Torture

So 'Condi' is flying to Europe this week where she can expect some severe questioning regarding the flying of 'terror' suspects beyond US borders. What concerns European nations most is the possible use of torture. Rather than denying torture, Condi and her fundi friends claim to be following their legal obligation under the 1984 UN 'Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment'. Under this convention torture is defined as the following, "Torture means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind..."

Now, going with this definition, here are the 'interrogation' techniques employed by the freedom loving CIA...

1. Grab: the interrogator grabs a suspect's shirt front and shakes him.

2. Slap: an open-handed slap to produce fear and some pain.

3. Belly Slap: a hard slap to the stomach with an open hand. This is designed to be painful but not to cause injury. A punch is said to have been ruled out by doctors.

4. Standing: Prisoners stand for 40 hours and more, shackled to the floor. Said to be effective, it also denies them sleep and is part of a process known as sensory deprivation

5. Cold Cell: a prisoner is made to stand naked in a cold, though not freezing, cell and doused with water.

6. Water Boarding: the prisoner is bound to a board with feet raised, and cellophane wrapped round his head. Water is poured onto his face and is said to produce a fear of drowning which leads to a rapid demand for the suffering to end.

Now, I may not be in the security forces but some of these sound like torture to me. Given that Condi has such a view on what torture isn't, I fear what is happening in these 'other' countries that prisoners are being sent to...

San Nakji for President!