31 May 2009

Waterboarding

The rack, strapato, iron maiden, hot coals, pincers under the fingernails, cat-o-nine tails, bullwhip, are all examples of torture.

They are examples of torture because they leave lasting injuries and scarring on the body. Mental scarring is a nice simile but if you can overcome it with therapy, it isn't a permanent scar.

Waterboarding does not leave scars.

The UN definition of "torture" is so broad that not refunding someone their money after they walk out of the latest Rosie O'Donnell movie is torture.

...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, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in, or incidental to, lawful sanctions.
—UN Convention Against Torture

So now that the broadest definition of torture has been given, let us look at the correct definition.

1 a: anguish of body or mind : agony b: something that causes agony or pain
2: the infliction of intense pain (as from burning, crushing, or wounding) to punish, coerce, or afford sadistic pleasure

Waterboarding is uncomfortable, but it is not torture. Real torture is much more severe.
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Try getting waterboarded some time. It is far far more than uncomfortable. It definitely qualifies under severe anguish.

March 26, 2011 at 6:48 PM
Brian Patrick O'Malley said...

Thanks for your service as a soldier.
Colin Bouwer and Dan Stein studied psychiatric patients and found a high incidence of “traumatic suffocation” experiences among those with panic disorders. Bouwer and Stein wrote, “In the group with panic disorder, 19.3% (N=34) of the 176 patients gave a history of a traumatic suffocation experience. In contrast, 6.7% (N=4) of the 60 psychiatric comparison subjects gave such a history. This difference was statistically significant….”
http://bit.ly/PMzI1D
Of the 34 with a traumatic suffocation experience, 8 had suffered suffocation by torture and 1 suffered choking by a rapist. Twenty-five suffered accidental near-drowning.
There are two caveats. 1) It could be possible, as Bouwer and Stein warn, that those with panic disorder just happen to have a clearer recollection of suffocation
2) Bouwer and Stein do not describe each of these torture methods, and the few anecdotes they detail are not identical to waterboarding.
Nevertheless, it seems quite possible that suffering a traumatic interruption of breathing can increase the likelihood of panic attacks years after the incident. In his article “Drop by Drop,” Judge and former member of the JAG Corps Evan Wallach wrote, “Even among experienced scuba divers, more than half report having panic attacks while scuba diving.”
Evan Wallach, “Drop by Drop: Forgetting the History of Water Torture in U. S. Courts,” Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, volume 45 (2007), page 475.

September 1, 2012 at 2:06 PM

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