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<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1970086,00.html">
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1970086,00.html</a><br>
<br>
Routine and systematic torture is at the heart of America's war on
terror<br><br>
In the fight against cruelty, barbarism and<br>
extremism, America has embraced the very evils it<br>
claims to confront<br><br>
George Monbiot<br>
Tuesday December 12, 2006<br>
The Guardian<br><br>
After thousands of years of practice, you might<br>
have imagined that every possible means of<br>
inflicting pain had already been devised. But you<br>
should never underestimate the human capacity for<br>
invention. United States interrogators, we now<br>
discover, have found a new way of destroying a<br>
human being.<br><br>
Last week, defence lawyers acting for José<br>
Padilla, a US citizen detained as an "enemy<br>
combatant", released a video showing a mission<br>
fraught with deadly risk - taking him to the<br>
prison dentist. A group of masked guards in riot<br>
gear shackled his legs and hands, blindfolded him<br>
with black-out goggles and shut off his hearing<br>
with headphones, then marched him down the prison<br>
corridor.<br><br>
Is Padilla really that dangerous? Far from it:<br>
his warders describe him as so docile and<br>
inactive that he could be mistaken for "a piece<br>
of furniture". The purpose of these measures<br>
appeared to be to sustain the regime under which<br>
he had lived for more than three years: total<br>
sensory deprivation. He had been kept in a<br>
blacked-out cell, unable to see or hear anything<br>
beyond it. Most importantly, he had had no human<br>
contact, except for being bounced off the walls<br>
from time to time by his interrogators. As a<br>
result, he appears to have lost his mind. I don't<br>
mean this metaphorically. I mean that his mind is<br>
no longer there.<br><br>
The forensic psychiatrist who examined him says<br>
that he "does not appreciate the nature and<br>
consequences of the proceedings against him, is<br>
unable to render assistance to counsel, and has<br>
impairments in reasoning as the result of a<br>
mental illness, ie, post-traumatic stress<br>
disorder, complicated by the neuropsychiatric<br>
effects of prolonged isolation". José Padilla<br>
appears to have been lobotomised: not medically,<br>
but socially.<br><br>
If this was an attempt to extract information, it<br>
was ineffective: the authorities held him without<br>
charge for three and half years. Then, threatened<br>
by a supreme court ruling, they suddenly dropped<br>
their claims that he was trying to detonate a<br>
dirty bomb. They have now charged him with some<br>
vague and lesser offences to do with support for<br>
terrorism. He is unlikely to be the only person<br>
subjected to this regime. Another "enemy<br>
combatant", Ali al-Marri, claims to have been<br>
subject to the same total isolation and sensory<br>
deprivation, in the same naval prison in South<br>
Carolina. God knows what is being done to people<br>
who have disappeared into the CIA's foreign<br>
oubliettes.<br><br>
That the US tortures, routinely and<br>
systematically, while prosecuting its "war on<br>
terror" can no longer be seriously disputed. The<br>
Detainee Abuse and Accountability Project (DAA),<br>
a coalition of academics and human-rights groups,<br>
has documented the abuse or killing of 460<br>
inmates of US military prisons in Afghanistan,<br>
Iraq and at Guantánamo Bay. This, it says, is<br>
necessarily a conservative figure: many cases<br>
will remain unrecorded. The prisoners were<br>
beaten, raped, forced to abuse themselves, forced<br>
to maintain "stress positions", and subjected to<br>
prolonged sleep deprivation and mock executions.<br><br>
The New York Times reports that prisoners held by<br>
the US military at Bagram airbase in Afghanistan<br>
were made to stand for up to 13 days with their<br>
hands chained to the ceiling, naked, hooded and<br>
unable to sleep. The Washington Post alleges that<br>
prisoners at the same airbase were "commonly<br>
blindfolded and thrown into walls, bound in<br>
painful positions, subjected to loud noises and<br>
deprived of sleep" while kept, like Padilla and<br>
the arrivals at Guantánamo, "in black hoods or<br>
spray-painted goggles".<br><br>
Alfred McCoy, professor of history at the<br>
University of Wisconsin-Madison, argues that the<br>
photographs released from the Abu Ghraib prison<br>
in Iraq reflect standard CIA torture techniques:<br>
"stress positions, sensory deprivation, and<br>
sexual humiliation". The famous picture of the<br>
hooded man standing on a box, with wires attached<br>
to his fingers, shows two of these techniques<br>
being used at once. Unable to see, he has no idea<br>
how much time has passed or what might be coming<br>
next. He stands in a classic stress position -<br>
maintained for several hours, it causes<br>
excruciating pain. He appears to have been told<br>
that if he drops his arms he will be<br>
electrocuted. What went wrong at Abu Ghraib is<br>
that someone took photos. Everything else was<br>
done by the book.<br><br>
Neither the military nor the civilian authorities<br>
have broken much sweat in investigating these<br>
crimes. A few very small fish have been<br>
imprisoned; a few others have been fined or<br>
reduced in rank; in most cases the authorities<br>
have either failed to investigate or failed to<br>
prosecute. The DAA points out that no officer has<br>
yet been held to account for torture practised by<br>
his subordinates. US torturers appear to enjoy<br>
impunity, until they are stupid enough to take<br>
pictures of each other.<br><br>
But Padilla's treatment also reflects another<br>
glorious American tradition: solitary<br>
confinement. Some 25,000 US prisoners are<br>
currently held in isolation - a punishment only<br>
rarely used in other democracies. In some places,<br>
like the federal prison in Florence, Colorado,<br>
they are kept in sound-proofed cells and might<br>
scarcely see another human being for years on<br>
end. They may touch or be touched by no one. Some<br>
people have been kept in solitary confinement in<br>
the US for more than 20 years.<br><br>
At Pelican Bay in California, where 1,200 people<br>
are held in the isolation wing, inmates are<br>
confined to tiny cells for 22 and a half hours a<br>
day, then released into an "exercise yard" for<br>
"recreation". The yard consists of a concrete<br>
well about 3.5 metres in length with walls 6<br>
metres high and a metal grille across the sky.<br>
The recreation consists of pacing back and forth,<br>
alone.<br><br>
The results are much as you would expect. As<br>
National Public Radio reveals, more than 10% of<br>
the isolation prisoners at Pelican Bay are now in<br>
the psychiatric ward, and there's a waiting list.<br>
Prisoners in solitary confinement, according to<br>
Dr Henry Weinstein, a psychiatrist who studies<br>
them, suffer from "memory loss to severe anxiety<br>
to hallucinations to delusions ... under the<br>
severest cases of sensory deprivation, people go<br>
crazy." People who went in bad and dangerous come<br>
out mad as well. The only two studies conducted<br>
so far - in Texas and Washington state - both<br>
show that the recidivism rates for prisoners held<br>
in solitary confinement are worse than for those<br>
who were allowed to mix with other prisoners. If<br>
we were to judge the US by its penal policies, we<br>
would perceive a strange beast: a Christian<br>
society that believes in neither forgiveness nor<br>
redemption.<br><br>
From this delightful experiment, US interrogators<br>
appear to have extracted a useful lesson: if you<br>
want to erase a man's mind, deprive him of<br>
contact with the rest of the world. This has<br>
nothing to do with obtaining information: torture<br>
of all kinds - physical or mental - produces the<br>
result that people will say anything to make it<br>
end. It is about power, and the thrilling<br>
discovery that in the right conditions one man's<br>
power over another is unlimited. It is an<br>
indulgence which turns its perpetrators into<br>
everything they claim to be confronting.<br><br>
President Bush maintains that he is fighting a<br>
war against threats to the "values of civilised<br>
nations": terror, cruelty, barbarism and<br>
extremism. He asked his nation's interrogators to<br>
discover where these evils are hidden. They<br>
should congratulate themselves. They appear to<br>
have succeeded.<br><br>
<a href="http://www.monbiot.com/" eudora="autourl">www.monbiot.com<br><br>
</a>
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CEDP_National_Office;_ylc=X3oDMTJkMDRiN2Y0BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzI1NTI3ODQEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDYzOTg1BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA2hwZgRzdGltZQMxMTY1OTM4MzE2">
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