Torture

Torture is a willful infliction of pain as a means of procuring information from a prisoner of war. It is specifically used as method of interrogation wherein the prisoner is forced to succumb to physical and or psychological anguish.

There are various methods of torture, including sleep and sensory deprivation, sensory overload, physical and psychological pain, humiliation, imposed starvation and asphyxiation.

The act of torture is strictly forbidden by the United Nations Convention against Torture and other international regulatory bodies. The effectiveness of torturing prisoners is also a dubious prospect as throughout history, prisoners have confessed to a variety of allegations as a means to suspend their pain.

Many have protested the use of torture as an interrogation tactic, and argued for the violation of ethics and morality in the deliberate attempt to cause suffering as a means of gain information.

Latest blogosphere posts tagged “Torture”

• After Neda: "Now I Have Left Iran, I Can Cry Out To Break The Silence" [Green Revolution]

  
  Jezebel — Authority: 815
  Its been five months since Neda Soltan was gunned down in the streets of Tehran. In that time, Capsian Makan, Nedas boyfriend, has faced prison, torture, and exile. But he is finally able to speak freely. In an interview with yesterdays Guardian , Makan discusses his relationship with Neda, her political ...
  2 hours ago

• One Giant Scar On Mankind: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AFFECTS US ALL!

  
  A Human Rights Issue-Custodial Justice — Authority: 511
  One giant scar on mankindhttp://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/one-giant-scar-on-mankind-20091115-igau.htmlNovember 17, 2009Comments 105Illustration: Greg Bakes.Almost 20 years ago, on December 6, 1989, a young man went looking for women at l’Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal. Here, in the middle of this highly ...
  3 hours ago

• Quote of the Day

  
  The Blanks Slate — Authority: 463
  The Obama Administration continues to leverage heavily on the growing cult of personality surrounding Obama — much like the one surrounding Bush in his first term. For many, Obama’s popularity is unaffected by the fact that he is pursuing the very same hostile policies as Bush on civil liberties, privacy, and open ...
  3 hours ago

• Another Murder-Suicide: Mom Wanted Shared Parenting, Dad Didn’t

  
  A Human Rights Issue-Custodial Justice — Authority: 511
  Another Murder-Suicide: Mom Wanted Shared Parenting, Dad Didn’tFiled under: Child Custody, Child Custody Battle, Child Custody Issues, Child Custody Mediation, Child Custody for mothers, Child custody for fathers, Children and Domestic Violence,Children’s rights, Civil rights, Coparenting, Corrupt bastards, ...
  4 hours ago

• Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Trial

  
  Outside The Beltway | OTB — Authority: 654
  I was out of pocket for a few days visiting the folks in Alabama and missed commenting on a few stories.  Most notable among these was Friday’s announcement that five Guantanamo Bay detainees, including 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, would be tried in New York . This one’s a real head scratcher, in ...
  4 hours ago

• President Obama: Don’t Lecture China on Censorship

  
  The Public Record — Authority: 501
  In an unprecedented town hall in Shanghai, the President takes questions on the most pivotal issues in U.S.-China relations directly from students and via the internet. Photo: White House photographer Pete Souza President Obama, in his visit to China, held a “town meeting” with Chinese students in which he ...
  4 hours ago

• President Obama: Don’t Lecture China on Censorship

  
  The Public Record — Authority: 501
  In an unprecedented town hall in Shanghai, the President takes questions on the most pivotal issues in U.S.-China relations directly from students and via the internet. Photo: White House photographer Pete Souza President Obama, in his visit to China, held a “town meeting” with Chinese students in which he ...
  4 hours ago

• Shining Light on Roots of Terrorism

  
  Patrick J. Buchanan — Authority: 599
  By Ray McGovern  – ConsortiumNews.com Media commentary on the upcoming 9/11 trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has raised concern that state secrets may be divulged, including details about how the Bush administration used torture to extract evidence about al-Qaeda. “I think that we’re going to shine a light on ...
  4 hours ago

• VIDEO: Ray McGovern: Why Accountability for Demonic Torture Techniques are Crucial for Human Rights

  
  Patrick J. Buchanan — Authority: 599
  Outstanding talk by former 27-year CIA analyst Ray McGovern on “Why Accountability for Torture Is Crucial for Human Rights, Our Security and Our Souls” given November 12, 2009 at Kane Hall on the University of Washington campus in Seattle. McGovern served under seven U.S. presidents, presenting the morning ...
  4 hours ago

• Update on Zelek McCart Starvation case

  
  Parents Behaving Badly — Authority: 137
  Article I originally posted about this story here . Tessa Zelek, and her husband James Alvin McCart, 23, were arrested for the starvation of their twin sons. Tessa was sentenced to 70 years back in October, but the sperm donor, James, has managed to get a plea deal that resulted in a fifteen year sentence with ...
  5 hours ago

• VIDEO: What Happened inside the Guantanamo Prison: Former Muslim chaplain speaks out

  
  Creative-i — Authority: 149
  As part of Al Jazeeras "In My View" series, former US Muslim chaplain for the US detention facility in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba talks about his experience after being accused of spying and the abuse he alleges occurred at the camp.
  5 hours ago

• International Justice Group Takes Aim at Bush Officials

  
  The Washington Independent Blog — Authority: 155
  The International Center for Transitional Justice usually focuses on bringing to light and holding perpetrators accountable for such heinous crimes as genocide, mass murder and systematic torture, often in far-off war-torn countries with dismal human rights records. So it’s significant that today they’ve ...
  5 hours ago

• Mousa inquiry: corporal accuses officer

  
  The Guardian - guardian.co.uk — Authority: 984
  Donald Payne says lieutenant threatened to set prisoner alight and that abuse of detainees in Basra was widespread A former army corporal who was the first British soldier convicted of a war crime has accused his former colleagues of abusing prisoners. Donald Payne today told an inquiry into the Iraqis hotel worker ...
  5 hours ago

• Yoo Defends Arbitrary Torture, Opposes Rule of Law, Makes Self-Refuting Argument

  
  Lawyers, Guns and Money — Authority: 690
  I suppose this is all a dog-bites-man story...
  6 hours ago

• If the Bills were a tv show...

  
  Getting Caught From Behind — Authority: 103
  It would have been cancelled already. Even if they were on NBC. Its bad, its not even funny bad, but like face slap bad. So bad you want to slap yourself for watching it. Like VH1 reality show bad. Even those shows have some kind of entertainment to it. Show Bills games to Jihadists and they will renounce Islam. How ...
  6 hours ago

• A Trial Showing Torture Was Unnecessary

  
  Emptywheel — Authority: 723
  I’m not amused that the Wall Street Journal solicited an op-ed attacking the decision to try KSM in civilian court from one of the people–John Yoo–with the biggest conflict on such a decision. It’s yet more proof that Rupert Murdoch is engaged in a partisan pursuit, even with the WSJ. But I am amused at the ...
  6 hours ago

• Britain’s Abu Ghraib: Did Britain collude with US in abuse of Iraqis?

  
  Question Everything — Authority: 441
  Independent | Robert Verkaik, Law EditorIraqi detainees sleeping outside at Camp Bucca near Basra, one of the locations of the alleged abuseClaims that British soldiers recreated the torture conditions of Abu Ghraib to commit the sexual and physical abuse of Iraqi civilians are being investigated by the Ministry of ...
  6 hours ago

• Obama Administration Blocks Release of Detainee Abuse Photos

  
  Newsvine - Killfile's Column - Articles and Seeds — Authority: 142
  Defense Secretary Robert Gates has blocked the public release of any more pictures of foreign detainees abused by their U.S.
  7 hours ago

• The Morning Plum

  
  The Plum Line — Authority: 781
  * National storm brewing: White House and Senator Dick Durbin coalesce behind a plan to transfer Guantanamo inmates to a facility in Illinois. * GOP Senate candidate Mark Kirk , facing a primary from his right, says no way : “As home to America’s tallest building, we should not invite Al Qaeda to ...
  8 hours ago

• Cynthia McKinney to President Obama: Turn Away From War

  
  Nasir Khan blog — Authority: 141
  Open Letter From the Peace Movement to President Obama on His Upcoming Decision Regarding the Afghan War By Cynthia McKinney, Information Clearing House , Nov. 15, 2009 Dear Mr. President: According to press reports, you intend to decide between November 7 and November 11 whether or not to send tens of ...
  9 hours ago

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