Showing papers on "Torture published in 2003"

Trauma interventions in war and peace : prevention, practice, and policy

Abstract: I: Overview. WHO Voice: WHO: From the Health Perspective S. Saxens. 1. Introduction S.D. Solomon. 2. Traumatic Stress and its Consequences B. Green. 3. Social Deprivation E.L. Bassuk, B. Donelan. 4. Intervention Options for Society, Communties, Families and Individuals J.A. Fairbank, M.J. Friedman, J. de Jong, B.L. Green, S.D. Solomon. II: Abuse and Torture. UN Voice: The Ascendant Ethical Self O. Frank. 5. Child Abuse in Peacetime D.A. Wolfe, M.B. Nayak. 6. Abuse of Older People R.F. Wolfe, G. Bennett, L. Daichman. 7. People with Mental and Physical Disabilities K.T. Mueser, V.A. Hiday, L.B. Goodman, D. Valenti-Hein. 8. Violence against Women M.A. Dutton, D.G. Kilpatrick, M. Friedman, V. Patel. 9. Survivors of Mass Violence and Torture S. Turner, S. Yuksel, D. Silove. III: Wars and Disasters. UN Voice: Coordinating Humanitarian Assistance with OCHA: Issues of Psychological Trauma M. Bowden. 10. Children in Armed Conflict W. Yule, R. Stuvland, F.K. Baingana, P. Smith. 11. Refugees and Internally Displaced People N. Baron, S. Buus Jensen, J. de Jong. 12. Former Combatants B. Engdahl, P.L. de Silva, Z. Solomon, D. Somasundaram. 13. Natural and Technological Disasters D. Somasundaram, F. Norris, N. Azukai, R. Srinivasa Murthy. IV: United Nations Personnel. UN Voice: UNSECOORD: Protecting the Protectors D. Russler. 14. UN Peacekeepers and Civilian Field Personnel M.J. Friedman, P.G. Warfe, G.K. Mwiti. V: Summary and Conclusion. World Bank Voice: World Bank: An Overview and Some Next Steps F. Baingana. 15. A Call to Action: Responding to Social and Humanitarian Crises T.M. Keane.

The World of Torture:: A Constructed Reality

Abstract: This article argues that torture is made possible, despite almost universal condemnation in legal codes, by the construction of a closed world that permits the use of torture against specific members of society defined as enemies. The article examines how a torture-sustaining reality is constructed (causes), how it is maintained and institutionalized (consequences), how it can be dismantled or deconstructed (cures) and, ultimately, how it can be prevented from forming in the first place (prevention, early warning). For each phase, the article looks at those variables that are most pertinent for three types of actors: perpetrators, victims and bystanders. It also examines those variables that operate primarily at the domestic level and those that operate at the international level.

Personality and Trauma: Adult Attachment and Posttraumatic Distress Among Former Political Prisoners

Abstract: Attachment patterns are especially salient in facing danger and threats to one's life. Earlier research has suggested that secure persons are protected and insecure persons vulnerable in conditions of traumatic stress. We argued that the general view may not apply to the complex person-trauma interaction that is characteristic to torture and ill-treatment. Rather, as Crittenden maintains, each attachment pattern involves a unique strategy that is the most adaptive solution, depending on the nature of the trauma. We hypothesized that the general view of the secure attachment pattern being protective, and the insecure patterns being unprotective, would apply when political prisoners are exposed to physical torture and ill-treatment. Whereas, when exposed to psychological torture involving interpersonal cruelty, securely attached persons would be more vulnerable than insecure. The hypotheses were examined among 176 Palestinian male former political prisoners living in the Gaza Strip. Their mental health was ...

The New Imperialism: Violence, Norms, and the "Rule of Law"

Abstract: 2. Nazism and the Order of Terror 2307 3. Urban America and "The Code of the Street" 2307 4. Bloodfeuds and Martyrs 2309 5. "Anarchy" and State Dissolution 2310 C. The Moral Meaning of Violence . 2311 D. Auto "Accidents" and Felony "Murders" 2314 E. Terrorism and Torture 2316 F. Atrocity and Duress 2318 IV. TAKING NORMS SERIOUSLY ...... 2321

Coping with War: Three Strategies Employed by Adolescent Citizens of Sierra Leone

Abstract: Children and adolescents in Sierra Leone have suffered through a decade of catastrophic violence and dislocation resulting from a brutal civil war. Many have been forced to flee their villages and have found refuge in United Nations refugee camps in neighboring countries. These children have witnessed the torture, maiming, and murder of family, friends, and neighbors. Some have been forced to carry arms or to serve as domestic and sexual servants to predatory rebel combatants. All have confronted enormous hardship and loss. This paper identifies three coping strategies employed by adolescents in a large refugee camp. Implications for professional practice are discussed.

September 11: Consequences for Canada

Abstract: SEPTEMBER 11 Consequences for Canada Kent Roach Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2003. 272pp, $65.00 cloth (ISBN 0-7735-2584-X), $22.95 paper (ISBN 0-7735-2585-8)In the context of the global "war on terrorism," anomalies abound. Alan Dershowitz is invited by the Canadian government (and paid very handsomely) to give advice on the legitimacy of biometric national identity cards in a liberal democracy after publicly defending the necessity of torture as a tool in the "war against terror." Michael Ignatieff, a Canadian who is director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard and long considered a left-liberal, defends a little evil-lite in the name of defending "us" and our "lesser evil" against "them." The Canadian government-appointed commission in the Arar case raises questions about the constitutionality of the anti-terrorism act passed and "charter-proofed" just three years ago.In this context, Kent Roach's serious and sensible book, September 11: Consequences for Canada, is especially important reading. It provides a dispassionate, rigorous, liberal analysis of the legal underpinnings and possible implications of this rapidly metastasizing war for Canada. seeking to assess its implications for Canadian sovereignty, the rule of law, and democracy, Roach rightly emphasizes that an apocalyptic view which stresses that everything has changed since 9/11 lacks nuance. Canada was moving toward the criminalization of politics and securitization well before 9/11, and democracy was hardly without threat from overzealous governments before that date. The tension implicit in Canada's relationship to the US was also clear long before 9/11. Drawing his inspiration from George Grant, Roach recommends the reassertion of Canadian sovereignty against our neighbour, and not just in response to 9/11.September 11: Consequences for Canada is important for making all these arguments and more. The analysis is also significant for detailing, carefully and lucidly if a bit bloodlessly, the threats to democracy, civil liberties, and human rights-not just here but abroad as well-emanating from the ramped-up security agenda with its spreading tentacles and permanent war footing. The book includes a very good analysis of the Suresh case, in which the supreme court of Canada scandalously left open the possibility of deportation to face torture as a reasonable limit to constitutional rights. Roach rightly notes the foreboding quality of this "exception."Roach defends the rule of law, human rights, and democracy against the perils of anti-terror legislation and the host of formally legal manoeuvres associated with it. He argues in favour of a more progressive human security agenda. For all these reasons, Roach's book deserves a wide and attentive reading.This era of disappearing immigrants and citizens, "ghost prisoners," secret trials, and investigative hearings that may compel testimony has inspired more radical authors to look back to the likes of Carl Schmitt for analysis of a permanent state of exception, as well as pursuing the apparently obverse intuition of reaching toward the rule of law now demanded globally (e.g., Habermas) as a defence against such threats to human rights, popular sovereignty, and the legitimacy of law itself. Precisely because it represents such an attack on the rule of law, both globally and locally, the war on terror seems well-suited to elicit both of these reactions. …

Exhumation of mass graves in Iraq: considerations for forensic investigations, humanitarian needs, and the demands of justice.

Abstract: ACROSS WAR-TORN IRAQ, IRAQIS HAVE BEGUN TO REveal the horrors of nearly a quarter century of repressive rule. Former political prisoners have led journalists and human rights investigators to prisons where torture and summary executions reportedly were routine. Municipal grave diggers, shepherds, and farmers have publicly disclosed the whereabouts of mass graves believed to hold the bodies of those who disappeared during the rule of Saddam Hussein. Lacking adequate forensic expertise and in the absence of international assistance, Iraqis have been exhuming some of these graves in a manner that prevents forensic identification of most of the remains and possibly brings greater mental anguish to the relatives of the deceased. For example, in May 2003, at 2 sites located near the Mahawil military base just north of the southern Iraqi city of Hilla, villagers used a backhoe to dig up more than 2000 sets of remains, gouging and comingling countless skeletons in the process, while some families used their hands to dig for bones and shards of clothing and carted them away in wheelbarrows and buckets. Clearly, the numerous infrastructure, public health, safety, and security needs of Iraq require immediate attention; however, addressing the fate of missing persons will be an important aspect of the long-term restoration of the health and well-being of Iraqis. In this context, coordinated forensic, psychosocial, and logistical support for the Iraqi people may help enable the remains of some of the missing to be exhumed and identified in a humanitarian, scientific, and judicial manner. However, at the time of this writing, US and other coalition authorities have not implemented a plan to help Iraqis recover the remains of their relatives in a dignified manner and to preserve evidence that might convict those responsible for these crimes. Although this may be understandable given the current dire situation in Iraq (ie, ongoing conflict and security threats, infrastructure and public health demands, and the need to prioritize resources), it stands in contrast with the role played by the United States during and after the recent wars in the former Yugoslavia. For example, in 1993, before the conflict in Croatia and Bosnia had ended, the United States had funded and donated field equipment to forensic teams investigating mass graves in those countries under the auspices of the UN Commission of Experts and its successor, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Similarly, after the war in Kosovo, the United States dispatched a team of forensic scientists to the region to investigate graves associated with the purge of ethnic Albanians in the spring of 1999. These forensic investigations were used by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in indictments of war criminals in the former Yugoslavia. The grim spectacle at the Hilla burial pits in Iraq and protests of international human rights organizations prompted the US Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) to take action. In late May 2003, the ORHA (which has since been folded into the Coalition Provisional Authority) announced that it would take measures to secure grave sites, launch a media campaign to explain to the public the necessity of preserving grave sites, and request governments to send forensic teams to Iraq to exhume graves prioritized for forensic investigation. In the meantime, several nongovernmental organizations have become involved. At the onset of the war, 2 USbased human rights organizations, Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights, sent 10 researchers, including 1 of us (E.S.), to the region to investigate possible violations of international humanitarian and human rights law committed by all sides of the conflict. In June, 2 of us (W.D.H. and M.S.) traveled to Iraq on behalf of Physicians for Human Rights to assess local capacities for dealing with the search for missing persons. In addition, a British-based group, the International Forensic Center of Excellence for the

Hidden in Plain Sight: Clinical Observations on Prostitution

Abstract: Prostitution is everywhere. Everyone knows this; we just don’t particularly want to know (MacKinnon, 2001). Who can bear to think for too long about a worldwide enterprise that condemns millions of women and children to social death (Patterson, 1982), and often to literal death, for the sexual pleasure and profit of men? The choice to avoid knowing operates at the edges of our consciousness; this is how dissociation is practiced as a social norm. Thirty years ago, rape, domestic violence, and incest were similarly invisible, despite their high prevalence. A mass movement was required to bring these abuses into public awareness. In the social analysis developed by feminists, these crimes were understood as intrinsic features of a system of male dominance. It was recognized that the purpose of these crimes is to impose power, and that the methods used in furtherance of this goal are essentially the same as the methods of torture practiced in political prisons worldwide (Amnesty International, 1973; Russell, 1984). One question that this analysis left unanswered was how individual batterers and sex offenders came to learn these often quite sophisticated methods of domination. In state-sponsored political violence, the practice of torture is organized within secret police forces and “irregular” military units, who presumably teach these methods to carefully selected new recruits. Knowledge of these methods may be shared among clandestine military units of different countries; indeed, according to declassified documents, such methods have been taught in the US at the notorious School of the Americas (Haugaard, 1997; Nelson-Pallmeyer, 1997). But this mode of transmission can not account for the widespread practice of methods of coercive control in sexual and domestic life. Powerful as they may be, secret military and police units are relatively small in number even within dictatorships, whereas batterers and sex offenders are legion, not only in authoritarian political systems, but also in democratic societies. It is theoretically possible, of course, that each abuser might spontaneously re-invent the basic methods of coercive control for himself, but this seems quite unlikely, given the constancy

Terrorism and Torture

Abstract: This paper investigates the moral permissibility of torture. After briefly considering some empirical evidence, it discusses the conflict between deontological and consequentialist approaches to torture. It is argued that, even if we are to take rights seriously, torture should at least be allowed if some conditions are satisfied. Finally, the paper discusses what those conditions should be and what sorts of torture are morally permissible.

Terrorism, Freedom, and Security: Winning Without War

Abstract: On September 11, 2001, the United States began to consider the terrorist threat in a new light. Terrorism was no longer something that happened in other countries on other continents but became a pressing domestic concern for the US government and American citizens. The nation suddenly faced a protracted struggle. In Terrorism, Freedom, and Security, Philip Heymann continues the discussion of responses to terrorism that he began in his widely read Terrorism and America. He argues that diplomacy, intelligence, and international law should play a larger role than military action in our counterterrorism policy; instead of waging "war" against terrorism, the United States needs a broader range of policies. Heymann believes that many of the policies adopted since September 11 -- including trials before military tribunals, secret detentions, and the subcontracting of interrogation to countries where torture is routine -- are at odds with American political and legal traditions and create disturbing precedents. Americans should not be expected to accept apparently indefinite infringements on civil liberties and the abandonment of such constitutional principles as separation of powers and the rule of law. Heymann believes that the United States can guard against the continuing threat of terrorism while keeping its traditional democratic values in place.

American physicians and dual loyalty obligations in the "war on terror"

Abstract: Background Post-September 11, 2001, the U.S. government has labeled thousands of Afghan war detainees "unlawful combatants". This label effectively deprives these detainees of the protection they would receive as "prisoners of war" under international humanitarian law. Reports have emerged that indicate that thousands of detainees being held in secret military facilities outside the United States are being subjected to questionable "stress and duress" interrogation tactics by U.S. authorities. If true, American military physicians could be inadvertently becoming complicit in detainee abuse. Moreover, the American government's openly negative views towards such detainees could result in military physicians not wanting to provide reasonable care to detainees, despite it being their ethical duty to do so.

Modern torture as a civic marker: Solving a global anxiety with a new political technology

Abstract: (2003). Modern torture as a civic marker: Solving a global anxiety with a new political technology. Journal of Human Rights: Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 153-171.

The impact of detention on the health of asylum seekers

Abstract: Asylum seekers arriving in the United States are often imprisoned for months or years while their asylum claims are processed. Recently, Physicians for Human Rights and the Bellevue/New York University Program for Survivors of Torture released the findings of the first systematic study examining the health of detained asylum seekers. The study found that the mental health of asylum seekers interviewed was extremely poor, including high levels of symptoms for anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder, which worsened the longer individuals were in detention. The study also raises concerns about the manner in which asylum seekers are treated upon arrival in the United States and then while in detention. These findings support assertions that detention has a harmful effect on the health and well-being of asylum seekers. Policies regarding the long-term detention of asylum seekers should be reconsidered.

Terrorism and the Non‐derogability of Non‐refoulement

Abstract: After the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001, is it permitted to strike a balance between the national security of a State and the obligation to provide protection against refoulement? In the war on terrorism, this option seems to be open for discussion. Although no uniform or single definition of terrorism in international law exists, it is clear that the opinio communis wants the perpetrators, planners or facilitators to be prosecuted. If they flee prosecution, no safe haven should be granted. Membership of a terrorist organization cannot in itself be qualified as a terrorist act. Nevertheless, the danger exists that mere membership will suffice to be excluded from refugee status or from protection against refoulement. The European Commission has stated in a Working Document that the European Court of Human Rights should reconsider the decisions in which the absolute character of Article 3 ECHR was laid down. In the Suresh case, the Canadian Supreme Court deemed a decision to expel to be possible even if there is a chance the alien will become a victim of a human rights violation as proscribed in Article 3 Convention Against Torture. If there are reasonable grounds for regarding a refugee a danger to the national security or the community of the country of refuge, he is not protected against refoulement under Article 33 (1) Refugee Convention. This rule needs to be interpreted restrictively and applied with particular caution. The assessment of the danger needs to be individual and ex futuro. Article 33 (2) Refugee Convention allows refoulement if a provable danger to the national security or community of the country of refuge exists, unless refoulement entails a risk of the individual being subjected to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In such cases refoulement is prohibited. The obligation of non-refoulement under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 7 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 3 Convention Against Torture is absolute. No exceptions and no derogations are permitted, not even if an alleged terrorist constitutes a * Rene Bruin is a lawyer and senior staff member of the refugee department of the Dutch section of Amnesty International. ** Kees Wouters is a legal researcher and lecturer at the Institute of Immigration Law of the Universiteit Leiden, the Netherlands and the E.M. Meijers Institute of Legal Studies, Leiden University, where he is conducting a PhD research on the different obligations of non-refoulement in international law. He is also a lecturer at and staff member of the Office of Human Rights at Mahidol University, Thailand. International Journal of Refugee Law vol. 15 no. 1 # Oxford University Press 2003; all rights reserved danger to the national security of a country. In search of a way to derogate from the obligations of non-refoulement, States may look for safety guarantees to allow expulsion. In cases involving the imposition or the carrying out of legal sentences, for example the death penalty, the issue of guarantees is clear. However, cases involving extra-judicial acts like torture are much more complicated. There is a real risk that a balancing act can be avoided and will be `found' in the assessment of the risk of being subjected to prohibited treatment by trying to expel an alien after guarantees have been obtained. We believe exclusion is no solution and prosecution of alleged terrorists may be a better solution than co-operating with further violations of human rights by refraining to give protection. The possibility of prosecuting perpetrators of serious human rights violations is quickly gaining ground. The legal tension between absolute protection against refoulement and the States' responsibility for national security can be reduced, now that States can hold those who have perpetrated serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law criminally accountable. We strongly urge States to uphold the nonderogability of non-refoulement and to take those steps necessary to prosecute perpetrators of serious human rights violations.

Assessment of torture and ill treatment of detainees in Mexico: attitudes and experiences of forensic physicians.

Abstract: ContextInternational and Mexican human rights organizations have documented torture of detainees (ie, those held and indicted but not sentenced) in all 31 states and the Federal District of Mexico, but little is known about the attitudes and experiences of forensic physicians examining detainees.ObjectiveTo assess forensic physicians' experiences with and attitudes toward the nature and extent of torture and ill treatment among detainees examined in the previous year.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsWith the support of the Mexican Office of the Federal Attorney General, as part of a larger initiative to implement governmental reforms to eradicate torture in Mexico, an anonymous, self-administered, written, 80-item survey designed to assess correspondence of physician practices and attitudes with international standards on forensic investigation and documentation of torture was distributed to all federal forensic physicians (n = 115) and a convenience sample of state forensic physicians (n = 99) in Mexico in 2002.Main Outcome MeasuresEstimates of the numbers of federal detainees medically evaluated and numbers of cases of suspected, alleged, and documented torture or ill treatment among federal detainees; factors interfering with documentation of forensic evidence; physicians' attitudes toward torture; measures that would help them document torture; and recommendations for reform.ResultsSurvey responses were received from 93 (81%) federal and 91 (92%) state forensic physicians. Forty-nine percent of federal physicians and 58% of state physicians reported that torture is a severe problem for detainees in Mexico. Federal physicians estimated that they had conducted 26 445 to 30 650 or more medical evaluations of the 13 000 federal detainees in the past year and that between 1658 and 4850 of these detainees had alleged torture; these physicians also estimated that they had documented evidence of torture in a range of 285 to 1090 cases. Forty percent of respondents had suspected torture and/or ill treatment of detainees examined during the previous year, 64% had examined detainees who alleged these practices had occurred, and 49% had documented forensic evidence of torture among these detainees. Respondents reported that lack of photographic equipment and services (58%), inadequate monitoring and accuracy of medical examinations (36%), inadequate documentation of torture (29%), limitations in their training (28%), fear of reprisals for documenting torture (23%), and fear of coercion by police officials (18%) are factors that interfere with documentation of torture and ill treatment of detainees. Respondents further reported the need for additional training (98%), standardized protocols and documentation procedures for use in cases of alleged or suspected torture and/or ill treatment (81%), and monitoring to ensure the quality and accuracy of medical evaluations (95%).ConclusionsTorture and ill treatment of detainees is a major problem in Mexico facilitated by multiple medical and legal factors. Mexican forensic physicians support measures to improve forensic documentation of torture and ill treatment of detainees.

Identifying best practices of community participation in providing services to refugee survivors of torture: a case description.

Abstract: There is an increased interest in best practices in the design and implementation of specialized programs for refugee survivors of torture. The processes taking place in the development of such a program also warrant assessment. In particular, this paper addresses the importance of community participation. Using the Host Support Program for Survivors of Torture as a case study, we identify the community participation practices that emerged during stages of program development and describe how these practices have made possible a collaborative service delivery model and facilitated community capacity building that addresses the complex needs of refugee survivors of torture. The process of community collaboration is discussed as central to the process of effective community participation and organizing. The illustrated benefits of community participation position this model as a best practice.

The Tortured, Not the Torturers, Are Ashamed

Abstract: Jl RIMO Levi, in The Drowned and the Saved, tells us that survivors of the Nazi camps felt shame about their experience (1989: 73). Levi calls that shame "absurd" and "paradoxical"; he says that "on a rational plane, there should not have been much to be ashamed of, but shame persisted nevertheless" (77). Paradoxical though it may be, it is apparently common among victims of torture or violent coercion. According to Dr. Murat Paker, director of clinical programs at the New York-based Safe Horizons/Solace Program for Survivors of Torture and Refugee Trauma, shame is a major psychological issue for survivors of torture. Reports or evidence of such shame have also come from numerous other sources. It is

"Precommitment" and "Postcommitment": The Ban on Torture in the Wake of September 11

Abstract: The day we stop condemning torture-although we tortured-the day we become insensitive to mothers who lose their guerilla sons-although they are guerillas-is the day we stop being human beings.1 I. The Fundamental Precommitment Against Torture "Torture is . . . contrary to every relevant international law. . . . No other practice except slavery," wrote Professor Henry Shue almost a quarter century ago, "is so universally and unanimously condemned in law and human convention."2 The universality of this condemnation is aptly captured in the prefatory quotation above, spoken by an Argentinian military officer who had participated in the regime of torture during Argentina's "dirty war" in the 1970s.3 As Mark J. Osiel writes, such officers "are anxious to assure us that they are not ethical monsters, that they possess a moral sense."4 How better can they demonstrate this than by acknowledging the duty to condemn torture even as they attempt to offer excuses for their own conduct? Osiel points out that the prohibition of torture is not only "a fixture of customary international law," but is also "often described as one of the few genuine norms of jus cogens, that is, overriding sovereignty itself and therefore not requiring state consent" to make the norm applicable against a state.5 Consider the fact that not only does Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights explicitly state that "no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,"6 but Article 4.2 of the Covenant also, and just as explicitly, states that "[n]o derogation" from Article 7 is permitted.7 Article 4.2 explicitly refers to Article 4.1, which generally allows states who are parties to the Covenant, during a "time of public emergency which threatens the life of the nation and the existence of which is officially proclaimed," to "take measures derogating from their obligations under the present Covenant";8 this does not extend, however, to "measures" that include torture or "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."9 As if this were not sufficient to demonstrate the absolute prohibition against torture, states-operating through a United Nations conference-concluded in 1984 the drafting of an even more specific "Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment"10 that was equally categorical in its prohibition. It entered into force in 1987 and has, as of 2002, been ratified by 127 states.11 Indeed, this is one of the handful of human rights treaties to which the United States has given its assent. Although its 1994 ratification was accompanied by a reservation adopting "a more restrictive definition of torture"12 than that set out in the Convention, the Senate stated no "reservations" to-and, therefore, fully accepted-Article 2(2)'s provision that "[n]o exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture."13 Most telling is a set of "Guidelines of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on Human Rights and the Fight Against Terrorism," adopted on July 11, 2002, in the extended shadow of September 11. It includes a reaffirmation of the "absolute prohibition of torture": "The use of torture or of inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment is absolutely prohibited, in all circumstances, and in particular during the arrest, questioning and detention of a person suspected of . . . terrorist activities, irrespective of the nature of the acts that the person is suspected of . . . ."14 Lest one have any doubts, Guideline XV, titled "Possible derogations," states that "States may never, however, and whatever the acts of the person suspected of terrorist activities . . . derogate from the . . . prohibition against torture or inhuman or degrading treatment . . . ."15 What all of this means, to use the terms of American constitutional discourse, is that not even the most compelling state interest can justify deviation from the precommitment to "no torture. …

Lubango and After: 'Forgotten History' as Politics in Contemporary Namibia*

Abstract: This article examines the considerable efforts made by some Namibians (notably the 'Breaking the Wall of Silence' committee) throughout the 1990s to keep alive the issue of the Swapo leadership's alleged abuses of power when in exile. These activists' key focus has been the torture and killing of many innocent cadres (labelled 'spies') of Swapo in the movement's detention centre at Lubango, Angola, in the 1980s. The article reviews the difficulties such critics have had - within both the formal political arena and within civil society (including the churches, so important a sphere of Namibian life) - in setting the record straight about such events and/or in obtaining any kind of redress of grievances. The chief obstacles have been the unwillingness of the SWAPO leadership to allow its own record in exile to be opened up to public scrutiny and, indeed, its active role in discouraging any such outcome. The leadership's advocacy of the wisdom of silence on these matters has tended to be cast in terms of the...

Terror in the Time of Troubles

Abstract: Russia's nightmarish Time of Troubles (1598-1613) produced, in addition to war and famine, numerous terrifying examples of political violence, atrocities, mass killings, and grotesque public displays of torture and execution that man- aged to surpass even the high level of violence associated with the reign of Ivan the Terrible (1547-84). Therefore, the Troubles ought to be a prime candidate for scrutiny by students of political violence in Russian history. Unfortunately, interested readers will encounter many misleading descriptions of "revolutionary violence" and "cossack terror" in the Time of Troubles that are inaccurate by- products of a long-held view of the period as one of social revolution. 1 Recent scholarship has decisively overturned the traditional class war interpretation of the Troubles; 2 nonetheless, it continues to haunt historical literature, source crit- icism, and studies of revolutionary violence in Russian history. The purpose of this article is to start moving beyond outdated Marxist explanations of the use of 1

Reconceptualizing Domestic Violence in International Law

Abstract: INTRODUCTION And yet I fear you, for you're fatal then When your eyes roll so. Why I should fear I know not, Since guiltiness I know not, but yet I feel I fear. (1) This is the fact. Every day, throughout the world, women are subjected to extreme acts of physical violence, which take place within the beguiling safety of domesticity. The violence is severe, painful, humiliating, and debilitating. And it is common. It is a phenomenon that stretches across borders, nationalities, cultures, and race. A binding characteristic of communities throughout the world, almost without exception, is the battering of women by men. (2) In this article I review the problem of domestic violence and propose a new approach, through international law, towards finding a solution. An emerging principle in international human rights law is that violence against women is a human rights violation. In the wake of this fledgling jurisprudence, it is possible to identify two specific manifestations of criminalized gender-based harm: namely, mass rape as a war crime or crime against humanity and female genital mutilation as a human rights violation. (3) These crimes jettisoned violence against women into the international legal discourse, paving the way for the criminalization of other forms of harm. (4) I propose that there is a third category of violence against women that should also receive international attention simply because it is one of the most basic and fundamental rights of women that is being violated. This is the right to be safe from extreme forms of domestic violence, or what I call private torture. Most States recognize the phenomenon of domestic violence. Many countries have taken social and structural steps to alleviate the distress experienced by women. However, legally, progress has been limited. While legislation may be enacted in a variety of countries to address domestic violence, the implementation of such legislation is peculiarly ineffective and the predominant mode of redress continues to emanate from sociologists, psychologists, and activists. (5) A real solution continues to elude the law, lawmakers, and legal practitioners. One of the main causes of the rift between the law against domestic violence and the implementation of such law, is the intimacy of the relationship between the aggressor and the abused. (6) However, an additional explanation for this schism is that the law cannot address something that has been inaccurately conceptualized. 'Domestic violence' is a term that applies to a miscellany of harm but by using a single, undifferentiated term of 'domestic violence,' current legislation fails to grasp the melange of harm produced by battering. (7) If domestic violence is properly defined to reflect the divergence of harm committed against women, it may become easier to identify effective, appropriate, and direct tools to minimize this phenomenon. Currently, falling within the one composite term of 'domestic violence' are acts as diverse as shoving, pushing, or verbal denigration ("category one") on the one hand, and battering, breaking bones, burning, raping, and torturing ("category two") on the other. While all these forms of harm do constitute intimate violence, there is an apparent distinction between them: intuitively we need to separate shoving-slapping-shouting from the more physically extreme battering-breaking-raping. This separation is not to attribute a lesser status to category one, but rather to carve out a more extreme physical form of violence so that each category has the appropriate mechanism to combat its occurrence. It is category two, extreme acts of domestic violence, which I seek to address as 'private torture.' It is this category of violence that, notwithstanding its extremity and widespread occurrence, continues rampant, literally throughout the world. And it is this category that I propose be addressed by international law as an international human rights violation. …

Clerics, Exiles, and Academics: Opposition to the Brazilian Military Dictatorship in the United States, 1969–1974

Abstract: Virtually no one in the United States raised objections to the 1964 military takeover of the Brazilian civilian government. In the early 1970s, however, the Brazilian regime had become associated with torture and the arbitrary rule of law. By the end of that decade, compliance with human rights standards had developed into a yardstick for measuring U.S. foreign policy initiatives in Latin America. This paper argues that between 1969 and 1974, a small group of dedicated church activists, exiled Brazilians, and academics introduced the issue of human rights in Latin America into the U.S. national body politic. A network of concerned activists fashioned a systematic campaign to educate journalists, government officials, and the public about the abuses taking place under the generals' rule. Their activities helped isolate the military regime and laid the groundwork for a broader solidarity movement with Latin American popular struggles in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Voices Twice Silenced: Betrayal and Mourning at Colonialism's End in Mozambique

Abstract: In the course of gathering life histories in northern Mozambique, the author encountered men who had been the victims of torture at the hands of the Portuguese during the Mozambican war for indepen...

Tainted Legacy: 9/11 and the Ruin of Human Rights

Abstract: Have human rights as we once understood them become obsolete since 9-11? Aren't new methods needed to combat the apocalyptic violence of al-Qaeda? Shouldn't we sacrifice some rights to make us all safer? And if we can kill a combatant in battle, why shouldn't we torture them if it will save lives? William Schulz, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, examines these and other fundamental questions through the prism of our new consciousness about terrorism in this provocative new book. It questions America's own ambivalent recordits tainted legacyand addresses recent human rights violations: the imprisonment without charge of non-citizens and the violation of the Geneva Convention at Guantanamo Bay. Schulz writes, "One of Osama bin Laden's goals is to destroy the solidarity of the international community and undermine the norms and standards that have sustained that community since the end of World War II. The great irony of the post-9/11 world is that, when it comes to human rights, the United States has been doing his work for him. "

Dilemmas in military medical ethics since 9/11.

Abstract: The attack on the United States by terrorists on 9/11 and the war with Iraq have raised new ethical questions for the military and for military physicians (Herman 2002; Elshtain 2003). How and when attacks may occur now is less predictable. Planes have been hijacked, and persons dressed as civilians may carry bombs to blow themselves and others up. These dangers pose an increased threat, and, thus, there is a need for new defensive measures. How far these measures should go is, however, greatly open to debate. One of the most difficult ethical question raised for the military and military doctors by these developments is what interrogation methods are permissable when questioning captured terrorists. The licitness of different interrogation practices is, however, only one of the ethical problems potentially encountered by military physicians now having to treat terrorists and POWs. The following discussion presents the major concerns regarding this and other issues.

The long‐term impact of torture on the mental health of war‐wounded refugees: findings and implications for nursing programmes

Abstract: Today, nurses from many disciplines are expected to provide nursing care to refugees severely traumatized in war and conflict. The general aim of this study was to explore the long-term impact of torture on the mental health of war-wounded refugees. The study group consisted of 22 tortured and 22 nontortured male refugees who had been injured in war. Standardized interview schedules, exploring different background characteristics, and three instruments for assessment of mental health were used: the Hopkins Symptom Checklist, the Post Traumatic Symptom Scale and a well-being scale. The prevalence of psychiatric symptoms was high in both groups. However, there were no significant differences in mental health between the tortured and the nontortured refugees. The patterns of associations between background characteristics and mental health were different in the two groups. The strongest associations with lower level of mental health were higher education in the tortured group and unemployment in the nontortured group. Methodological difficulties in research on sequelae of prolonged traumatization remain. Further studies within the caring sciences can broaden the present understanding of the impact of torture and other war traumas.