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BREAKING PEOPLE. Jonathan Gitlin writes that interrogation practices:
now aim to break down subjects through psychological means that leave no visible scars, and as a result they are far more palatable with the general public. Sleep deprivation, stress positions, sensory deprivation and the like are dismissed by pundits and defense lawyers as nothing like torture. But the after-effects of such treatment are at least as damaging to those on the receiving end as having teeth pulled out, being burned, or being electrocuted.He quotes a new report in the Archives of General Psychiatry that surveyed torture survivors in Bosnia:
The researchers identified seven categories of torture: "sexual torture; physical torture; psychological manipulations, such as threats of rape or witnessing the torture of others; humiliating treatment, including mockery and verbal abuse; exposure to forced stress positions, such as bondage with rope or other restrictions of movement; loud music, cold showers and other sensory discomforts; and deprivation of food, water or other basic needs." Physical torture rated between 3.2 and 3.8, and this figure was matched by 16 other practices, such as sham executions, rape, threat of rape, isolation and fondling of genitals. There was no lesser incidence of PTSD in those who had not been physically tortured. Dr. Basoglu concludes that the psychological practices which are in vogue right now " do not seem to be substantially different from physical torture in terms of the extent of mental suffering they cause, the underlying mechanisms of traumatic stress, and their long-term traumatic effects."As someone (I forget who) wrote last week, torture does one thing very well; it breaks people. It appears that the methods that the administration continues to pursue are just as effective toward that end as more "traditional" methods.--Robert Farley
