Waterboarding
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Waterboarding is a type of torture used in coercive interrogations or for punishment. In modern practice it simulates drowning and produces a severe gag reflex, making the subject believe his or her death is imminent while ideally not causing permanent physical damage.
The practice has garnered attention and controversy in the early 21st century when reports charged that the Bush administration had authorized its use in the interrogations of U.S. War on Terrorism detainees.[1]
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Technique
The subject is strapped to a board and either tipped back or lowered into a body of water until he or she believed that drowning was imminent. The subject then is removed from the water and revived. If deemed necessary, the routine is repeated.
The technique characterized in 2005 by former CIA director Porter J. Goss as a "professional interrogation technique"[2], involves tying the victim to a board with the head lower than the feet so that he or she is unable to move. A piece of cloth is held tightly over the face, and water is poured onto the cloth. Breathing is extremely difficult and the victim will be in fear of imminent death by asphyxiation. Journalists Brian Ross and Richard Esposito described the CIA's waterboarding technique as follows:
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.[3]
Video
A video of a volunteer being waterboarded is located here: http://www.current.tv/video/?id=13462474
Effects
The physical effects of poorly executed waterboarding can be 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 longlasting.
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:
[Dr. Keller] 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.[4][5]
Legality
A Japanese 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. [6] The charges against Asano included other abuses of prisoners. [1]
Docket Date: 53/ May 1 - 28, 1947, Yokohama, Japan
Charge: Violation of the Laws and Customs of War: 1. Did willfully and unlawfully mistreat and torture PWs. 2. Did unlawfully take and convert to his own use Red Cross packages and supplies intended for PWs.
Specifications:beating using hands, fists, club; kicking; water torture; burning using cigarettes; strapping on a stretcher head downward
Verdict: 15 years CHL
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.[7]
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.[8]
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. [2] On October 27, 2006, Vice President Dick Cheney apparently confirmed that water-boarding had been used on U.S. detainees, specifically mentioning Khaled Sheikh Mohammed. [9] According to the White House transcript of an interview with Scott Hennen of radio station WDAY:[3]
- 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 Mr. Cheney had confirmed the use of waterboarding, saying that U.S. officials do not talk publicly about interrogation techniques because they are classified. [4]
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).[5]
- 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.
- Dunking is depicted in the Disneyland ride Pirates of the Caribbean where audio-animatronic pirates are shown dunking a magistrate in a well in order to make him reveal the location of treasure.
- Waterboarding was depicted in the movie G.I. Jane after Demi Moore's character was 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 the film Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, the character Barry The Baptist is so named because of his frequent use of the technique in extracting payments from debtors to his employer.
Dunking
A similar technique was applied to punish scolds and detect supposed witches. In a trial by ordeal called "dunking" or "ducking," supposed witches were immersed into a vat of water or pond, and taken out after some time, at which point the victim was given the opportunity to confess. If she confessed, she was killed; if she did not confess, she was submerged again. This process was usually repeated until the victim either drowned or submitted herself to execution in another way (hanging or, rarely, burning).[citation needed]
Notes
- ^ "Variety of Interrogation Techniques Said to Be Authorized by CIA" by Brian Ross and Richard Esposito, September 06, 2006
- ^ Human Rights Watch, CIA Whitewashing Torture: Statements by Goss Contradict U.S. Law and Practice, Nov. 21, 2005.
- ^ Ross, Brian, Richard Esposito (May 19 2006). "CIA's Harsh Interrogation Techniques Described". abcnews.go.com.
- ^ Mayer, Jane (February 7 2005). "Outsourcing Torture". The New Yorker.
- ^ What is waterboarding? (part II). Brendan Nyhan web blog. Retrieved on 2006-06-28.
- ^
- ^ Jelinek, Pauline (September 6 2006). "Army Bans Some Interrogation Techniques". Associated Press.
- ^ U.S. Department of State (2005). "Tunisia". Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.
- ^ "Cheney endorses simulated drowning" by Demetri Sevastopulo, October 27, 2006
