class: center, middle, inverse, title-slide # Dirty Wars ## Torture ### Jack McDonald --- class: inverse # Outline .pull-left[ > Dirty wars are conflicts where one or more parties denies the political, legal, and/or moral status/standing of their opponents. Key common practices of dirty wars (e.g. the use of torture) demonstrate the importance of examining the normative dimension of war and repression at the organisational level. ] .pull-right[ - Detention and Punishment - Torture - The Ticking Time Bomb - Modern Torture Debates - Conclusions and Connections ] ## Main Points Torture practices and debates demonstrate many of the aspects of dirty wars that we have discussed this term Explaining how, and why, organisations resort to torture is relevant to almost every discussion we have had so far Examining attitudes towards torture, and "torture-lite" is a way of understanding cultural attitudes towards war and political violence ??? --- class: inverse # Part 1: Detention and Punishment ??? --- # Punishment > the authorized imposition of deprivations—of freedom or privacy or other goods to which the person otherwise has a right, or the imposition of special burdens—because the person has been found guilty of some criminal violation, typically (though not invariably) involving harm to the innocent. Hugo Adam Bedau and Erin Kelly, _Punishment_ - Aims: Rehabilitation, social defence, retribution - Definition as separate from justification - Justification of practice vs justification of acts - Role of norms in justification of punishment - Forward looking (consequentialist) vs backward looking (deontological) justifications ??? constituted by imposing some burden or by some form of deprivation or by withholding some benefit. punishment is a human institution, not a natural event outside human purposes, intentions, and acts. punishment is imposed on persons who are believed to have acted wrongly (the basis and adequacy of such belief in any given case may be open to dispute) no single explicit purpose or aim is built by definition into the practice of punishment not all socially authorized deprivations count as punishments; the only deprivations inflicted on a person that count are those imposed in consequence of a finding of criminal guilt --- # Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment > Of these some are capital, which extend to the life of the offender, and consist generally in being hanged by the neck till dead; though in very atrocious crimes other circumstances of terror, pain or disgrace are super-added: as, in treasons of all kinds, being drawn or dragged to the place of execution; in high treason affecting the king's person or government, embowelling alive, beheading and quartering; and in murder, a public dissection. And, in case of any treason committed by a female, the judgment to be burned alive. But the humanity of the English nation authorized, by a tacit consent, an almost general mitigation such part of these judgments as savor of torture or cruelty: sledge or hurdle being usually allowed to such traitors as are condemned to be drawn; and there being very few instances (and accidental or by negligence) of any person's being embowelled burned, till previously deprived of sensation by strangling. Blackstone, _Commentaries on the Laws of England_ ??? --- # Detention in War and Peace .left-40[ ![Pic of Dachau/Gulag](img/7/dachau.jpeg) ![Pic of Mau Mau Camps](img/7/maumau.jpg) ![Pic of Gulag archipelago](img/7/gulag.png) ] .right-40[ Difference between preventative detention, and detention as punishment Issue of overlap between military and civilian spheres of law and detention Arbitrary detention, and detention outside judicial processes Key issue of secret detention ] ??? secret detention? --- # National Security Exceptions Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, part 4 allowed for indefinite detention of non-British citizens suspected of terrorism _A and Others v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2004]_ - Law lords rule ATCSA (4) incompatible with ECHR Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 introduces control orders - detainees released from Belmarsh and immediately subject to control orders Control orders replaced by Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act 2011 > So far from introducing ETPIMs, or relying extensively on newly strengthened TPIMs, the risk posed by ISIS or Al-Qaeda-sympathisers in the UK, including 'foreign terrorist fighters', has largely been addressed by placing reliance on the array of 'early intervention' or precursor terrorism offences which was added to very significantly in 2006.106 Their use appears to have aided in averting almost all terrorist attacks in the UK in the last decade. H.M. Fenwick, _Terrorism and the control orders/TPIMs saga_ ??? In practical terms, a control order prevents a suspect from having a normal life. They are given a boundary around their home that they cannot cross. They are not allowed to use phones, other than the one in their home. They lose their passport and can be banned from using public transport. They are electronically tagged and need ministerial permission for all sorts of apparently mundane everyday events. Critics say this system is akin to house arrest with no end - and that it punishes the family as well as restricting the suspect. /// Those subject to a TPim can be ordered to stay overnight at a specified address and report to a police station every day. Other measures include a ban on contacting particular individuals, going to certain areas and places and travelling abroad. --- class: inverse # Reflection Question .question[ Can you define a particular element of torture that you find more disturbing than others? ] ??? --- class: inverse # Part 2: Torture ??? --- # Defining Torture .medium[ > No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 5 > No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever. Geneva Convention III, Article 17 > No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 7 > the term "torture" means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person... 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. Convention Against Torture, Article 1 > Prohibition of torture: No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. European Convention on Human Rights, Article 3 ] ??? Full definitions: Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 5) “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Geneva Convention III (Article 17) “No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever. Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind.” Geneva Conventions (Common Article 3) “[T]he following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever ... : violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture [and] outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment .” International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 7) “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In particular, no one shall be subjected without his free consent to medical or scientific experimentation.” Convention Against Torture (Article 1) “For the purposes of this Convention, the term "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, 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.” ECHR (Article 3) “Prohibition of torture No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” --- # Torture and the Body ![Nsala](img/10/nsala.jpg) > He hadn't made his rubber quota for the day so the Belgian-appointed overseers had cut off his daughter’s hand and foot. Alice Seeley Harris, _Don't Call Me Lady_ ??? --- # Why Torture? .pic60[ ![Three reasons to do it](img/10/threereasons.png) ] > Torture, pop culture says, is effective, fun, and even funny. Noah Berlatsky, _Torture Is Good_ > The monstrous thing about torture is that sometimes it does work. Charles Krauthammer ??? --- # Norms Against Torture .pic80[ ![Reported torture allegations](img/10/norms.jpg) ] > All our so-called civilisation is covered with a varnish. Scratch it, and underneath you find fear. The French... are not torturers by nature. But when you see the throats of your _copains_ slit, then the varnish disappears. Paul Teitgen ??? --- class: inverse # Reflection Question .large[ How can you know if torture "works" or not? How would the fact that torture does or does not work alter your opinion regarding the use of torture? ] ??? --- class: inverse # Part 3: The Ticking Time Bomb ??? --- # The Trolley and the Time Bomb .pull-left[ Flip a switch -> push a person off a bridge -> torture someone Two forms of certainty at work - Ontological ("This person is a terrorist") - Epistemic ("The bomb will kill 100 people", "I will know where the bomb is if I torture this person") Necessary abstractions & important omissions - Deletion of history/context - Where knowledge comes from ] .pull-right[ ![Trolley Problems](img/10/ttb1.jpg) ![Time bomb](img/10/ttb2.jpg) ] ??? --- # Liberal Torture ![24 Season 2 Episode 1](img/10/24.png) > The ticking time-bomb scenario... makes us see the torturer in a different light... The torturer is instead a conscientious public servant, heroic... willing to do desperate things only because the plight is so desperate and so many innocent lives are weighing on the public servant’s conscience. David Luban ??? --- # Organisations and Torture .left-column[ ![The Parker Report](img/10/parker.png) ![The Baha Mousa Public Inquiry](img/10/bahamousa.jpg) ] .right-column[ > it cannot be assumed that any U.K. Minister has ever had the full nature of these particular techniques brought to his attention, and, consequently, that he has ever specifically authorised their use. Lord Parker, _The Majority Report_ > no Army Directive and no Minister could lawfully or validly have authorised the use of the procedures. Only Parliament can alter the law. The procedures were and are illegal. Lord Gardiner, _The Minority Report_ > A pattern that emerged in the evidence, although not universal, was that the legal staff tended to be aware that hooding was prohibited but not aware that it was occurring. Whereas intelligence staff tended to have some awareness that hoods were being used but were not aware that it had been specifically prohibited. > Sir William Gage, _The Report of the Baha Mousa Inquiry_ ] ??? Parker report pp.3, 14 Baha mousa 1356 --- class: inverse # Reflection Question .pull-left[ One proposal for the regulation of torture-for-information is that it should be overseen by judges and courts. ] .pull-right[ .large[ Is a system of "torture warrants" worse than one-off breaches of the prohibition against torture in emergency situations? ] ] ??? --- class: inverse # Part 4: Modern Torture Debates ??? --- # Is Waterboarding Torture? > although the subject may experience the fear or panic associated with the feeling of drowning, the waterboard does not inflict physical pain. J.S. Bybee, _Memo to John Rizzo_ > Although the waterboard constitutes a threat of imminent death, prolonged mental harm must nonetheless result to violate the statutory prohibition on infliction of severe mental pain or suffering. J.S. Bybee, _Memo to John Rizzo_ > Yes. (Almost) Everyone else ??? --- # Information Derived from Torture ![CIa Secret prisons](img/10/cia.png) > From the primary material we have found 232 cases recorded where it appears that UK personnel continued to supply questions or intelligence to liaison services after they knew or suspected (or, in our view, should have suspected) that a detainee had been or was being mistreated. Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament, _Detainee Mistreatment and Rendition: 2001–2010_ ??? --- # The Dark Mirror .left-40[ ![Cofer Black](img/10/cofer.jpg) ![Obama's National Archives Speech](img/10/obamaspeech.jpg) ![Zero Dark Thirty](img/10/zd30.jpg) ] .right-40[ > the decisions that were made over the last eight years established an ad hoc legal approach for fighting terrorism that was neither effective nor sustainable-a framework that failed to rely on our legal traditions and time-tested institutions; that failed to use our values as a compass... > I know some have argued that brutal methods like water-boarding were necessary to keep us safe. I could not disagree more. Barack Obama, _Remarks by the President On National Security_ ] ??? --- class: inverse # Reflection Question .question[ Should intelligence agencies always ignore information obtained by torture? ] ??? --- class: inverse # Part 5: Conclusions and Connections ??? --- # Key Issues .large[ Torture and inhumane treatment follow from detention, highlighting their conceptual tie to control and power Torture is usually debated and justified in terms of information collection in liberal societies Torture demonstrates the importance of normative ideas and practice to organisations and institutions Torture highlights indirect forms of complicity and organisational relationships ] ??? 1. asd 2. asd 3. asd 4. asd 5. asd --- # Key Questions .large[ Why is it easier to draw practical boundaries between interrogation and torture than conceptual boundaries? Is thinking the unthinkable via thought experiments a neutral activity? How can states and organisations atone for the use of torture? ] ??? 1. asd 2. asd 3. asd 4. asd 5. asd