Showing papers on "Torture published in 1996"

Rape as a Weapon of War

Abstract: This essay examines how rape of women and girls by male soldiers works as a martial weapon. Continuities with other torture and terrorism and with civilian rape are suggested. The inadequacy of past philosophical treatments of the enslavement of war captives is briefly discussed. Social strategies are suggested for responding and a concluding fantasy offered, not entirely social, of a strategy to change the meanings of rape to undermine its use as a martial weapon.

Mass Hate: The Global Rise Of Genocide And Terror

Abstract: The Hater's Mind Ethnic Cleansing in Bosnia Muslim Extremists in New York. RwandaThe Legacy of Inequality Why People Followed Hitler The Power of the Situation The Personality of the Perpetrator Can Anything Be Done?

On Torture, or Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment

Abstract: L'A. porte son attention sur la torture ainsi que sur la signification de la cruaute. Il presentent les analyses que G. R. Scott et D. Rejali ont developpees concernant ces problemes. Il pose la question de l'abolition de la torture et de l'humanisation du monde. Il montre en quoi la torture peut etre envisagee comme l'expression d'une cruaute deliberee, comme un assujettissement

The Letter of the Law: The Scope of the International Legal Obligation to Prosecute Human Rights Crimes

Abstract: In the past several years, Argentina, Cambodia, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Uruguay, and South Africa have each granted amnesty to members of the former regime that commanded death squads that tortured and killed thousands of civilians within their respective countries. With respect to four of these countries (Cambodia, El Salvador, Haiti, and South Africa), the United Nations pushed for, helped negotiate, and/or endorsed the granting of amnesty as a means of restoring peace and democratic government. At the preparatory conference for the establishment of a permanent international criminal court in August 1997, the U.S. Delegation circulated a paper suggesting that the proposed permanent court should take into account such amnesties in the interest of international peace and national reconciliation when deciding whether to prosecute. Numerous scholars have made the case against granting amnesty to those who commit violations of international humanitarian law (the laws of war), or who commit other serious human rights crimes (genocide, torture, and crimes

Love Thy Neighbor: A Story of War

Abstract: An account of one journalist's experience from 1992-93 of the conflict in Bosnia, this work is an attempt to come to terms with the overwhelming questions that are provoked by witnessing the destruction of a nation. It explores the universal nature of war and unravelling of a once stable society, uncovering stories of rape, torture and death as well as the acts that assert humanity in the face of such devastation.

Survivors of torture and organized violence : Demography and diagnosis

Abstract: Sixty patients, with a history of torture or other repressive state violence, newly referred to two psychiatrists, were assessed using a standard instrument. Thirty one met the diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 21 met the criteria for MDD. Relationships between these diagnoses and history of trauma, loss of health, and social losses were investigated. Sexual torture is associated with an avoidance reaction.

Experiences of torture and ill-treatment and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms among Palestinian political prisoners.

Abstract: The relationship between the nature and severity of experiences of torture and ill-treatment and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms was studied in 550 male nonhelp-seeking Palestinian political ex-prisoners from the Gaza Strip. Results showed that the more a prisoner had been exposed to physical, chemical and electric torture, psychological ill-treatment, and sensory deprivation or bombardment, the more he subsequently suffered from intrusive reexperiencing, withdrawal and numbness, and hyperarousal. Existential problems were not related to torture experiences. Furthermore, duration of imprisonment, health problems during the imprisonment, harassment during arrest and after release, family, marriage and economic difficulties all predicted intrusive reexperiences of trauma. Also, ex-prisoners who continued to be harassed by military authorities and had economic problems suffered more from withdrawal, numbness, and hyperarousal than others.

Children: ethnic and political violence

Abstract: Violence stemming from ethnic and political tensions is a problem of increasing proportions throughout the world, and many indicators show that large numbers of children are directly or indirectly exposed to war, political repression, torture, and terrorism. There is growing evidence to suggest that children are at risk under these conditions, and that the consequences of growing up amid danger, chaos, and deprivation can be severe. The articles contained in this special section were assembled to foster greater awareness of this important topic among the readers of Child Development and, hopefully, stimulate new research on ethnic and political violence in many of the disciplines that are represented within the Society for Research in Child Development.

The influence of exile and repatriation on mental and physical health. A population-based study.

Abstract: This study tested the association between psychosocial stressors extracted from a previous qualitative study, and psychological distress, long-term illness and self-rated ill-health among Latin American refugees in Lund, Sweden, and among repatriated Latin Americans The study was designed as a population-based cross-sectional study A structured questionnaire from the Swedish Annual Level-of-Living Surveys 1989: 2 was translated into Spanish Latin American refugees in Lund (n=338) and those who had lived in Lund and were repatriated to Santiago de Chile (n=51) and Montevideo, Uruguay (n=9), were interviewed in their homes in Sweden and in Latin America The data were analysed unmatched with logistic regression in main effect models Torture was an independent risk indicator for psychological distress, with an estimated odds ratio of 271 (145–485) There was a significant association between discrimination, not feeling secure in everyday life and psychological distress, with estimated odds ratios of 193(102–356) and 323(162–616), respectively Torture and not feeling secure in everyday life were independent risk factors for long-term illness Torture, discrimination and not feeling secure in everyday life were significant strong risk factors for ill-health Repatriated refugees had significantly higher shares of not feeling secure compared with Latin Americans in Sweden As risk factors of psychological distress and illness, torture, discrimination and not feeling secure proved to be as important as traditional risk factors such as material factors and lifestyle

Torture and war trauma survivors in primary care practice

Abstract: Close to 1 million refugees from around the world have entered the United States, fleeing repression, war, terrorism, and disease. It has been estimated that among these are thousands who have experienced torture. Many refugees and immigrants will appear in the offices of health care professionals with symptoms that may be related either directly or indirectly to torture. Both physical and psychological torture may result in long-term sequelae. Physical effects may be found in every organ system, but psychological effects are most commonly manifest in the symptoms of the post-traumatic stress disorder. For physicians to recognize how torture can affect health status, it is important to understand that history taking may be difficult and that little information may emerge that would explain the origins of scars, fractures, or disabilities. Recognizing the clues to a torture history allows physicians to assist patients in describing the trauma. In addition, knowing the subacute and chronic signs and symptoms of torture enables physicians to diagnose and treat often obscure symptoms with a much clearer understanding of the sources of the difficulty. Paying special attention to the interview process will support torture survivors in detailing often horrific events.

Torture and rhetoric in Athens

Abstract: In a short article published one hundred years ago, J.W. Headlam presented the thesis that in Athenian law the function of the challenge to torture slaves was to propose an alternative method of trial outside the dikasterion, a kind of ordeal. The thesis met immediate opposition and despite a brief rejoinder by Headlam to his first critic it has been rejected by those writing on Athenian law up to now, including G. Thur, whose monograph is by far the most important work on the subject. However, the significance of the issue compels us not to let it drop. For it touches not only upon the use of torture, which affects our understanding of the position of slaves, but also upon the Athenian rules of evidence, indeed, their entire method of dispute resolution. The purpose of the present paper is, first (I) to revive Headlam's thesis in a modified form and (II) to answer the criticisms against it. I shall argue that Headlam was essentially correct with regard to the judicial function of the challenge, but his association of it with the trial by ordeal was misplaced. Finally, (III) I shall touch upon the influence of rhetoricians in Athens, for they appear responsible for some of the disagreement.

Appraisal of Self, Social Environment, and State Authority as a Possible Mediator of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Tortured Political Activists

Abstract: Sosyal Sigortalar Kurumu Hospital This study examined appraisal of self and others, as measured by semantic differential ratings of Police, State, Society, Family, Friend, Myself as a Man/Woman, and Myself as a Political Person, in 55 tortured political activists in Turkey, 55 nontortured political activists, and 55 nontortured, politically noninvolved controls. There were no remarkable differences between tortured and non- tortured political activists; both groups differed from controls in having a more negative appraisal of the police and the state and stronger perceptions of danger, mistrust, and injustice in relation to state authority. Lack of beliefs concerning a "benevolent state" may have protected the survivors from the traumatic effects of state-perpetrated torture. Further research into the possible protective role of belief systems in posttraumatic stress disorder is needed. Systematic torture has certain features that distinguishes it from other traumas. It is a deliberate attack on the physical and psychological well-being of the individual and is often extremely severe and prolonged. Accordingly, most studies have found high rates of psychopathology among concentration camp sur- vivors (Solkoff, 1992 ), former prisoners of war (Miller, 1992 ), and other survivors of torture (Mollica, Wysak, & Lavelle, 1987). In contrast to earlier studies, a recent study in Turkey by our group. (Ba§o~lu, Paker, Paker, et al., 1994; Ba~o~lu, Paker, Tasde- mir, Ozmen, & ~ahin, 1994) found relatively low levels oftrau- matization among a group of torture survivors despite severe Metin Baso~lu, Institute of Psychiatry, University of London, Lon- don, England; Murat Paker and Ozg/in Ta~emir, New School for Social Research, New York; Erdo~,an Ozmen, Ayten Ceyhanh, and Cem In- cesu, Baklrk6y Psychiatric Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey; Do,an S ahin, Department of Psychiatry, University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey; Nusin Sanmurat, Sosyal Sigortalar Kurumu Hospital, Ankara, Turkey. This research was supported in part by the Bromley Trust, the Hu- man Rights Association of lstanbul, the Istanbul Chamber of Medicine, the Turkish Human Rights Association, and the Turkish Medical Asso- ciation. Thanks are also due to Chris Brewin for his helpful comments on a draft. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Metin Ba~o~lu, Institute of Psychiatry, DeCrespigny Park, 99 Denmark Hill. London SE5 8AE England. torture. In the present study we attempted to find a possible explanation for this striking finding. Because our study partici- pants were different from the average person in that they were highly committed political activists with a strong belief system, their appraisal of themselves and the world might have played a protective role against the traumatic effects of torture. Because the study involved two groups of political activists (tortured and nontortured) and a third group of nontortured, nonpolitically involved individuals, we could examine how the political activists differed from the nonactivists in their ap- praisal of self and the world. Using the semantic differential method (Osgood, Suci, & Tannenbaum, 1978), we examined the participants' evaluations of personal safety, trust, and justice in relation to social environment, because posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) responses may be mediated by violation of previously held assumptions of invulnerability and personal safety (Foa, Zinbarg, & Rothbaum, 1992; Janoff-Bulman, 1992), inability to find an acceptable explanation for the trauma (Lifton & Olson, 1976), and violation of beliefs that the world is a just and orderly place (Lerner & Miller, 1978). Although this method did not provide direct measurements of beliefs (standardized beliefs questionnaires are not available in Turkish ), we expected the semantic meaning of these concepts to be strongly associated with beliefs about safety, trust, and justice. If violation of beliefs regarding safety, trust, and justice do indeed play a role in PTSD, then cognitive theory of trauma as 232

The French Secret Services: From the Dreyfus Affair to the Gulf War

Abstract: This text tells the story of the transition of France's spy networks of the "ancien regime" and Napolean into modern intelligence services. A leader in cryptoanalysis before and during the Great War, French intelligence could not save France from defeat in 1940. But de Gaulle would rely on his intelligence services both to negotiate with the Allies and to unify the Resistance. From 1945, fears of a Communist uprising, the colonial wars in Indochina and Algeria, and the premium that French politicians traditionally placed on domestic spies guaranteed a prominent role for the French services. The secret services also resorted to opium smuggling in Indochina and torture in Algeria, and were drawn into the "dirty tricks" of politicians, which continue to play a role in French political life today.;Ranging from diplomatic and military intelligence to covert operations and industrial espionage, this book explains the sometimes bizarre operations of French intelligence in the context of France's divided political culture and of her self-image as a world power.

Arresting Impunity: The Case for Universal Jurisdiction in Bringing War Criminals to Accountability

Abstract: The war criminal sickens the conscience of civilized society.' War crimes are repulsive, heinous acts. War carried out under the most civilized laws of armed conflict is horrible, but its horrors are greatly exacerbated by those brutal acts of plunder, torture, rape, and murder that humanitarian laws of war forbid. Such vile acts affect not only those against whom they are perpetrated; they appall and offend all of humanity. Since war criminals often operate with the knowledge and assistance of local political and legal authorities, domestic law does little to deter these actors. Prevention and punishment of war crimes thus become legal concerns and moral obligations, not just for those governments in whose territory crimes occurred, but for all states. Indeed, the effective prosecution and punishment of war criminals remain essential to the prevention of such crimes, the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the promotion of international peace and security.2 The horrors perpetrated in the former Yugoslavia during 1991-94 furnish a tragic case in point. This civil war left 250,000 persons dead, 2 million displaced, and an entire population scarred for life. But the most grotesque and enduring features of the Bosnian tragedy are the thousands of egregious acts perpetrated as war crimes by all sides against one another, but mainly by

Lessons from the Americas: Guidelines for International Response to Amnesties for Atrocities

Abstract: The last two decades of the Cold War saw human rights reach a low ebb in Latin America. From Argentina’s Dirty War and Chile’s General Pinochet in the South, to bloodbaths of peasants in El Salvador and indigenous peoples in Guatemala in the North, the continent was overrun by serious violations of human rights. Few countries escaped. Even today the region’s two largest nations, Brazil and Mexico, suffer widespread and systematic patterns of police torture (among other abuses), while massive violence stalks Colombia and

Physician Complicity in Misrepresentation and Omission of Evidence of Torture in Postdetention Medical Examinations in Turkey

Abstract: Between June 1994 and October 1995, representatives of Physicians for Human Rights studied the problem of physician complicity in torture (ie, misrepresentation and omission of medical evidence in postdetention examinations of detainees) in Turkey. The research consisted of a survey of forensic documentation of torture, interviews with individual physicians who examine detainees, analyses of official medical reports of detainees, and interviews with survivors of torture. Results from the survey, interviews, and medical report analyses provide evidence that torture of political and criminal detainees continues to occur in Turkey and that Turkish physicians are coerced to ignore, misrepresent, and omit evidence of torture in their examinations of detainees to certify that there are no physical signs of torture.

Teaching of human rights in US medical schools

Abstract: Objective. —To determine the extent to which human rights issues are included in required bioethics curricula in US medical schools and to identify medical school characteristics associated with the extent of human rights issues covered. Design. —Cross-sectional survey. Participants. —Bioethics course directors and bioethics section directors of 125 US medical schools. Main Outcome Measure. —The extent of human rights teaching at each school was measured as the percentage of 16 human rights issues. Results. —Course directors at 113 (90%) of the 125 US medical schools responded to the survey. Medical schools included about half (45%; 95% confidence interval, 41%-49%) of 16 human rights issues in their required bioethics curricula. Domestic human rights issues, such as discrimination in the provision of health care to minorities (82% of medical schools), were covered much more frequently than international human rights issues, such as physician participation in torture (17% of schools). Public medical schools included substantially fewer human rights issues than private medical schools (F [1,112] =7.7; P Conclusions. —Required courses in medical education do not adequately address the medical aspects of human rights issues, especially international issues.

The Torture of Slaves in Athenian Law

Abstract: ONE OF THE MOST criticized features of classical Athenian law is the bizarre institution of ia'cavoq, usually translated "torture" or "interrogation under torture." A well-known rule held that in most cases1 the testimony of slaves was only admissible in court if it had been taken under torture, and in the surviving forensic speeches the orators frequently describe the rules governing ,adiavog and praise the practice as most effective and even "most democratic" (Lycurg. 1.29). It was a topos that information from a a'cyavog was preferable to the testimony of free witnesses; as one speaker puts it (Dem. 30.37):

A glimpse of hell : reports on torture worldwide

Abstract: Brings together Amnesty International's recent research into torture, outlining the countries which continue to torture their citizens.

Discrimination as injustice

Abstract: Reasons of justice are reasons for or against altering someone's relative position. The word 'relative' is of the essence here. One may have reasons to alter someone's position which do not make any essential reference to anyone else's position. For example, the fact that a prisoner is being tortured is reason enough by itself to write letters of protest, with the aim of improving the prisoner's treatment. Torture is inhumane. But isn't torture also unjust? Doesn't one also have a reason of justice to protest? Perhaps. As part of one's protest, one might relate the position of the torture victim to the position of other people (other prisoners, people of different political views, the torturers themselves, the torture victim's victims, the government, etc). In that case one may be trying to give a reason of justice for the torture to desist. It may buttress the reason of humanity. But of course it may also fail to do so. The authorities inflicting the torture may accurately reply, in some cases, that they are inflicting it with impeccable justice. Yet still, on grounds of its inhumanity, the torture should cease, and the protests should go on if it does not. This kind of example should give considerable pause for thought to those who suppose, with John Rawls, that 'justice is the first virtue of social institutions'.' The justice of their social institutions may provide little consolation to those who live under brutal, cowardly, dishonest, intolerant, or ungenerous regimes. And yet we might be tempted to accept, for all that, that justice could be the first virtue of some social institutions. In particular, there are grounds for supposing that justice has a special link with adjudication, such that, while legislators, bureaucrats and government officials ought to be just inter alia, courts ought to be just above all. The idea is captured in the familiar proposal that the role of the courts lies in 'the administration of justice'. At its most basic, this special association between courts and justice comes of the fact that, in court, there can normally be no winners without losers. Whatever the court decides, what is at stake is the relative position of the parties. Thus the reasons which the court has for its decisions, whatever else they may include, must include reasons for or

The Decline of Sovereignty

Abstract: Have we truly entered a post-sovereign world? There is much evidence to suggest that this is the case. Changes in the world economy, the environment, technology and international politics have acted, frequently synergistically, to undermine state sovereignty in numerous ways, especially in the last two decades. Yet as we explore the ways that sovereignty has been challenged, and speculate on the theoretical and practical consequences of those challenges, we should not forget that sovereign power is not relinquished easily or willingly. States, and their human representatives, are usually reluctant to abandon the secure foundation of the modern world that served them so well. In many cases, when the challenge to security is perceived as security threat, states respond with violence and torture. It is the contention of this chapter that state terror is an attempt to anchor sovereign identity in the face of a rapidly changing world. This claim will be supported through a discussion of the period in Argentine history called the ‘Proceso’, a time from 1976 to 1983 when the military ruled through terror and tortured thousands of people it perceived to be threats to its regime.

Gender-neutral truth—A reality shamefully distorted

Abstract: ILZE OLCKERS reports on a submission drawn-up to contextualise gender for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. What truth will be recorded, she asks, without an enabling enviroment for women to talk about the particular and gendered nature of their torture, suffering and their own loss?

Inhuman States: Imprisonment, Detention and Torture in Europe Today

Abstract: Preface. 1. A Revolutionary Step. 2. The Blue Berets of Human Rights?. 3. Firemen or Specialists in Preventive Medicine?. 4. Into the Breach: Inspectors in Action. 5. What is Human, Inhuman or Degrading?. 6. On Torture. 7. Common Criminals and Terrorists. 8. Policemen, Prison Warders and Magistrates. 9. A Few Concluding Observations. Note.

The Death Penalty As Cruel Treatment And Torture: Capital Punishment Challenged in the World's Courts

Abstract: William A. Schabas reviews the history of the philosophical and legal interpretations of this fundamental norm, and closely examines its impact on the way the world's courts are currently grappling with the issue of how to implement capital punishment. This is a fascinating study of evolving human rights norms that in turn have generated a rich body of international comparative case law favoring the progressive limitation and ultimate abolition of the death penalty.

Counselling and Therapy With Refugees: Psychological Problems of Victims of War, Torture, and Repression

Abstract: I eagerly read this book written by a psychologist after seven years on the team of Social Psychiatric Services for Refugees in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. With the massive influx of refugees into the western world and the horrendous political repression, imprisonment, torture, violence, and killing, there is an urgent need for helping professionals and government officials to understand how totalitarian governments destroy hppe for democracy. This book is a welcome overview of healing attempts for refugees. We must look closely at the effect of torture on men, women, and children. No more copouts like the euphemistic oxymoron "compassion fatigue," the buzzword in Washington. There are islands of dedicated people at torture centers for legal and illegal refugees in Europe and throughout the United States. This book covers a vast area of psychological theory and treatment methods for traumatized, uprooted people. It is readable but is an almost overwhelming condensation for

Human Rights and the UN: Practice Before the Treaty Bodies

Abstract: Preface to the Second Edition. Introduction. 1. Non-Governmental Organisations and the Reporting Procedures under the International Human Rights Instruments. 2. The Human Rights Committee. 3. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 4. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. 5. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. 6. The Committee Against Torture. 7. The Committee on the Rights of the Child. Appendix I Sample lists of issues. Appendix II Sample Concluding Observations. Appendix III Model forms for individual communications. Index.

International Human Rights Litigation in U. S. Courts

Abstract: Of value to human rights litigators and activists, this manual provides a step-by-step practical guide to handling lawsuits in the United States for human rights abuses committed in other countries. The authors fully cover the relevant statutory law and jurisprudence, especially the Alien Tort Claims Act and the Torture Victim Protection Act. They also discuss the thornier issues that often arise in such cases, including problems of jurisdiction and immunity, choice of law and sources of international law.

Torture: Human Rights, Medical Ethics and the Case of Israel

Abstract: facilitating access to health care. The difficulties with legal recognition of rights to health care are explored by Dieter Giesen. Some of the themes considered by Professor Giesen, notably the duty to rescue, are also taken up in Barry Furrow's essay examining provision of care to persons falling outside the health insurance scheme in the USA. Lawrence Gostin in his essay \"The Americans with Disabilities Act and the corpus of anti-discrimination law: a force for change in the future of public health legislation\", discusses the extent to which public health powers in the USA conflict with the rights of persons with communicable diseases and the role which can be played by anti-discrimination legislation in the form of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Deficiencies in health provision and sensitivity to the particular needs of ethnic groups in England are considered by David Pearl. This essay also illustrates the existing difficulties in attempting to use English law as a means of obtaining access to health care resources. The remaining essays provide: an examination of dimensions of justice in the context of the operation of the Canadian Health system, by Carolyn Tuhoy; the use of financial incentives in a market in organs, by James Blumstein, and problems of access to health care experienced by those from the USA AfricanAmerican community, by Vernellia E Randall. All the essays in the collection explore the central theme in the context of a well-developed Western health care system. It perhaps should be borne in mind that a comparative analysis of matters regarding justice and health care in relation to, for example, the Third World, would of course, bring into focus somewhat different issues. While some essays draw cross-jurisdictional comparisons the primary focus of this collection is American, with five out of nine of the essays concentrating upon American health care. The collection is thus perhaps not truly \"comparative\". Nevertheless, overall J7ustice and Health Care: Comparative Perspectives provides a number of lively, provocative and scholarly contributions to what is becoming an increasingly vociferous debate. J V McHALE Lecturer in Law, Faculty of Law, University of Manchester Torture: Human Rights, Medical Ethics and the Case of Israel