Waterboarding

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Not to be confused with Wakeboarding.
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Painting of waterboarding from Cambodia's Tuol Sleng Prison
Painting of waterboarding from Cambodia's Tuol Sleng Prison

Waterboarding is a form of torture[1][2][3][4] which is used to obtain information, coerce confessions, and for punishment and intimidation. Waterboarding consists of immobilizing an individual and pouring water over his face to simulate drowning, which produces a severe gag reflex, making the subject believe his death is imminent while ideally not causing permanent physical damage. According to Republican Senator John McCain, who was tortured as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, waterboarding is "very exquisite torture" and a mock execution, which can damage the subject's psyche "in ways that may never heal." [5]

The practice garnered renewed attention and notoriety in September 2006 when reports charged that the Bush administration had authorized its use in the interrogations of U.S. War on Terrorism detainees.[6] Though the Bush administration has never formally acknowledged its use, Vice President Dick Cheney implied that he did not believe "a dunk in water" to be a form of torture but rather a "very important tool" for use in interrogations, including that of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.[7]

Contents

[edit] Technique

Main article: water cure
Further information: SERE

The waterboarding technique, characterized in 2005 by former CIA director Porter J. Goss as a "professional interrogation technique",[8] is described as follows by journalists Brian Ross and Richard Esposito: The prisoner is bound to an inclined board, feet raised and head slightly below the feet. Cellophane is wrapped over the prisoner's face and water is poured over him. Unavoidably, the gag reflex kicks in and a terrifying fear of drowning leads to almost instant pleas to bring the treatment to a halt. According to the sources, CIA officers who subjected themselves to the water boarding technique lasted an average of 14 seconds before caving in.[9] It should be noted that the act of waterboarding and dunking are not the same thing.

[edit] Effects

The physical effects of poorly executed waterboarding can include extreme pain and damage to the lungs, brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation and sometimes broken bones because of the restraints applied to the struggling victim. The psychological effects can be long lasting. Prolonged waterboarding can also result in death.

Dr. Allen Keller, the director of the Bellevue/N.Y.U. Program for Survivors of Torture, has treated "a number of people" who had been subjected to forms of near-asphyxiation, including waterboarding. An interview for The New Yorker states, "[He] argued that it was indeed torture. 'Some victims were still traumatized years later', he said. One patient couldn't take showers, and panicked when it rained. 'The fear of being killed is a terrifying experience,' he said."[10][11]

Proponents argue that the technique is effective in producing information. Opponents, however, argue that this information may not be reliable because a person under such duress may be willing to admit to anything.

[edit] Legality

A Japanese military officer, Yukio Asano, was tried in 1947 for carrying out a form of torture waterboarding on a U.S. civilian during World War II, and was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.[12] The charges against Asano included other abuses of prisoners.[2]

In its 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, the U.S. Department of State formally recognizes "submersion of the head in water" as torture in its examination of Tunisia's poor human rights record.[13]

On September 6, 2006, the United States Department of Defense released a revised Army Field Manual entitled Human Intelligence Collector Operations that prohibits the use of waterboarding by U.S. military personnel. The revised manual was adopted amid widespread criticism of U.S. handling of prisoners in the War on Terrorism, and prohibits other practices in addition to waterboarding. The revised manual applies to U.S. military personnel, and as such does not apply to the practices of the CIA.[14]

[edit] Alleged use by the United States Government

There have been many reports that the United States has used water-boarding to interrogate prisoners captured in its War on Terrorism. In November 2005, ABC News reported that former CIA agents claimed the CIA had engaged in a modern form of waterboarding, along with five other "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques", against suspected members of al Qaeda, including Khaled Sheikh Mohammed.[3] On October 27, 2006 during a radio interview with Scott Hennen of radio station WDAY, Vice President Dick Cheney allegedly agreed with the use of water-boarding, specifically mentioning Khaled Sheikh Mohammed.[15] The following are the questions and answers at issue according to the White House transcript of the interview:[4]

Hennen: "...And I've had people call and say, please, let the Vice President know that if it takes dunking a terrorist in water, we're all for it, if it saves American lives. Again, this debate seems a little silly given the threat we face, would you agree?"
Cheney: "I do agree. And I think the terrorist threat, for example, with respect to our ability to interrogate high value detainees like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, that's been a very important tool that we've had to be able to secure the nation. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed provided us with enormously valuable information about how many there are, about how they plan, what their training processes are and so forth, we've learned a lot. We need to be able to continue that."
...
Hennen: "Would you agree a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives?"
Cheney: "Well, it's a no-brainer for me, but for a while there I was criticized as being the vice president for torture. We don't torture. That's not what we're involved in."

The White House later denied that Cheney had confirmed the use of waterboarding, saying that U.S. officials do not talk publicly about interrogation techniques because they are classified.[5] White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said that Cheney had not been referring to waterboarding, but only to a "dunk in the water", prompting one reporter to ask, "So dunk in the water means, what, we have a pool now at Guantanamo and they go swimming?"[6]

[edit] Waterboarding in popular culture

  • The historical form of waterboarding was represented as having been used by the Waffen SS of the Third Reich in the Robin Williams movie Jakob the Liar.
  • The modern form of waterboarding is dramatised in some detail in the Patrick Robinson novel USS Seawolf (book).
  • In the film Le Petit Soldat there is an extended torture scene that includes water torture.
  • A waterboarding incident was depicted in an episode of the television series The 4400 entitled "The New World" (11 June 2006).[7]
  • Mel Gibson's character in the film Conspiracy Theory is subjected to waterboarding during interrogation by a CIA spook played by Patrick Stewart.
  • Waterboarding is depicted during an interrogation scene in the 1978 film Power Play.
  • Waterboarding was depicted in the movie G.I. Jane during a montage showing Demi Moore's character training to be a Navy SEAL. Later in the film, her character is dunked after she is captured in a training reconnaissance mission.
  • A demonstration of what waterboarding is can also be seen in a current TV pod created by Kaj Larsen.
  • In the film Quills, the story of the Marquis de Sade's life within an insane asylum, there are scenes depicting the use of waterboarding to discipline problem inmates.
  • In the film A Clockwork Orange Georgie and Dim, two constables, dunk the delinquent Alex's head in a trough for an extended period whilst beating him with their batons.
  • During the intro sequence to the 2002 film Die Another Day, MI6 Agent James Bond, played by Pierce Brosnan, is subjected to waterboarding after being captured by the North Korean military.
  • In Laura Kinsale's 1990 novel, hero Sheridan Drake is waterboarded by pirates.
  • On the political satire television series The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert parodies a Fox News report on waterboarding during a segment called "Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger" by blindfolding himself and asking an executioner to do his worst to torture him for information. The executioner, standing several feet away, then opens a bottle of carbonated water and at the sound of just the fizzing, Colbert responds hysterically and gives in.
  • On the CBS drama series "The Unit", Jonas Blane is subjected to waterboarding by his captors in the episode "The Bait".
  • On the popular video site, YouTube, there can be found a Comedy video of a man pretending to be locked in Federal prison. Waterboarding is one of its themes, though used comically.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Chapter 18 United States Code, section 2340
  2. ^ UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 1984 Signatories 74, Parties 136, As of 23 April 2004
  3. ^ Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Article 7, "Crimes against humanity" Definition of torture 7-2:e
  4. ^ In April 2006, in a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez., more than 100 U.S. law professors stated unequivocally that waterboarding is torture, and is a criminal felony punishable under the U.S. federal criminal code
  5. ^ Torture's Terrible Toll, Newsweek, November 21, 2005.
  6. ^ "Variety of Interrogation Techniques Said to Be Authorized by CIA" by Brian Ross and Richard Esposito, September 06, 2006
  7. ^ Official White House Transcript, Interview of the Vice President by Scott Hennen, WDAY at Radio Day at the White House, October 24, 2006.
  8. ^ Human Rights Watch, CIA Whitewashing Torture: Statements by Goss Contradict U.S. Law and Practice, Nov. 21, 2005.
  9. ^ Ross, Brian, Richard Esposito (May 19 2006). "CIA's Harsh Interrogation Techniques Described". abcnews.go.com.
  10. ^ Mayer, Jane (February 7 2005). "Outsourcing Torture". The New Yorker.
  11. ^ What is waterboarding? (part II). Brendan Nyhan web blog. Retrieved on 2006-06-28.
  12. ^ [1] Pincus, Walter, "Waterboarding Historically Controversial; In 1947, the U.S. Called It a War Crime; in 1968, It Reportedly Caused an Investigation" Washington Post, 10/5/2006, pg. A17. viewed 10/5/2006
  13. ^ U.S. Department of State (2005). "Tunisia". Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.
  14. ^ Jelinek, Pauline (September 6 2006). "Army Bans Some Interrogation Techniques". Associated Press.
  15. ^ "Cheney endorses simulated drowning" by Demetri Sevastopulo, October 27, 2006

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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