemed a legitimate means to extract confessions or to obtain the names of accomplices or other information about a crime. Often, defendants already sentenced to death would be tortured to force them to disclose the names of accomplices. Torture in the Medieval Inquisition began in 1252 and ended in 1816 when a papal bull forbade its use.
While secular courts often treated suspects ferociously, Will and Ariel Durant argued in The Age of Faith that many of the most vicious procedures were inflicted upon pious heretics by even more pious friars. The Dominicans gained a reputation as some of the most fearsomely innovative torturers in medieval Spain.
Torture was usually conducted in secret, in underground dungeons. By contrast, torturous executions were typically public, and woodcuts of English prisoners being hanged, drawn and quartered show large crowds of spectators, as do paintings of Spanish auto-da-fé executions, in which heretics were burned at the stake.
In 1613 Anton Praetorius described the situation of the prisoners in the dungeons in his book Gründlicher Bericht über Zauberei und Zauberer (Thorough Report about Sorcery and Sorcerers). He was one of the first to protest against all means of torture.
In Colonial America women were sentenced to the stocks with wooden clips on their tongues or subjected to the "dunking stool" for the gender-specific crime of talking too much.
While in Egypt in 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte wrote to Major-General Berthier that the barbarous custom of whipping men suspected of having important secrets to reveal must be abolished. It has always been recognized that this method of interrogation, by putting men to the torture, is useless. The wretches say whatever comes into their heads and whatever they think one wants to believe. Consequently, the Commander-in-Chief forbids the use of a method which is contrary to reason and humanity.
Torture in recent times
Modern sensibilities have been shaped by a profound reaction to the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Axis Powers in the Second World War, which have led to a sweeping international rejection of most if not all aspects of the practice. Even so, many states engage in torture; however, few wish to be described as doing so, either to their own citizens or to international bodies. A variety of devices bridge this gap, including state denial, "secret police", "need to know", denial that given treatments are torturous in nature, appeal to various laws (national or international), use of jurisdictional argument, claim of "overriding need", and so on. Many states throughout history, and many states today, have engaged in torture (unofficially). Despite worldwide condemnation and the existence of treaty provisions that forbid it, torture still occurs in two thirds of the world's nations.
Torture Cases
On 5 November 2008, the High Court of Zimbabwe granted Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) leaders Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu bail following their arrest on 16 October. They were released the following morning on 6 November.
Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu were arbitrarily arrested after participating in a peaceful protest outside Mhlahlandlela Government Complex in Bulawayo, in which they demanded immediate access to food aid in Zimbabwe. Police used excessive force to break up the peaceful protest by about 200 WOZA activists. Magodonga Mahlangu was beaten by police during her arrest.
Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu were unlawfully detained at Bulawayo Central police station overnight before being moved to be remanded in prison on 17 October. The Magistrate Court in Bulawayo remanded the two women in custody until 21 October, when their bail hearing took place without them being present. The state alleged that there was no transport to take them to the bail hearing. The court reserved judgement on the bail application until 24 October. However, on 24 October the magistrate allegedly postponed the judgement until 27 October because she was attending a workshop. Their bail applications were denied on 27 October. They then lodged appeals with the high court and were granted bail on 5 November, 21 nights after their arrest.
They have been charged under Section 37 1(a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act – ‘disturbing the peace, security or order of the public’.
On January 9, 2008, the Chicago City Council approved a nearly $20 million legal settlement to four African American men who were tortured into confessions by former police Cmdr. John Burge and his subordinates. The four allegedly were subjected to electric shocks, beatings and other brutality by Burge and his men. Though the settlement in the Burge cases is a victory, we must push for continued justice and accountability in these cases:
Join us in calling for the federal prosecution of John Burge and other Area 2 and 3 Chicago Police officers!
Join us in calling for new hearings for the 26 African American torture victims who remain convicted and incarcerated!
Join us in calling for reparations and psychological counselling on behalf of all of the torture victims!
For more information on the Chicago Police Torture Cases, and to see how you can get involved, visit http://www.midwesthumanrights.org/!
Torture Cases
On 5 November 2008, the High Court of Zimbabwe granted Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) leaders Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu bail following their arrest on 16 October. They were released the following morning on 6 November.
Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu were arbitrarily arrested after participating in a peaceful protest outside Mhlahlandlela Government Complex in Bulawayo, in which they demanded immediate access to food aid in Zimbabwe. Police used excessive force to break up the peaceful protest by about 200 WOZA activists. Magodonga Mahlangu was beaten by police during her arrest.
Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu were unlawfully detained at Bulawayo Central police station overnight before being moved to be remanded in prison on 17 October. The Magistrate Court in Bulawayo remanded the two women in custody until 21 October, when their bail hearing took place without them being present. The state alleged that there was no transport to take them to the bail hearing. The court reserved judgement on the bail application until 24 October. However, on 24 October the magistrate allegedly postponed the judgement until 27 October because she was attending a workshop. Their bail applications were denied on 27 October. They then lodged appeals with the high court and were granted bail on 5 November, 21 nights after their arrest.
They have been charged under Section 37 1(a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act – ‘disturbing the peace, security or order of the public’.
On January 9, 2008, the Chicago City Council approved a nearly $20 million legal settlement to four African American men who were tortured into confessions by former police Cmdr. John Burge and his subordinates. The four allegedly were subjected to electric shocks, beatings and other brutality by Burge and his men. Though the settlement in the Burge cases is a victory, we must push for continued justice and accountability in these cases:
Join us in calling for the federal prosecution of John Burge and other Area 2 and 3 Chicago Police officers!
Join us in calling for new hearings for the 26 African American torture victims who remain convicted and incarcerated!
Join us in calling for reparations and psychological counselling on behalf of all of the torture victims!
For more information on the Chicago Police Torture Cases, and to see how you can get involved, visit http://www.midwesthumanrights.org/!
Torture Cases
