Showing papers on "Torture published in 1993"

International Handbook of Traumatic Stress Syndromes

Abstract: Theoretical and Conceptual Foundations of Traumatic Stress Syndromes: From Hiroshima to the Nazi Doctors R.J. Lifton. Assement Methodology, and Research Strategies: Identifying Survivors at Risk B.L. Green. War Trauma and Civil Violence: Trauma and the Aging Process: War and Remembrance Z. Harel, et al. Research Post-World War II to the Present: The Vietnam P.O.W. Experience E.J. Hunter. Trauma Related to Disasters of Natural and Human Origen: Chernobyl T. Lundin. The Impact of Trauma on Children and Adolescents: Father Kills Mother D. Black, et al. Trauma Related to Torture, Detention, and Internment: Torture of a Norwegian Ship Crew L. Weisaeth. Intervention, Clinical Treatment, and Psychotherapy: Post-Traumatic Therapy F. Ochberg. Organizational, Social Policy Issues, and Critical Sress Incident Debriefing in Response to Victims of Trauma: Vet Centers A.S. Blank Jr. 75 additional articles. Index.

Fear at the edge : state terror and resistance in Latin America

Abstract: Despite the emergence of fragile democracies in Latin America in the 1980s, a legacy of fear and repression haunts this region. This provocative volume chronicles the effect of systematic state terror on the social fabric in Chile, Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay from the 1960s to the mid-1980s. The contributors, primarily Latin American scholars, examine the deep sense of insecurity and the complex social psychology of people who live in authoritarian regimes. There is Argentina, where the brutal repression of the 1976 coup almost completely smothered individuals who might once have opposed government practices, and Uruguay, where the government forced the population into neutrality and isolation and cast a silent pall on everyday life. Accounts of repression and resistance in Chile and Brazil are also vividly presented. The denial and rationalization by citizens in all four countries can only be understood in the context of the generalized fear and confusion created by the violent military campaigns, which included abductions, torture, and disappearances of alleged terrorists. The recent transition to civilian rule in these countries has spotlighted their powerful legacy of fear. These important essays reveal disturbing insights into how fear is generated, legitimized, accommodated, and resisted among people living under totalitarian rule.

Psychiatric morbidity in survivors of organised state violence including torture. A retrospective series.

Abstract: The case notes documenting the psychological well-being of 100 survivors of torture and other forms of organised state violence were analysed retrospectively. The most common diagnoses were post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depression, and somatoform disorders. Of these, PTSD showed the strongest association with experience of torture. It is possible that PTSD has a dimensional nature, and that reactions to different stressors are heterogeneous.

Survivors : An Oral History of the Armenian Genocide

Abstract: Between 1915 and 1923, over one million Armenians died, victims of a genocidal campaign that is still denied by the Turkish government. Thousands of other Armenians suffered torture, brutality, deportation - yet their story has received scant attention. Now, through interviews with 100 elderly Armenians, Donald and Lorna Miller give the "forgotten genocide" the hearing it deserves. Interviewees describe the break-up of villages, forced marches, the death of family members, the sympathy of some Turks, and postwar life in orphanages. The Millers enrich their narrative with insights drawn from historical documents, psychological theory, ethics and religious studies.

Torture And Modernity: Self, Society, And State In Modern Iran

Abstract: Introduction Disciplines And Tortures Qajar Punishments Disciplinary Practices Disciplinary Society Carceral Society Tutelage And Torture Protecting Children Creating a Moral Public Convictions into Prisons Orienting Modernity Questioning the Subject The Rationalization of Iranians How Not to Talk About Torture.

Torture of a Norwegian ship's crew

Abstract: Medical reports on torture sequelae are usually based upon examinations of previous prisoners of war (Eitinger & Strom, 1973; Ursano, Boydstun, & Wheatley, 1981) or exiled persons. Expatriated victims in particular have been subject to medical and psychological research during the last 10 to 20 years, especially in Canada (Allodi & Cowgill, 1982), Norway (Fossum, Hauff, Malt, & Eitinger, 1982), and in Denmark (Rasmussen & Nielsen, 1980; Somnier & Genefke, 1986) where the International Rehabilitation Center for Torture Victims opened in 1984 in Copenhagen. For obvious reasons, it has been difficult to perform systematic studies in the country where the torture and violence took place. Refugees make up a selected group of torture victims, and the additional stress of expatriation may produce adverse health effects that are difficult to separate from the torture effects (Thorvaldsen, 1987; see also Chapter 55, in this volume, for a discussion).

The role of physicians in conflicts and humanitarian crises. Case studies from the field missions of Physicians for Human Rights, 1988 to 1993.

Abstract: Violations of human rights in wars, civil conflicts, and brutal repression mounted by governments against their own citizens often have profound consequences to individual and public health and may, in turn, produce humanitarian crises. The skills of physicians, medical and forensic scientists, and other health workers are uniquely valuable in human rights investigations and documentation, producing evidence of abuse more credible and less vulnerable to challenge than traditional methods of case reporting. Only in recent decades, however, have physicians organized specifically to meet this responsibility. This article presents case studies from the field missions of Physicians for Human Rights to illustrate the investigation and documentation of violations of medical neutrality, refugee health crises, the use of indiscriminate weapons, torture, deliberate injury and rape, and mass executions. Participation of health workers in the defense of human rights now includes investigation and documentation of health effects in threatened populations as well as individual victims. ( JAMA . 1993;270:616-620)

Prevention of torture and care of survivors. An integrated approach.

Abstract: An analysis of the 1992 Amnesty International report demonstrates the nature and global distribution of reports of human rights violations. Systematic torture was reported in 93 of 204 countries. Reports of torture were more common from regions affected by political unrest, including mass demonstrations, riots, outbreaks of violence, killings, coup attempts, civil war, armed tribal conflict, rebellions, and conflicts with various opposition groups demanding social and political reform. These observations suggest that effective measures against torture require a multilevel analysis of underlying social, political, cultural, and psychological factors. Effective care of survivors of organized violence and torture is an indispensable component of the human rights struggle and needs more scientific attention. An integrated approach involving both preventive efforts and care of survivors can promote the human rights cause. (JAMA. 1993;270:606-611)

The mark of empire : writing, history, and torture in Coetzee's Waiting for the Barbarians

Abstract: Publie aux Etats-Unis en 1980, ce roman de l'ecivain d'origine sud-africaine est presente ici comme une des plus brillante reussite de la litteraure post-coloniale de langue anglaise, alliant la reflexion philosophique sur la barbarie et la civilisation a l'innovation stylistique

The Case for War Crimes Trials in Yugoslavia

Abstract: THE NEED TO ASSERT INTERNATIONAL LAW The credibility of international humanitarian law demands a war crimes tribunal to hold accountable those responsible for gross violations in the former Yugoslavia. Opponents in the bitter ethnic and religious conflict have subjected civilians to summary execution, torture, rape, mass internment, deportation, destruction or confisca tion of property and other violations of their rights. Many thousands have died. A war crimes tribunal, sought by the U.N. Security Council, would be the first since the Nuremberg and Far East trials following World War II. The Security Council's decision, embodied in U.N. Resolution 808, derives its binding authority from the U.N. Charter's Chapter VII provisions regarding threats to peace, breaches of peace and acts of aggression. The Security Council's determination that violations of international humanitarian law constitute a threat to

Principles of Treatment and Service Development for Torture and Trauma Survivors

Abstract: Undoubtedly, torture is one of the most traumatic threats to psychic integrity that any human being can undergo. Systematic assaults on the integrity of the personality are used by repressive regimes to incapacitate the individual in order to intimidate the family and the wider community. Torture aims to destroy the victim’s sense of identity and to engender feelings of “debilitation, dependency, and dread” (British Medical Association, 1986). The wider goal of this process is to render political leaders and social militants powerless, to prevent further political opposition to the ruling regime, and to act as a strong deterrent to potential opponents in the community (Ugalde & Ziwi, 1989). Techniques which deliberately induce a sense of helplessness in conjunction with feelings of guilt and shame combine with physical, sexual, and psychological violence to paralyze the psyche and dissipate opposition to the status quo.

The social context of torture: Policy process and authority structure.

Abstract: Conceptualizing torture as a crime of obedience implies that it must be understood in the context of the policy process that gives rise to it and of the authority structure within which this policy is carried out. This chapter looks at the policy process and the authority structure to identify the major determinants of acts of torture as well as the major correctives against these practices. Democratic countries are less likely to practice torture precisely because of the nature of the policy processes and the authority structures that characterize such societies. While individual and cultural factors are important determinants of torture, they operate in interaction with the policy process and the authority structure that ultimately give rise to the practice. There are social conditions under which democratic cultures that ordinarily respect human rights may sanction torture, just as there are social conditions under which ordinary, decent individuals may be induced to take part in it.

Disruption and Reconstitution of Family, Network, and Community Systems Following Torture, Organized Violence, and Exile

Abstract: The process of arrest, torture, release, flight, and exile involves trauma at many levels. Insofar as humans are social beings, this trauma can be understood, not only as an assault on the individual person, but also an assault on the links and connections between people and the patterns of relationships through which people define themselves and give meaning to their lives.1

Homosexuality and police terror in Turkey.

Abstract: Being a way of sexual living as old as human history, homosexuality occupies an interesting place in the life of the Turkish people of the Republic of Turkey. This has been so since the days of the glorious Ottoman Empire. In the year 1987, instead of investigating the roots of homosexuality, the pressing need has become to present a particular view of homosexuality in Turkey today. To be more specific, there is a need to explain the problems of Turkish homosexuals and suggest certain vital solutions. Our country is constantly endeavoring to become "westernized" and it is claimed that steps are being taken toward that modernization. Despite this fact, homosexuals are confronted with such great problems that it is not difficult to justify those who say that there is no democracy in Turkey. I will try to explain these problems with documentary evidence and without exaggeration. In doing so, I shall make use of new material in my book, published under the title of Homosexuality in Turkey: Yesterday, Today. Beginning in March of 1986, we compiled a list of the attitudes of the police toward gays, involving pressure and cruelty that can be qualified as torture. Despite this situation, instead of being more democratic and humane, in April 1987 the police force employed terror tactics against homosexuals in Istanbul. This was "the straw that broke the camel's back." Soon after this act of oppression, 18 gays, acting on our suggestions, sued the police for the first time. They then submitted a petition to the Attorney-General and later launched a hunger strike in Taksim Square. These represent movements of importance in the political history of Turkey. From now on homosexuals, too, will have the right to speak out in political affairs.

The theory of torture and the treatment of its survivors: An intervention model

Abstract: Torture is analyzed as an institution which impacts on both the individual survivor and society at large. The authors provide formulations toward a comprehensive treatment approach for survivors of torture and political repression. Interventions are focused on four key areas: (a) restoring physical integrity; (b) promoting psychological reorganization; (c) examining the multiple losses involved in refugee or exile status; and (d) reintegrating the survivor into sociopolitical life. A critical element underlying these interventions is an awareness of and sensitivity to countertransference dynamics. The authors stress the need for a safe therapeutic environment in which the uncovering process can take place, and survivors can rebuild their sense of trust and security.

Individual Freedoms and State Security in the African Context: The Case of Zimbabwe

Abstract: Emergency Powers & Individual Freedoms: An Overview - COnstitutional Dvelopment & the State of Emergency in Rhodesia: An Overview - The State of Emergency in Zimbabwe - Implementing Emergency Powers - Constitutional Safeguar ds of Individual Freedoms - Detention Wihtout Trial & the Right to Personal Liberty - Protecting the Rights of D etainees - Protection from Torture & Right to Life - P rotection of the Law - Freedom of Movement & Conscienc e - Economic & Political Rights - Protecting Individua l Freedoms: The Traditional Safeguards - Safeguarding Indi vidual Freedoms: National & International Institutions - Back to the Future: Some Rflections on the State of Eme rgency in Zimbabwe - Appendices

International Perspectives on the Treatment and Prevention of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Abstract: In the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases, Chapter 5, one may read that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) arises as a delayed and/or protracted response to a stressful event or situation of an exceptionally threatening or catastrophic nature, which is likely to cause pervasive distress in almost anyone (e.g., natural or man-made disaster, combat, serious accident, witnessing the violent death of others, being the victim of torture, terrorism, rape or other crime). ([WHO]a)

Health and human rights in Gaza.

Abstract: whom she (solely) confided, who insisted that this could be dangerous and referred to the episode of Casualty, which had been screened the previous week. It was only when the friend detailed the fate of the young girl in the television series, who had taken an overdose of paracetamol and progressed to liver failure, that our patient reluctantly agreed to go to hospital. This patient had not viewed that episode of Casualty. In his recent editorial, Gary P Bray commented that increased public awareness of the dangers of paracetamol should at least lessen the risk of accidental overdosage.2 Our case report supports his view that \"aware\" relatives or friends of overdose patients may be more likely to encourage prompt medical attention. The Casualty series influences patients and the general public in many different ways. Thankfully our patient did not develop anything more serious than a transient rise in her liver enzymes; however, the educational value of the programme may well have influenced her progress. Copycat overdoses coincidental EDrrOR,-After reading Simon Collins's account of a significant increase in the number of teenage presenting after taking an overdose in the wake of the screening of a particular episode of Casualty,' we examined data on admissions of women of all ages after poisoning with paracetamol in South West Thames region during the same period (table). We also found a significant increase in such cases in the week after the transmission of the programme (p=0 005). There was also, however, a similar significant rise in the week ending 5 December (p=003), which may not be attributed to Casualty. We also examined comparable One week in each period showed a significant rise in admissions due to paracetamol poisoning. Interestingly, the week in question in both years was that including 5 November. Despite the association we do not believe that Guy Fawkes is responsible. The problem with implying that the programme caused the rise is the assumption that deliberate attempts at self poisoning follow a Poisson distribution. This means that, under normal circumstances , such attempts would be expected to occur randomly and independently in time at a constant rate. This is manifestly not so in the case of deliberate self poisoning at any time and particu-Number of women admitted to hospital in South West Thames region after paracetamol poisoning, by week, before and after screening of \"Casualty\" on 9 January 1993 Date No Date No

The Guerrilla Wars of Central America: Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala

Abstract: From the 1960s to the 1980s revolutionary nationalists in Central America believed that only armed struggle could free their countries from US domination and oligarchical rule. Saul Landau tells the story of three bitter and bloody civil wars. In the 1980s the wars being fought in these tiny nations engaged the entire political world, as the US obsession with the Sandinistas produced the Iran-Contra scandal. In El Salvador the murder of Archbishop Oscar Romero focussed world attention on the torture and murder of Catholic priests in Latin America. In Guatemala, US intervention in the 1950s helped to produce the bloodiest sequence of military governments in Central America. These conflicts had their roots in the extreme inequalities of the region and were fuelled by US financial and military intervention, as US policy-makers saw in every regional conflict a Cold War dimension.

The Psychosexual Trauma of Torture

Abstract: In accordance with the view of many political refugees, we regard the exile of victims as part of the political repression of the country of origin. The activities in the home country against individuals who have individually or collectively resisted social and economic exploitation have been met by dictatorial or other forms of authoritarian persecution which results in imprisonment and torture, and—as the last step—coercion to leave the country. In this way, political regimes rid themselves of troublesome individuals they have abused without physically killing them.

International norms on execution of the insane and the mentally retarded

Abstract: Victor Hugo considered the death penalty to be the hallmark of barbarity. 104 International human rights law clearly contemplates abolition of the death penalty. To some extent, it has succeeded in promoting universal and imperative norms, as in the case of the prohibitions on torture and slavery. 105 With respect to the death penalty, results have been more gradual and the effort has met with more opposition. Although international norms now exist prohibiting the death penalty, 106 they are not yet widely ratified. This is why international organizations dedicated to the promotion of human rights have insisted upon strict limitation of the death penalty, including its total exclusion for certain categories, such as juveniles, pregnant women, the elderly, and the insane.

Psychiatry under tyranny: a report on the political abuse of Romanian psychiatry during the Ceausescu years

Abstract: Romanians suffered incredible deprivations of every sort during the decades of Communist dictatorship. Most of the country’s 1,000 psychiatrists, and most of their patients, were victimized by the political system. A few psychiatrists actively engaged in practices amounting to torture. Many, however, became willing or unwilling participants in the political abuse of their profession. Such political abuses were fostered by abusive legislation and abusive law enforcement by the secret police. Abuses included: mass detentions in psychiatric hospitals of dissidents and political undesirables; abusive interpretation of the laws in detaining persons not suffering from mental illness; false, politically motivated diagnoses and treatment; and detention in secret facilities. While there are honest efforts to come to grips with the past, to compensate victims of psychiatric abuse, and to institute proceedings against abusers, there is also much resistance to reform. Reform-minded Romanian psychiatrists deserve the support of their western colleagues in the effort to restore Romanian psychiatry. In particular, professional colleagues all over the world are asked to comment on the draft law currently pending before the Romanian parliament, which is intended to restore the rule of law to the practice of psychiatry in Romania.

Uruguay nunca más: Human Rights Violations, 1972-1985

Abstract: Preface Acknowledgments Introduction Lawrence Weschler Abbreviations Part I: The Historical Process 1. The Decline of the Democratic System, I: Crisis, Social Mobilization, and Authoritarianism 2. The Decline of the Democratic System, II: Ascendancy of the Military 3. The Military Dictatorship, I: Social Control and State Militarization 4. The Military Dictatorship, II: Military Failure and the Restoration of Democracy Part II: The Practice of State Terrorism 5. Arrests 6. Torture 7. Military Justice 8. The Long Imprisonment 9. Prison Medical Care 10. Deaths 11. Forced Disappearances 12. Doctors', Psychologists', and Paramedics' Participation in Torture 13. Coordination among Military Operations in the Southern Cone Part III: Beyond Prison 14. The Dismantling of Civilian Life 15. The Long Exile 16. The Scars of Terrorism Epilogue: Final Words Appendix A: Methodology Appendix B: Persons Who Dies as a Result of the Political Violence Beginning April 14, 1972 Appendix C: Uruguayans Who Were Arrested and Disappeared Notes Index

Medical Diagnosis and Treatment of Torture Survivors

Abstract: In this chapter I will focus on the diagnosis and treatment of the somatic sequelae of torture. Summarily, these can be divided into (1) a general stress-related condition which is found to some extent in most untreated survivors, irrespective of the type of torture; and (2) the symptoms and findings related to specific torture methods and to body parts and organ systems directly affected by the torture.

A Framework for Survival: Health, Human Rights, and Humanitarian Assistance in Conflicts and Disasters

Abstract: Since the start of the decade, the US medical community and its professional press have increasingly focused on human rights issues, although, as is pointed out by H. Jack Geiger, one of the speakers at a September 1992 conference of the Council on Foreign Relations, whose remarks are included in this book, "There is nothing new about... violations of medical neutrality, torture, and other blatant human rights violations... and nothing new... about the deliberate destruction of civilian populations." Nevertheless, this increased attention to human rights issues, largely stimulated by media coverage of the relief efforts directed toward Kurdish refugees in the wake of the Gulf War, by the televised horrors of Somalia, and by the seemingly insoluble war in the former Yugoslavia, is certainly both warranted and welcome. The speeches published in this book are by a diverse group of politicians, physicians, administrators, and development professionals. Together, they have both