Showing papers on "Torture published in 1981"

Can a State be 'Terrorist'?

Abstract: A PARTICULARLY thorny problem in all the major contributions to the literature on terrorism has been the relationship between terrorism by factions and state acts of terror. It is interesting to note that most of the recent academic literature has sought to avoid getting bogged down in this aspect: in general all the authors of the works reviewed below accept that it is unreasonable to insist on encompassing analyses of the complex processes and implications of both regimes of terror and factional terrorism as a mode of struggle within the same covers. There is a rich and growing literature on what most authors now term state terror, but the term terrorism is now widely used to denote the systematic use of terror by non-governmental actors. Nevertheless we should not lose sight of the fundamental truth that one cannot adequately understand terrorist movements without paying some attention to the effects of the use of force and violence by states. Indeed some of the best historical casestudies of the use of factional terrorism as a weapon vividly demonstrate how state violence often helps to provoke and fuel the violence of terrorist movements. Historically it is easy to show how the violence perpetrated by autocratic and colonial regimes has almost invariably displayed a symbiotic relationship to the violence of resistance and insurgent movements. Several excellent scholarly studies of the struggle between the French forces and the FLN in Algeria have underlined this lesson. Martha Hutchinson in her fascinating study of the FLN,1 quotes Lebjaoui, former head of the FFFLN, forcefully attacking Massu's excuse that torture was a response to FLN terrorism:

Up Against Apartheid: The Role and the Plight of the Press in South Africa

Abstract: A firsthand report of the workings of the press in the intensely troubled nation, complete with portions of the Erasmus Commission Reports never before published in the United States on the so-called Muldergate scandal.Pollak was the co-founder and editor of "MORE "magazine, which specialized in media analysis. After observing the workings of the press in South Africa, he believes that in the 1980s the English-language press will play a significant role in determining whether that country will be able to defuse its racial problem before it explodes into bloody civil strife.The press in South Africa remains the one relatively free institution that has been critical of the government. Pollak examines the pressures under which it works, the ways in which the government has sought to control it, the ways in which the press has fought against the controls, and the actual impact that the press has had upon the course of events, domestic and foreign. He describes the punitive closing of newspapers, the arrests and the torture, and the abuse of reporters imprisoned for what they have written. He also describes the carefully calculated bureaucratic obstacles to press coverage of events in South Africa, such as visas, work permits, and police credentials, as well as tapped telephones, security sleuths, and general harassment and intimidation used by the government to encourage self-censorship on the part of journalists. The constant war of nerves between the Nationalists and the press corps produces the desired chilling effect.Pollak shows that the South African press played an important part in revealing the Muldergate scandal, a saga of national and international intrigue, corruption, and violence that included an attempt by South Africa to purchase the "Washington Star "to extend its credibility around the world."

Sexual and Pituitary-Testicular Function in Torture Victims

Abstract: Seventeen men who previously had been subjected to torture were studied. Sexual dysfunction (reduced libido and erectile dysfunction) occurred in 29%. There was no relationship between presence of sexual disturbances and previous cranial and/or genital traumas, severity of torture, or length of imprisonment. Plasma concentrations of pituitary gonadotrophins, prolactin, and testosterone were normal in all subjects studied. The cause of sexual dysfunction in torture victims remains to be established.

Spanking Hurts Everybody

Abstract: “Is it possible that our children are learning violence across their mommy's and daddy's knees in the name of love, and done in the best interests of the child, with approving nods from the religious and educational establishments—even the courts—while all of us abhor rioting, terrorism, street crime, capital punishment and any form of torture, brutality, and human inhumanity?”

Law-medicine notes. Official torture and human rights: the American courts and international law.

Abstract: PHYSICIANS have a particular interest in the prevention of torture and in the effective punishment of barbarous acts of official torture by police and other government agencies. The profession of medicine is based fundamentally on the premise: do no harm. Physicians are often called on to examine the victims of torture. Competent medical evaluation is usually essential to proof of the use of torture on a person. Medical-ethics groups have condemned participation in official torture by the medical profession — or its tacit support — through supplying medical facilities or services to agencies conducting torture. The primary international pronouncement in . . .