Showing papers on "Torture published in 2017"

Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment :

Abstract: The Secretariat has the honour to transmit to the Human Rights Council the report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Nils Melzer, pursuant to Council resolution 25/13. In his report, the Special Rapporteur gives an overview of the activities of the mandate during the reporting cycle, including the country visits carried out by the former Special Rapporteur, Juan Mendez, up to the end of his tenure on 31 October 2016. The incumbent Special Rapporteur, who took up his appointment on 1 November, outlines his working methods, his thematic priorities and his vision for a meaningful anti-torture advocacy, in close cooperation with existing mechanisms.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms Resulting from Torture and Other Traumatic Events among Syrian Kurdish Refugees in Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Abstract: Political violence is known to cause psychological distress. There is a large body of empirical studies drawing correlations between war trauma, torture and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, there are few studies on the effects of war-related trauma among Syrian refugees after events following the ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings between 2010 and 2012. This study examines the association of PTSD symptoms with torture and other traumatic events among Syrian Kurdish refugees living in Kurdistan Region, Iraq. The experiences and PTSD symptoms among 91 Syrian Kurdish refugees in the Arbat camp in the Sulaymaniyah Governorate of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq were assessed using the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ), sections I, IV and V. Results showed that the estimated levels of PTSD symptoms were high: between 35% and 38%. There were no significant gender differences in the occurrence of PTSD symptoms. However, men reported significantly more general traumatic experiences than women. There were significant positive correlations between PTSD symptoms with traumatic events and torture (r = .500, r = .366 respectively). Examining the mental health impact of torture and other traumatic events among refugees has possible implications for organizations managing rehabilitation programs for individuals who have been exposed to traumatic events.

Why medical professionals have no moral claim to conscientious objection accommodation in liberal democracies

Abstract: We describe a number of conscientious objection cases in a liberal Western democracy. These cases strongly suggest that the typical conscientious objector does not object to unreasonable, controversial professional services-involving torture, for instance-but to the provision of professional services that are both uncontroversially legal and that patients are entitled to receive. We analyse the conflict between these patients' access rights and the conscientious objection accommodation demanded by monopoly providers of such healthcare services. It is implausible that professionals who voluntarily join a profession should be endowed with a legal claim not to provide services that are within the scope of the profession's practice and that society expects them to provide. We discuss common counterarguments to this view and reject all of them.

Patriarchy and Gender-Based Violence in Pakistan

Abstract: Patriarchal values are embedded in Pakistani society which determines the subordinated position of women. Patriarchal control over women is exercised through institutionalized restrictive codes of behavior, gender segregation and the ideology which associates family honor to female virtue. The abnormal, amoral, and harmful customary practices which aim at preserving subjugation of women, defended and sanctified as cultural traditions and given religious overtones. Abnormal and amoral traditional practices in Pakistan include honor killing, rape and sexual assault, sexual harassment, acid attacks, being burned, kidnapping, domestic violence, dowry murder, and forces marriages, custodial abuse and torture. According to a 2011 poll of experts by the Thomson Reuters Foundation Poll, Pakistan is ranked the 3rd the most dangerous country for women in the world. This paper aims to highlight the sufferings of women in Pakistan and consider that in patriarchal societies violence has been used as a social mechanism to perpetuate the subjugation of women. Patriarchal system necessitates the violence for the sake of its existence. With the help of existing data, the gender-based violence in Pakistan has been analyzed. This paper concludes that all forms of gender-based violence are committed to ensure the compliance of women. In order to eliminate violence against women, patriarchal system has to be changed which can be achieved by strengthening the social, political and economic position of women.

Seeking Asylum: Challenges Faced by the LGB Community.

Abstract: A retrospective chart review was completed of patients self-identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual seen through a program for survivors of torture between June 9, 2009 and December 31, 2014 (n = 50). Almost all (98 %) experienced persecution due to their sexual orientation and 84 % were survivors of torture. The circumstances under which the disclosure of sexual orientation took place in the country of origin were often traumatic. In several, efforts were made to change their sexual orientation often through forced marriage. Those in same sex relationships had relationships often marred by tragedy. Women were more likely to be forced to move from place to place, experience rape/sexual assault and threats whereas men were more likely to be persecuted by people on the street. All presented with symptoms of depression and anxiety. Providers need to be attuned to the potential traumatic histories of those fleeing persecution due to sexual orientation, and the medical, social, psychological, and legal implications.

The Prevention of Gross Human Rights Violations Under International Human Rights Law

Abstract: Over the past decades there has been a great deal of attention for concepts aiming to prevent gross human rights violations, such as conflict prevention and the responsibility to protect. Despite this shift in attention towards prevention, it has remained unclear what legal obligations states have to prevent gross human rights violations under international human rights law. For example, it is unclear what types of obligations states have at different points in time, when they are triggered, what concrete measures they may require and how they apply outside a state’s territory. This study sets out to systematically assess the content and scope of obligations to prevent gross human rights violations. To be able to understand obligations to prevent in their interconnection, the focus is on three specific types of injury prohibited under international human rights law: torture, arbitrary death and genocide. Further distinctions are made between four temporal phases (long-term prevention, short-term prevention, preventing continuation, preventing recurrence) and territorial and extraterritorial obligations. A point of analysis throughout the study is how the capacity of states influences the content and scope of obligations to prevent gross human rights violations in territorial and extraterritorial settings.

Refugees, Higher Education, and Informational Barriers

Abstract: The purpose of the qualitative study was to explore the experiences, needs, barriers, and expectations of survivors of torture and/or war, interested in entering post-secondary education in Canada. We conducted 38 interviews with participants from the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture (CCVT), 10 interviews with CCVT staff, and 1 focus group with 3 participants, which followed a semi-structured interview guide, and were analyzed using a constant comparative method. Survivors of torture and/or war report experiencing informational barriers to navigating educational pathways, accessing professional supports, evaluating credentials, financing education, navigating immigration systems, using online resources, delaying their educational progress, and contributing to mental health distress.

God Said to Abraham/Kill Me a Son: Why the Insanity Defense and the Incompetency Status Are Compatible with and Required by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Basic Principles of Therapeutic Jurisprudence

Abstract: Interpretations of the General Comments to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) — that command the abolition of the insanity defense and the incompetency status — make no theoretical or conceptual sense, disregard the history of how society has treated persons with serious mental disabilities who are charged with crime, and will lead to predictable torture of this population in prison, at the hands of both prison guards and other prisoners. Such interpretation also flies in the face of every precept of therapeutic jurisprudence. Support of this position exhibits a startling lack of understanding of the treatment of this population in prison settings, and ignores other articles of that Convention that support the continuation of this defense and this status, as well as other international human rights conventions that speak to the right to a “fair trial.” The abolition position is short-sighted and will lead to a worsening of the lives of an especially-marginalized and ignored segment of the population of persons with disabilities.This paper (a version of which was presented as a keynote address at the fourth international therapeutic jurisprudence conference at the University of Auckland, NZ) first discusses the significance of the CRPD, and why, when it is read as an integrated document, the interpretations in the General Comment and the supporting literature must be unequivocally rejected, looking at other Articles and other foundational documents of international human rights law. It then looks at the singular role of the insanity defense and incompetency status in legal history, (1) acknowledging that, while pleading insanity may be a bad option, it is still one that needs to be retained, and (2) pointing out that raising the incompetency status is not an admission of factual guilt (in contrast to the insanity defense, which is), and that trying a person who is unable to cooperate with her counsel and rationally understand the proceedings against her makes it more likely that she will be convicted of crimes of which she may not be guilty, a base and basic violation of human decency.It then considers the Comment that is at the center of this controversy, concluding that it makes no conceptual sense, and that, if implemented, it would violate due process, dignity and fair trial mandates, and, inevitably, lead to the torture of persons with mental disabilities who are charged with and convicted of crimes (in the case of those who “should be” found incompetent to stand trial, including those who are factually innocent), a denouement that is even more staggering when we realize that there is no indication that this outcome was ever in the minds of the drafters, that it was never debated, and that there is nothing to suggest that the populations in question were ever consulted.Finally, the abolition of the defense and status violates every precept of therapeutic jurisprudence, the aim of which is to determine whether legal rules, procedures, and lawyer roles can or should be reshaped to enhance their therapeutic potential while not subordinating due process principles, premised on the core values of voice, validation and voluntariness. Elimination of the insanity defense and incompetency status make it virtually impossible that these values will be privileged, and make it more likely that sanist values in jails and prisons will fester to an even greater extent than they do now.

War and Rape: A Preliminary Analysis

Abstract: During the preceding forty years the rapes had become neither a topic for research nor a political issue, despite their scale, their aftereffects, and the sociopolitical significance of sexual violence against women. With camps in the middle of Europe constructed expressly for the purpose of rape or sexual torture, the violence against women has reached a new level. Those who inquire about the reasons for rape run up against a confusion of myths and ideologies. The most popular and effective myth is that rape has to do with an uncontrollable male drive that, insofar as it is not restrained by culture, has to run its course in a manner that is unfortunate, to be sure, but also unavoidable. In the context of war, rape can be considered the final symbolic expression of the humiliation of the male opponent. As experience teaches, the myth of man as protector that is mobilized in wars is really nothing more than a myth.

Soft War: The Ethics of Unarmed Conflict

Abstract: Just war theory focuses primarily on bodily harm, such as killing, maiming, and torture, while other harms are often largely overlooked. At the same time, contemporary international conflicts increasingly involve the use of unarmed tactics, employing 'softer' alternatives or supplements to kinetic power that have not been sufficiently addressed by the ethics of war or international law. Soft war tactics include cyber-warfare and economic sanctions, media warfare, and propaganda, as well as non-violent resistance as it plays out in civil disobedience, boycotts, and 'lawfare.' While the just war tradition has much to say about 'hard' war - bullets, bombs, and bayonets - it is virtually silent on the subject of 'soft' war. Soft War: The Ethics of Unarmed Conflict illuminates this neglected aspect of international conflict.

Capital punishment in South Asia (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh): a legal analysis

Abstract: Despite the inexorable global trend towards abolition, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have not embraced the abolitionist movement and still fail to accept capital punishment as a human rights issue. The application of capital punishment in the Indian subcontinent is not only a violation of international human rights law but is also contradictory to the domestic constitutional provisions that guarantee the right to life, the right to a fair trial and the prohibition of torture. This research identifies the glaring gaps in the substantive and procedural laws of these countries that lead to arbitrary application of the death penalty. Law Commissions’ reports and the case law of these countries reflect: the investigating agencies use torture to extract confession; the indigent accused facing capital charges do not get legal assistance at the state’s expense; and issues related to witnesses cause undue delay in criminal proceedings and an escape route to terrorist and the powerful from prosecution. Simultaneously, the special courts have heightened the risk of arbitrary and subjective application of capital punishment by adopting special procedures that lower fair trial standards and due process guarantees. These special procedures include special powers of arrest and detention, validity to confessions made under police custody and reversing the presumption of innocence. The thesis explains that the scope of capital punishment as enunciated in the primary sources of Islamic jurisprudence (the Quran and the Sunnah) is not only limited but is also entwined with stringent evidentiary requirements and due process guarantees. It helps to dispel the notion that sharia is an impediment to restrict the scope of the application of capital punishment in Pakistan. This dissertation explores the legal and physical problems of one third of the world’s death row prisoners who have been languishing in cells for many years under the conditions of solitary confinement in contravention to guidelines of the domestic courts and law commissions. The pain of death row in the Indian subcontinent is exacerbated due to the denial of fundamental rights to prisoners in the name of safekeeping. As part of a comprehensive approach, the research provides compelling legal grounds to strengthen the criminal justice system by focusing on the process of evidence and investigation in order to prosecute the powerful and terrorists to promote justice rather than revenge.

Revenge versus rapport: Interrogation, terrorism, and torture.

Abstract: This review begins with the historical context of harsh interrogation methods that have been used repeatedly since the Second World War. This is despite the legal, ethical and moral sanctions against them and the lack of evidence for their efficacy. Revenge-motivated interrogations (Carlsmith & Sood, 2009) regularly occur in high conflict, high uncertainty situations and where there is dehumanization of the enemy. These methods are diametrically opposed to the humanization process required for adopting rapport-based methods-for which there is an increasing corpus of studies evidencing their efficacy. We review this emerging field of study and show how rapport-based methods rely on building alliances and involve a specific set of interpersonal skills on the part of the interrogator. We conclude with 2 key propositions: (a) for psychologists to firmly maintain the Hippocratic Oath of "first do no harm," irrespective of perceived threat and uncertainty, and (b) for wider recognition of the empirical evidence that rapport-based approaches work and revenge tactics do not. Proposition (a) is directly in line with fundamental ethical principles of practice for anyone in a caring profession. Proposition (b) is based on the requirement for psychology to protect and promote human welfare and to base conclusions on objective evidence. (PsycINFO Database Record

British torture in the ‘war on terror’:

Abstract: Despite longstanding allegations of UK involvement in prisoner abuse during counterterrorism operations as part of the US-led ‘war on terror’, a consistent narrative emanating from British government officials is that Britain neither uses, condones nor facilitates torture or other cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment and punishment. We argue that such denials are untenable. We have established beyond reasonable doubt that Britain has been deeply involved in post-9/11 prisoner abuse, and we can now provide the most detailed account to date of the depth of this involvement. We argue that it is possible to identify a peculiarly British approach to torture in the ‘war on terror’, which is particularly well-suited to sustaining a narrative of denial. To explain the nature of UK involvement, we argue that it can be best understood within the context of how law and sovereign power have come to operate during the ‘war on terror’. We turn here to the work of Judith Butler, and explore the role of Britain as a ‘petty sovereign’, operating under the state of exception established by the US Executive. UK authorities have not themselves suspended the rule of law so overtly, and indeed have repeatedly insisted on their commitment to it. They have nevertheless been able to construct a rhetorical, legal and policy ‘scaffold’ that has enabled them to demonstrate at least procedural adherence to human rights norms, while at the same time allowing UK officials to acquiesce in the arbitrary exercise of sovereignty over individuals who are denied any access to appropriate representation or redress in compliance with the rule of law.

National Human Rights Institutions: Domestic implementation of international human rights law

Abstract: Does adopting a National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) make states’ international commitments to not torture more constraining? Many researchers have explored international human rights treaties’ abilities to constrain leaders from violating human rights, some focusing exclusively on the United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT). Thus far, findings are not promising unless certain domestic conditions apply such as sufficient democratic space to air grievances or independent judiciaries. This article continues to explore domestic conditions by focusing on another liberal institution—National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs). Torture is usually a secretive practice, and NHRIs act as information providers to potential mobilizers and domestic legal systems assuring international legal commitments are not empty promises. Using statistical analysis on 153 countries over the years 1981–2007, I find that when a country has ratified the CAT, the presence of an NHRI substantively decreases the chan...

Vigilantism, public shaming, and social media hegemony: The role of digital-networked images in humiliation and sociopolitical control

Abstract: Digital-networked images of torture, abuse, and humiliation are increasingly used by nonstate agents to form online communities based upon prejudice and bigotry and/or to propagate violent vigilante justice. This article discusses the circulation, impact, and permanence of digital-networked images that perpetuate nonstate hegemony and function as mechanisms for exercising power, disciplinary force, and social control reminiscent of Foucauldian theories of power-knowledge and governmentality.

Dirty hands: Government torture and terrorism

Abstract: Existing research suggests that the use of harsh repression can exacerbate the incidence and duration of terrorism. Micro- and macro-level analyses have shown that coercive government responses to ...

Predicting the mental health and functioning of torture survivors

Abstract: The psychological effects of war represent a growing public health concern as more refugees and asylum seekers migrate across borders. This study investigates whether sociodemographic, premigration and postmigration, and psychosocial factors predict adverse psychiatric symptoms in refugees and asylum seekers exposed to torture (N = 278). Hierarchical linear regressions revealed that female sex, older age, and unstable housing predicted greater severity of anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and depression. Cumulative exposure to multiple torture types predicted anxiety and PTSD, while mental health, basic resources (access to food, shelter, medical care), and external risks (risk of being victimized at home, community, work, school) were the strongest psychosocial predictors of anxiety, PTSD, and depression. Also, time spent in the United States before presenting for services significantly predicted anxiety, PTSD, and depression. Consequently, public-sector services should seek to engage this high-risk population immediately upon resettlement into the host country using a mental health stepped care approach.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Orientation to Pain, and Pain Perception in Ex-Prisoners of War Who Underwent Torture.

Abstract: OBJECTIVE Studies suggest that torture survivors often experience long-term chronic pain and increased pain perception. However, it is unclear whether the actual experience of torture or rather the subsequent posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) explains these pain problems. Furthermore, although catastrophic and fearful orientations to pain have been suggested to play a significant role in the association between trauma and pain, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study examined whether chronic pain and pain perception among torture survivors are associated with torture experience or PTSD and whether catastrophic and fearful orientations mediate or moderate these associations. METHODS Fifty-nine ex-prisoners of war who underwent torture and 44 matched veterans participated in this study. Pain perception was evaluated by assessing pain threshold and reactivity to experimental suprathreshold noxious stimuli. Participants completed self-administered questionnaires assessing PTSD, chronic pain, pain catastrophizing, and fear of pain. RESULTS Although chronic pain was associated with PTSD (0.44 < β < 0.49, p < .002), increased pain perception was correlated with torture (0.33 < β < 0.65, p < .05). Pain catastrophizing was found to mediate the association between PTSD and chronic pain (β = 0.18 and 0.19, respectively; p < .05). Fear of pain moderated the association between torture and pain perception (β = 0.41 and 0.42, respectively; p < .017). CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest that chronic pain is contingent upon the psychological toll of torture, that is, PTSD. This study also indicates that PTSD exacerbates catastrophic orientation, which in turn may amplify chronic pain. Reactivity to experimental noxious stimuli was related to previous experiences of torture, which enhances perceived pain intensity when interacting with a fearful pain orientation. These findings highlight the significance of orientation to bodily experiences after trauma.

Organizational processes and ontological (in)security: Torture, the CIA and the United States:

Abstract: This paper builds upon previous work that has sought to use ontological security to understand problematic and violent state practices, and how they relate to the securitizing of identity. Yet like...

Development and Preliminary Validation of Refugee Trauma History Checklist (RTHC)-A Brief Checklist for Survey Studies.

Abstract: A high proportion of refugees have been subjected to potentially traumatic experiences (PTEs), including torture. PTEs, and torture in particular, are powerful predictors of mental ill health. This ...

Corruption and Torture: Violent Exchange and the policing of the urban poor

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We have never been civilized: Torture and the materiality of world political binaries:

Abstract: This article demonstrates how world political binaries (democratic–autocratic, civilized–barbarian, etc.) are materially, as well as ideationally, constructed. By drawing on the analytical sensibil...

Gender Differences in Support for Torture

Abstract: Gender differences regarding support for the use of force average around 8 percent and are twice the size of differences on non-force issues. This article investigates a related gender gap in support for the use of torture. I investigate threat perceptions as a possible explanation for the gap and find strong support for this hypothesis. Specifically, increased threat perceptions lead men but not women to be more likely to support the use of torture. In addition to providing an explanation for the gender gap in support for torture, this extends prior work that finds increased threat perceptions with respect to terrorism lead to greater support for aggressive policies.

Exploring Female Genital Cutting Among Survivors of Torture

Abstract: Though the practice of female genital cutting (FGC) has been framed as a form of gender-based torture, few studies have examined the prevalence and impact of the practice among documented survivors of torture. This article presents a secondary analysis of data from 514 African-born women at an interdisciplinary clinic for survivors of torture. Results indicate few demographic differences between those who experienced FGC and those who had not, though a larger proportion of the FGC group were West African and identified as Muslim. Many with FGC were in the process of applying for asylum, reported sexual and psychological torture, and cited gender as a basis for their persecution. The FGC group evidenced unique correlates related to immigration status and psychological and sexual torture experiences that the non-FGC group did not. Findings indicate that female survivors of torture with FGC represent a distinct group with specific mental health needs.

The Moral Punishment Instinct

Abstract: Across time and cultures, ranging from ancient hunter-gatherers, to holy scriptures, to contemporary courts of law, it has been common for people to punish offenders. Furthermore, punishment is not restricted to criminal offenders but emerges in all spheres of social life, including corporations, public institutions, traffic, sports matches, schools, and parenting. Why is punishment soubiquitous? One cannot find a satisfactory explanation for the universality of punishment in the social science literature focusing on human morality in general. Punishment also occurs among nonhuman animals for which one can question their sense of morality, including rodents, fish, and insects. Apparently, there is something specific and unique about punishment that warrants a more focused discussion. This book proposes that people possess a moral punishment instinct, that is, a hard-wired tendency to aggress against those who violate the norms of the group. People evolved this instinct due to its power to control behavior by curbing selfishness and free-riding, thereby providing incentives to stimulate the mutual cooperation that small tribes of ancient hunter-gatherers needed to survive in a challenging natural environment. To examine this idea, the book describes how punishment originates from moral emotions, stimulates cooperation, and shapes the social life of human beings. Guided by many recognizable examples, the book illuminates how the moral punishment instinct manifests itself among nonhuman animals, children, cultures of modern humans, and tribes of hunter-gatherers, while accounting for the role of this instinct in religion, war, racial bias, restorative justice, gossip, torture, and radical terrorism.