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Showing papers on "Torture published in 2009"


Book
26 Jul 2009
TL;DR: The Empire of Trauma: An Inquiry into the Condition of Victimhood makes a signal contribution to the genre of “the history of the present,” which uses the apparently unremarkable fact that victims of disasters as diverse as genocide, earthquakes, and industrial accidents are all brought together within the same framework of understanding centered on the diagnostic category of trauma as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The Empire of Trauma: An Inquiry into the Condition of Victimhood makes a signal contribution to the genre of “the history of the present.” It uses the apparently unremarkable fact that victims of disasters as diverse as genocide, earthquakes, and industrial accidents are all brought together within the same framework of understanding centered on the diagnostic category of trauma. It asks, What does it mean that we take the concept of trauma as a given in these circumstances? The first part of the book provides a systematic examination of the archives of psychology and psychiatry to delineate the double genealogy of the diagnostic category of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This is followed by an examination of three specific cases that the authors see as emblematic of contemporary politics of trauma. These cases are emergency psychiatric counseling for victims of an industrial accident in Toulouse in September 2001, the boom in humanitarian psychiatry in France since the 1980s, and, the use of PTSD for evaluating and certifying the truth claims of asylum seekers in France. The detail and finesse with which theory and data are woven together for each case makes this book compelling. For reasons of space, though, I will content myself with discussing two major claims of the book The first claim concerns the emergence of PTSD in the post-Vietnam period in North America. Didier Fassin and Richard Rechtman argue that, faced with media revelations of brutalities committed by American troops on civilians in Vietnam, the U.S. government was confronted with an impossible choice—either punish its own soldiers for crimes in which the chain of responsibility was hard to disentangle or accept its own culpability for these “crimes.” The diagnosis of PTSD for Vietnam veterans came as a solution of sorts. It took any moral judgment out of the clinical encounter, since the main premise was that ordinary people when put in extraordinary circumstances were capable of committing atrocities by which they could be later traumatized. Thus it became possible to condemn the event without condemning the perpetrators. It also allowed the government to set in place policies of rehabilitation for the veterans. Outside the clinical space, anger at the veterans was still evident in public condemnation of soldiers or their portrayals in films or other media as brutal killers rather than heroes. That the Vietnam War continues to be treated as a spectral presence on questions of warfare and culpability in the United States shows how these issues still haunt the political culture of the country. The second major claim of the book is that the processes of person-

649 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider how domestic judiciaries influence the joint choice to ratify and comply with international human rights regimes and examine whether legal institutions are likely to constrain state behavior and by implication raise the costs of ratification.
Abstract: Democratic and autocratic states routinely violate their international agreements protecting human rights. Scholars typically link ratification and compliance behavior theoretically but test their models separately; however, if the behaviors are jointly determined then we should treat them that way empirically. We consider how domestic judiciaries influence the joint choice to ratify and comply with international human rights regimes. Using data on the ratification status of states under the Convention Against Torture (CAT), states’ torture practices, and a series of measures of judicial effectiveness, we examine whether legal institutions are likely to constrain state behavior and by implication raise the costs of ratification.

270 citations


Book
01 Apr 2009
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe a model of social torture in the context of the Lord's Resistance Movement (LRA) in Northern Uganda, and discuss the role of the media in creating ambiguity.
Abstract: Acknowledgements List of Tables, Charts & Diagrams List of Illustrations List of Acronyms Map Of 'Protected Villages' in which Fieldwork Was Conducted Chapter 1. Introduction The Mainstream Discourse of Today's Wars Building Blocks of a Counter-Narrative Impacts Actors Benefits and Functions Justifications Elaborating a Model of Social Torture Overview of the Book Chapter 2. The Research Process Institutional Setting Working in a 'War Zone' Conceptual Challenges Horizontal Segmentation or Vertical Linkages? Acknowledging Peoples' Agency Ethical Considerations Methods Adopted Composition of the Research Team In-Depth Key-Informant Interviews Audio-Visual Data Media Monitoring Research Integrated with Programming - The Use of Focus Groups Dealing with Findings Discussion and Conclusions Subjectivity and Objectivity Chapter 3. An Overview of the Situation in Northern Uganda Introduction The Build-Up to War Phase I (1986 to 1988) Phase II (1988 to 1994) Phase III (1994 to 1999) Phase IV - Amnesty for 'Terrorists' (2000 to 2002) Phase V - Operation Iron Fist and Its Aftermath (2002 to 2003) Phase VI - November 2003 to June 2006 Phase VII - June 2006 Onwards The War As People Remember It Discussion Some Concluding Questions Chapter 4. Reconsidering the LRA-Government Dynamic Introduction The LRA's Ambiguities Composition The Extent of Civilian Support Links with the Lord's Resistance Movement The Role of the Media in Creating Ambiguity The LRA's Modus Operandi Administration and Control Survival and Proxy Warfare LRA Motivations and Politics Politics of Rejection The 1994 Peace Talks Discussion Further Nuances and Characterisations - Local Context Refining the Characterisations - Comparative Experiences An Appraisal of the Government's Initiatives Conclusions Chapter 5. Protection As Violation Introduction Part I - Formation and Organisation Physical Layout and Shelter Administration Mchaka-Mchaka Part II - Subsistence in the Camps Access to Land Reductions in Hunting Other Alternatives to Agriculture Group Formation Food Aid Problems with Distribution Demonstration Sites Calls To Allow People To Return Home Block Farming Part III - Access to Education Universal Primary Education (UPE) Drop-Outs Teacher Motivation Secondary Schooling Part IV - Access to Health Care Part V - Access to Protection When Was the LRA the UPDF? People's Responses Discussion and Conclusions Chapter 6. Protection As Debilitation Introduction Physical Debilitation Psychological Debilitation Suicide Heavy Drinking Cultural Debilitation Burial and Funeral Rites Breakdown of Restorative Justice Dance and Song External Interventions, which 'Diluted' Culture Changing Military-Civilian Relationships Discussion Signs of Resilience? Conclusions Chapter 7. Protection As Humiliation Introduction The Hegemonic Model of Masculinity What Women Are (Supposed To Be) Like What Youth Are (Supposed To Be) Like What Men Are (Supposed To Be) Like Masculine Roles The Gap between Model and Reality: Inability To Fulfil External and Internalised Expectations Acquisition of Knowledge Marriage Provision Physical Protection Further Threats to Sense of Masculinity 'Gender' Discourse and Practice Militarization The Impact of the Emergence of a Hegemonic Model Domestic Violence Increased Male Vulnerability to Violence State Benefits from the Hegemonic Model Discussion Conclusions Chapter 8. Social Torture and the Continuation of War Introduction Impacts and Methods Further Symptoms of Torture Actors Humanitarian Missions and Mandate Failures in Assistance and Protection Benefits and Functions Economics Psychological Political Justifications for Action and Inaction Justifying Action Justifying Inaction Discussion Low Intensity but Wide Impact Geographically Extensive and Time-Indifferent Multiple Actors Multiple Functions Social Torture Acquires Its Own Momentum Social Torture Is Justified in Public Discourses, which then Become Instruments of Social Torture Conclusions Chapter 9. Conclusions Social Torture Offers a Counter-Narrative to the Mainstream Discourse Greed-Grievance Social Torture Goes beyond the Convention Against Torture Social Torture Suggests the Need for More Comprehensive Interventions Appendices Bibliography Index

255 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a theoretical model is proposed to explain the death of norms in constructivist international relations theory, and it is shown that any future incidences of torture by liberal states may bring about a crisis of legitimacy in the international norm itself.
Abstract: Is the norm against torture suffering a crisis of legitimacy within the United States, and if so, does this constitute a crisis in the norm itself? Can constructivist international relations theory explain how the norm came to be significantly weakened by its most important proponent? Constructivist literature on norms has hitherto suffered from a `nice norm bias' that does not adequately take into account the reversibility of so-called `internalized' norms like the one prohibiting torture. Through an examination of the rhetoric, policies and practices surrounding US interrogation after 9/11, this article addresses omissions in constructivist literature by providing a theoretical model to explain `norm regress', or the death of norms. It claims that the torture norm is suffering a crisis of legitimacy within the United States and any future incidences of torture by liberal states may well bring about a crisis of legitimacy in the international norm itself.

173 citations


Book
28 Sep 2009
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the relationship between security and migration in the twenty-first century, including migration, citizenship, expulsion, and state, and the complicit state in the context of armed conflict, flight and refugees.
Abstract: Acknowledgements vi 1 Understanding security and migration in the twenty-first century 1 2 Migration, citizenship and the state 29 3 Migration, expulsion and the state 47 4 Armed conflict, flight and refugees 68 5 Migration, torture and the complicit state 87 6 Migration and data: documenting the non-national 108 7 Economy and migration 132 8 Foreigners, trafficking and globalization 155 9 Sovereignty, security and borders 176 Notes 192 Bibliography 199 Index 211

120 citations


Book
11 Jun 2009
TL;DR: In this article, a man called Henri is described as a "man called Henri": Truth, Reconciliation, and Justice, and a "Man Called Henri" is a "judge who cried".
Abstract: Preface Prologue 1. Tales of Terrorism and Torture 2. Tock-Tick: The Working of a Judicial Mind 3. A Man Called Henri: Truth, Reconciliation, and Justice 4. Reason and Passion 5. Laughing Matters 6. Reason and Judgment 7. The Judge Who Cried: The Judicial Enforcement of Socio-Economic Rights 8. Human Dignity and Proportionality 9. The Secular and the Sacred: The Dual Challenges of Same-sex Marriage 10. The Beginning and the End Epilogue and Thanks

100 citations


Book
01 Jun 2009
TL;DR: The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) as discussed by the authors protects the right to life, freedom from torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and freedom from slavery, servitude, or forced or compulsory labour.
Abstract: The European Convention on Human Rights in context -- Article 2 : the right to life -- Article 3 : freedom from torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment -- Article 4 : freedom from slavery, servitude, or forced or compulsory labour -- Article 5 : the right to liberty and security of the person -- Article 6 : the right to a fair trial -- Article 7 : freedom from retroactive criminal offences and punishment -- Articles 8-11 : general considerations -- Article 8 : the right to respect for private and family life, home, and correspondence -- Article 9 : freedom of religion -- Article 10 : freedom of expression -- Article 11 : freedom of assembly and association -- Article 12 : the right to marry and to found a family -- Article 13 : the right to an effective national remedy -- Article 14 (freedom from discrimination in respect of protected convention rights) and Protocol twelve (non-discrimination in respect of 'any right set forth by law') -- Article 15 : derogation in time of war or other public emergency threatening the life of the nation -- Articles 16-18 : other restrictions upon the rights protected -- Article 1, First protocol : the right to property -- Article 2, First protocol : the right to education -- Article 3, First protocol : the right to free elections -- Rights protected by the Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, and Thirteenth protocols to the convention -- Admissibility of applications -- The European Court of Human Rights : organization, practice, and procedure -- The execution of the court's judgments

98 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Cathy Nangini and Denis Mukwege describe their work at the Panzi Hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which treats women victims of rape with extreme violence that are often perpetrated at the hands of armed groups.
Abstract: On any given night in eastern DRC, armed groups of men will overrun a village and divide into bands of three to five, forcing themselves into houses where they seize and serially rape women and young girls. Some mutilate female genitals with guns, pieces of glass, wood, or heated plastic. Some take their victims to the forest and torture them as sex slaves for days, months, or years. As Stephen Lewis, the former UN special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa has said ([1, p. 32]), “the capacity for brutality by so many perpetrators – and on the flip side, the capacity for indifference by so many witnesses – is the ugly apex of a trend gone unchecked.” This ugly apex has characterized the sexual violence landscape throughout history, across cultures, during times of conflict, and behind closed doors. It is in wartime, however, that rape becomes a coordinated, deliberate, en masse weapon of terror. Systematic rape is now understood as the defining tactic of modern conflicts [2]. The mass rape of hundreds of thousands of women have been reported in Europe and Nanking during the Second World War [3], Bangladesh [3], Rwanda [4], and the former Yugoslavia [4]. In both Rwanda and Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Tribunal has recognized rape as a means of ethnic cleansing and genocide [5],[6]. The ongoing violence in the eastern DRC is exemplary of the use of rape to not only terrorize, displace, and demoralize, but also to deliberately incur severe sexual trauma on a level that merits analysis in and of itself. This tactic has escalated over the past ten years in eastern DRC with impunity, garnering little international attention or response. The latest figures estimate 1,100 rapes per month as assessed between November 2008 to March 2009 [7]. One of us (DM) is a gynaecologist and obstetrician who has been treating sexual violence survivors in South Kivu for a decade and as such is a first-hand witness to the brutality and scale of this kind of rape. The purely destructive and sadistic behaviour perpetrated by different armed groups signals a new pathology in South Kivu that we classify as rape with extreme violence (REV). In this article, we document the medical consequences of REV through the lens of the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, South Kivu, one of the few established medical centres that has the capacity to treat REV cases. In the ongoing conflict of the DRC, much remains unknown and undocumented; we draw heavily on a few reports by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other observers about the use and impact of rape in the DRC, and on our own extensive experience in the field.

97 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The U.S. state has entered the domain of paranoia, for it is only in paranoia that one finds simultaneously both deliriums of omnipotence and forebodings of perpetual threat as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The question is still open: what is the purpose of Guantanamo Bay? Why torture people whom the government and the interrogators know are innocent? What kind of U.S. empire now extends its filaments throughout the global gulag of interrogation prisons, torture-ships and internment camps? The U.S. state, I argue, has entered the domain of paranoia, for it is only in paranoia that one finds simultaneously both deliriums of omnipotence and forebodings of perpetual threat. I trace the flashpoints of paranoid violence into the labyrinths of torture to explore three crises: the crisis of violence and the visible; the crisis of imperial legitimacy; and what I call ‘the enemy deficit. What is the relation between photography and forgetting? What accounts for the persistent presence of photography in the scene of torture? I critique the ‘pornography-made-them do-it” narrative and explore the torture photographs not for what they reveal, but for what they conceal and what they allow us to forget about the now established but concealed circuits of global imperial violence.

94 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper analyzed pooled data on the human rights behavior of governments from 1981 to 2003 and found that repeated terrorist attacks lead governments to engage in more extrajudicial killings and disappearances, but have no discernable influence on government use of torture and of political imprisonment or on empowerment rights such as freedom of speech, assembly, and religion.
Abstract: Do terrorist attacks by transnational groups lead governments to restrict human rights? Conventional wisdom holds that governments restrict rights to forestall additional attacks, to more effectively pursue suspected terrorists, and as an excuse to suppress their political opponents. But the logic connecting terrorist attacks to subsequent repression and the empirical research that addresses this issue suffer from important flaws. We analyze pooled data on the human rights behavior of governments from 1981 to 2003. Our key independent variable of interest is transnational terrorist attacks, and the analysis also controls for factors that existing studies have found influence respect for human rights. Repeated terrorist attacks lead governments to engage in more extrajudicial killings and disappearances, but have no discernable influence on government use of torture and of political imprisonment or on empowerment rights such as freedom of speech, assembly, and religion. This finding has important implications for how we think about the effects of terrorism and the policy responses of states, non-governmental organizations, and international institutions interested in protecting human rights.

89 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a theory of crimes against humanity derived from and expanding on existing criminological theory was proposed to offer a basis for new theoretical and empirical work and illustrate how criminology theories might be modified to provide more powerful accounts of crime.
Abstract: Criminology has largely ignored the study of crimes against humanity even though the acts involved—genocide, murder, rape, torture, the appropriation or destruction of property and the displacement and enslavement of populations—are criminal under national and international law and more serious than most crimes commonly studied by criminologists. We examine why criminology has neglected these crimes, argue that criminological theorizing will benefit by attending to this substantive area and put forward a theory of crimes against humanity derived from and expanding on existing criminological theory both to offer a basis for new theoretical and empirical work and to illustrate how criminological theories might be modified to provide more powerful accounts of crime. The article draws on a case example of genocidal mass-murder: Jedwabne, Poland, July 1941.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper found that describing torture by America's agents as a longstanding practice increased people's acceptance of the practice and increased their perceived justification for the use of the torture in questioning of detainees.
Abstract: Does describing torture by America’s agents as a longstanding practice—part of the status quo—increase people’s acceptance of the practice? A representative sample of U.S. adults, randomly assigned to conditions in which these practices were described as new or as having been used for more than 40 years, read about the use of torture in questioning of detainees. Torture described as a longstanding practice had more support and was seen as more effective and justifiable than the same torture described as new. Characterization of practices as longstanding—even if unpopular or disgraceful—enhances their support and increases their perceived justification.

Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 2009
TL;DR: In today's wars, civilian populations inevitably pay the greatest price in suffering, torture, and death as discussed by the authors and it is very difficult for responsible members of the international community to protect the victims of such deadly conflicts, yet that is what is called for by the emerging norm of the "responsibility to protect:” The need to protect is not only best served by prevention, often it cannot be served in any other way.
Abstract: In today’s wars, civilian populations inevitably pay the greatest price in suffering, torture, and death. It is very difficult for responsible members of the international community to protect the victims of such deadly conflicts. Yet that is what is called for by the emerging norm of the ‘responsibility to protect:’ The need to protect is not only best served by prevention, often it cannot be served in any other way. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a case in point. The wars and local conflicts that have occurred there between 1996 and the present are said to have cost the lives of more than five million persons. It is estimated that these conflicts have also produced around two million internally displaced persons and several hundred thousand refugees in neighboring countries. To protect these millions would have taken an international force far beyond any number that is politically imaginable. Therefore, preventing or at least reducing violence is a more realistic and feasible goal than protection.

Book
24 Aug 2009
TL;DR: Piffner as discussed by the authors analyzes the George W. Bush presidency's efforts to expand executive power in these four domains and puts them into constitutional and historical perspective, highlighting the lessons the Constitution's framers drew from such philosophers as Locke and Montesquieu, as well as English constitutional history.
Abstract: The framers of the U.S. Constitution divided the federal government's powers among three branches: the executive, the legislative, and the judiciary. Their goal was to prevent tyranny by ensuring that none of the branches could govern alone. While numerous presidents have sought to escape these constitutional constraints, the administration of George W. Bush went farther than most. It denied the writ of habeas corpus to individuals deemed to be enemy combatants. It suspended the Geneva Convention and allowed or encouraged the use of harsh interrogation methods amounting to torture. It ordered the surveillance of Americans without obtaining warrants as required by law. And it issued signing statements declaring that the president does not have the duty to faithfully execute hundreds of provisions in the laws he has signed. Power Play analyzes the Bush presidency's efforts to expand executive power in these four domains and puts them into constitutional and historical perspective. Pfiffner explores the evolution of Anglo-American thinking about executive power and individual rights. He highlights the lessons the Constitution's framers drew from such philosophers as Locke and Montesquieu, as well as English constitutional history. He documents the ways in which the Bush administration's policies have undermined the separation of powers, and he shows how these practices have imperiled the rule of law. Following 9/11, the Bush presidency engaged in a two-front offensive. In Afghanistan and Iraq, the administration aggressively prosecuted the "war on terror." At home, it targeted constraints on the power of the executive. Power Play lays bare the extent of this second campaign and explains why it will continue to threaten the future of republican government if the other two branches do not assert their own constitutional prerogatives.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is argued that any hypothesized benefits from the use of torture must be weighed against the substantial proven costs of torture, which include the unreliable information extracted through interrogations using torture, the mental and emotional toll on victims and torturers, loss of international stature and credibility, and the risk of retaliation against soldiers and civilians.
Abstract: Governments sometimes characterize torture as an indispensable interrogation tool for gathering strategic intelligence. In this article, we review the relevant social scientific research on the effectiveness, impact, and causes of torture. First, we summarize research on false confessions and examine the relevance of that research for torture-based interrogations. Next, we review research on the mental health consequences of torture for survivors and perpetrators. Finally, we explore the social-psychological conditions that promote acts of cruelty (such as those seen at Abu Ghraib) and examine the arguments typically offered to justify the use of torture. We argue that any hypothesized benefits from the use of torture must be weighed against the substantial proven costs of torture. These costs include the unreliable information extracted through interrogations using torture, the mental and emotional toll on victims and torturers, loss of international stature and credibility, and the risk of retaliation against soldiers and civilians.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Examining stressor interactions that determined severity and psychological impact of captivity stressors in 432 torture survivors in former Yugoslavia countries and Turkey found fear- and helplessness-inducing effects of captivity and CIDT appear to be the major determinants of perceived severity of torture and psychological damage in detainees.
Abstract: Current thinking on what constitutes torture in a detention/interrogation setting focuses solely on particular procedures, without regard for contextual factors that mediate traumatic stress. The present study examined stressor interactions that determined severity and psychological impact of captivity stressors in 432 torture survivors in former Yugoslavia countries and Turkey. A principal components analysis of 46 captivity stressors measured by an Exposure to Torture Scale identified meaningful stressor clusters, which suggested that multiple detention procedures were used in combination to maximize their impact. Perceived torture severity related to 'cruel, inhuman, and degrading' treatments (CIDT) but not to physical torture. Posttraumatic stress disorder related to war-related captivity, deprivation of basic needs, sexual torture, and exposure to extreme temperatures, isolation, and forced stress positions but not to physical torture. CIDT increased posttraumatic stress disorder risk by 71%. Fear- and helplessness-inducing effects of captivity and CIDT appear to be the major determinants of perceived severity of torture and psychological damage in detainees. Considerations on what constitutes torture need to take into account the contextual processes in a captivity setting that mediate these effects.

Book
30 Nov 2009
TL;DR: Torture, assassination and blackmail: new norms for asymmetric conflict? as discussed by the authors discusses the paradox of non-lethal warfare and the dilemma of human dignity or human life in modern asymmetric conflicts.
Abstract: 1 Torture, assassination and blackmail in modern, asymmetric conflict 2 Friends, foes or brothers in arms? The puzzle of combatant equality Part I Dilemmas and Paradoxes of Combatancy: 3 Shooting to kill: the paradox of prohibited weapons 4 Shooting to stun: the paradox of nonlethal warfare 5 Murder, self-defense or execution? The dilemma of assassination 6 Human dignity or human life: the dilemmas of torture Part II Dilemmas and Paradoxes of Noncombatancy: 7 Blackmailing the innocent: the dilemma of noncombatant immunity 8 Killing the innocent: the dilemma of terror 9 Risking our lives to save others: the paradox (and dilemma) of humanitarian intervention Conclusion: 10 Torture, assassination and blackmail: new norms for asymmetric conflict?

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper examined war rape in ongoing or recently-ended armed conflicts in 27 countries and found that extreme war rape is ubiquitous and that across countries, there are similarities in its perpetration as well as in the contextual conditions that facilitate it.
Abstract: Rape in today’s civil armed conflicts is particularly widespread and brutal, constituting what I refer to as extreme war rape, in which perpetrators intentionally injure and psychologically torture their victims. Using prior research as the data source, this article examines war rape in ongoing or recently-ended armed conflicts in 27 countries. Findings indicate that extreme war rape is ubiquitous and that across countries, there are similarities in its perpetration as well as in the contextual conditions that facilitate it. Based upon data that also show some variations in war rape prevalence and in the prominence of certain features, e.g., most common perpetrators or rape sites, I introduce four patterns of war rape, along with the distribution of conditions that differentiate them from one another.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article found that the desire for harsh interrogation is largely isomorphic with the desire to punish, and that both effects are mediated by the perceived moral status of the target, but not the perceived effectiveness of the interrogation.

Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 2009
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine international developments in investigative interviewing and present a critical analysis of the attempts to influence investigator and prosecutor behaviour by recourse to human rights, while also offering critical analysis.
Abstract: This book examines international developments in investigative interviewing. It analyses the cases and other factors leading to the paradigm shift in a number of countries, it considers issues that are of current interest to practitioners and academics including the continuing calls for the use of torture, whether it is possible to detect deception and the contribution of investigative interviewing methods to concepts of therapeutic and restorative justice. The book responds to the recognition that there are currently no international human rights instruments that relate specifically to custodial questioning, whilst also offering a critical analysis of the attempts to influence investigator and prosecutor behaviour by recourse to human rights. This book will be essential reading for practitioners designing and delivering investigative interviewing training programmes as well as academics and students studying international criminal justice.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The concept of "bare life" is used to refer to subjects who are excluded from the fraternity of the social sphere, appealing to the safety net of the nation-state and recourse to international law as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The category of ‘bare life’ is used to refer to subjects who are denied both political and legal representation. For Giorgio Agamben, the subject who most immediately exemplifies the plight of ‘bare life’ is the stateless refugee. However, this can be extended, the author would suggest, to include political prisoners, the disappeared, victims of torture, and the dispossessed – all of whom are excluded, to different degrees, from the fraternity of the social sphere, appeal to the safety net of the nation‐state and recourse to international law. The concept of ‘bare life’ also provides a significant way of reflecting on contemporary art practices that take migration, statelessness, diasporic communities, human rights, and zones of conflict as their subject matter; nowhere more so that when they represent the ‘zones of indistinction’ to which ‘bare life’ is consigned.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy and/or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, as well as interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation, should be components of a successful rehabilitation process, and great attention should be paid to contextual components.
Abstract: Refugees have often been exposed to torture in their countries of origin. A core issue is the resulting multifaceted presentation of somatic, psychological and social problems in the same individual, leading to severe activity limitations and participation restrictions. An international conference, "Rehabilitating Torture Survivors", was organized by the Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims (a rehabilitation clinic and global knowledge and research centre with government support) in collaboration with the Centre for Transcultural Psychiatry at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December 2008. The main topics were: the context of torture; mental problems including psychotherapy; internet-based therapy and pharmaco-therapy; chronic pain; social integration and family; and functioning and rehabilitation. Available evidence highlights the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to rehabilitation, but scientifically rigorous studies of comprehensive rehabilitation programmes for torture survivors are lacking. Therefore, effect studies are urgently warranted. Nevertheless, by combining expertise from different scientific and professional areas, important elements in the problems of torture survivors can be addressed from an evidence base generated both from traumatized and non-traumatized patient populations. Thus, trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy and/or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, as well as interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation, should be components of a successful rehabilitation process, and great attention should be paid to contextual components.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Treatment was moderately effective in reducing the nonspecific mental health consequences of torture, but disability scores remained high and other treatments that are realistic in the resource-poor Nepali context need to be sought.
Abstract: Background: Little is known about the effectiveness of treatment for torture survivors in low-income settings. Multi-disciplinary treatment is an often used approach for this target group.Aims: This study was aimed at examining the effectiveness of brief multi-disciplinary treatment for torture survivors in Nepal.Methods: A naturalistic comparative design with help-seeking torture survivors and internally displaced persons assigned to a treatment and a comparison group respectively ( n = 192; treatment group n = 111, comparison group n = 81), with baseline measurements on psychiatric symptomatology, disability, and functioning and a five-month follow-up (n = 107; treatment group n = 62; comparison group n = 45), was employed. Intervention consisted of brief psychosocial services, minimal medical services and/or legal assistance.Results: Study groups were generally comparable and non-completers did not significantly differ from completers. The treatment group improved more than the comparison group on soma...

Book
15 Jun 2009
TL;DR: In this paper, the Principle of Utility and Panopticon have been used to describe the principle of utility for torturing prisoners in the British Museum, London, UK. But who was Jeremy Bentham?
Abstract: 1. Who was Jeremy Bentham? 2. Which Bentham? 3. The Principle of Utility 4. Panopticon 5. Political Fallacies 6. Religion and Sex 7. Torture Further Reading Index.

MonographDOI
10 Sep 2009
TL;DR: Esparza and Seri as discussed by the authors discuss the relationship between state violence and genocidal practices in Latin America, including Argentina's state violence in 1976-1983, and the role of the United States in this process.
Abstract: Introduction: Globalizing Latin American Studies of State Violence and Genocide Marcia Esparza Part 1: The Roots and Theoretical Underpinnings 1. U.S. Hemispheric Hegemony and the Descent into Genocidal Practices in Latin America Luis Roniger 2. Political Violence in Argentina and its Genocidal Characteristics Daniel Feierstein 3. Genocide in Chile: An Assessment Maureen S. Hiebert and Pablo Policzer 4. Understanding the 1982 Guatemalan Genocide Marc Drouin Part 2: The Mechanisms of Violence 5. "Industrial Repression" and Operation Condor in Latin America J. Patrice McSherry 6. The United States and Torture: Lessons from Latin America Jennifer K. Harbury 7. State Violence and Repression in Rosario during the Argentine Dictatorship, 1976-1983 Gabriela Aguila 8. U.S.-Colombian Relations in the 1980s: Political Violence and the Onset of the UP Genocide Andrei Gomez-Suarez Part 3: The Aftermath of State Violence and Genocide 9. Political Violence, Justice and Reconciliation in Latin America Ernesto Verdeja 10. Vicious Legacies? State Violence(s) in Argentina Guillermina S. Seri 11. Courageous Soldiers (Valientes Soldados): Politics of Concealment in the Aftermath of State Violence in Chile Marcia Esparza 12. Bringing Justice to Guatemala: The Need to Confront Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity Raul Molina Mejia

Posted Content
Kevin Kolben1
TL;DR: The authors argue that the strategies, politics, culture, and ideologies that inform human rights and much of the U.S. human rights establishment are quite at odds with those of labor rights movements, and a hard human rights turn by labor rights advocates risks eviscerating the fundamental commitments to economic justice and worker democracy in which the labor rights movement is grounded.
Abstract: A large and growing number of labor law and industrial relations scholars have argued that labor rights ought to be understood and conceptualized as fundamental human rights. In a parallel movement, a growing number of labor rights organizations have begun to deploy human rights discourse and methods, while some international human rights scholars and organizations have also, although to a lesser degree, begun to direct some of their attention to questions of labor rights – an issue long left to unions and labor law scholars.Few scholars have challenged this move to human rights discourse, however. In this essay I argue that there are important and salient differences between labor rights and human rights, not only in how these rights operate conceptually, but also and perhaps equally importantly, in how these rights are actualized by their respective movements. I argue that the strategies, politics, culture, and ideologies that inform human rights and much of the U.S. human rights establishment are quite at odds with those of labor rights movements, and a hard human rights turn by labor rights advocates risks eviscerating the fundamental commitments to economic justice and worker democracy in which the labor rights movement is grounded.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors make some suggestions concerning the improvement of this situation and make some improvements to the "wisdom of repugnance" in the area of torturing people.
Abstract: Many of us want to say that there is an absolute—or at least a virtually absolute—prohibition on torturing people. But we live in a world in which firm moral restraints of all sorts are hard to defend. Neither contemporary conventional morality, nor any of the available moral theories, provides adequate support for the deliverances of the "wisdom of repugnance" in this area. Nor do they support casuistry capable of distinguishing torture from (sometimes legitimate) forms of rough treatment. I here make some suggestions concerning the improvement of this situation.

Book
21 Dec 2009
TL;DR: Human Rights in Latin America: A Politics of Terror and Hope as mentioned in this paper is the first textbook to provide a comprehensive introduction to the human rights issues facing an area that constitutes more than half of the Western Hemisphere.
Abstract: For the last half century, Latin America has been plagued by civil wars, dictatorships, torture, legacies of colonialism and racism, and other evils. The region has also experienced dramatic-if uneven-human rights improvements. The accounts of how Latin America's people have dealt with the persistent threats to their fundamental rights offer lessons for people around the world. Human Rights in Latin America: A Politics of Terror and Hope is the first textbook to provide a comprehensive introduction to the human rights issues facing an area that constitutes more than half of the Western Hemisphere. Leading human rights researcher and educator Sonia Cardenas brings together regional examples of both terror and hope, emphasizing the dualities inherent in human rights struggles. Organized by three pivotal topics-human rights violations, reform, and accountability-this book offers an authoritative synthesis of research on human rights on the continent. From historical accounts of abuse to successful transnational campaigns and legal battles, Human Rights in Latin America explores the tensions underlying a vast range of human rights initiatives. In addition to surveying the roles of the United States, relatives of the disappeared, and truth commissions, Cardenas covers newer ground in addressing the colonial and ideological underpinnings of human rights abuses, emerging campaigns for disability and sexuality rights, and regional dynamics relating to the International Criminal Court. Engagingly written and fully illustrated, Human Rights in Latin America creates an important niche among human rights and Latin American textbooks. Ample supplementary resources-including discussion questions, interdisciplinary reading lists, filmographies, online resources, internship opportunities, and instructor assignments-make this an especially valuable text for use in human rights courses.

Posted Content
TL;DR: The roles of forensic psychologists in coerced environments such as corrections include that of treatment provider (for the offender) and that of organizational consultant (for community) as mentioned in this paper, which raises ethical issues in the balance between offender and community rights; an imbalance results in the violation of human rights.
Abstract: The roles of forensic psychologists in coerced environments such as corrections include that of treatment provider (for the offender) and that of organizational consultant (for the community). This dual role raises ethical issues in the balance between offender and community rights; an imbalance results in the violation of human rights. A timely reminder of a slippery ethical slope that can arise is the failure of the American Psychological Association to manage this balance regarding interrogation and torture of detainees under the Bush administration. To establish a “bright-line position” regarding ethical practice, forensic psychologists need to be cognizant of international human rights law. In this endeavor, international covenants and a universal ethical code ought to guide practice, although seemingly unresolveable conflicts between ethics codes and the law may arise. The legal theory of therapeutic jurisprudence can assist psychologists to understand the law, the legal system, and their role in applying the law therapeutically to support offender dignity, freedom, and well-being. In this way, a moral stance is taken and the forensic role of treatment provider and/or organizational consultant is not expected to trump the ethical principle “do no harm” with the ethical principle “community protection”.