- War Crimes: Methods of Torture
by G. Scott Mikalausks
With the continued captures of al Queda leaders, many have wondered aloud whether the United States will torture taciturn prisoners, and what form such torture might take. In fact, the U.S. has said repeatedly that it does not engage in torture; it is illegal, and any evidence gained by such methods is both unreliable and inadmissable in court. Nevertheless, a brief review of basic torture techniques and other methods of persuasion may prove worthwhile.
SYSTEMATIC BODILY INJURY - With this sort of torture, the interrogator damages the subject in a methodical way in hopes that the subject will speak rather than suffer further injury. Such injury could include bamboo splinters shoved up fingernails, cutting off fingers one at a time, or burning the eyes. There are many disadvantages to such techniques: there is obvious evidence of torture afterwards, or the subject may die prematurely. Also, these techniques are not effective against religious fanatics: they are too willing to suffer and die for their cause to be intimidated by bodily insult.
ASPHYXIATION - Certain branches of the U.S. military actually use this on their own people in some of their survival schools. The subject is placed on his back, a towel is laid over his head, and his nose is held shut. Water is slowly poured over the towel, creating a sensation of drowning This technique causes no damage and leaves no trace. Nevertheless, most people break after six to twelve hours of such treatment.
ELECTROCUTION - One wet sponge at the end of an electrical lead is clamped to the finger, another such sponge is fixed to the genitalia, and then a 200 volt potential is applied. By all reports, this is excruciatingly painful.
TRUTH SERUM - Though not actually a method of torture, there are chemicals such as sodium pentothal that can induce someone to speak freely. Unfortunately, such drugs are weaker than a strong will, and so there is no guarantee of positive results.
PSYCHOLOGICAL PRESSURE - Also not quite a torture method, there are certain things that can legally be done to a difficult subject to make him much more cooperative. His is not harmed in any way, merely made extremely uncomfortable. First and foremost is sleep deprivation - five to seven days of no sleep is enough to weaken anybodyıs defenses. To this can be added the removal of all time cues (the removal of all clocks and daylight, and irregularities in things like feeding schedules disrupt the bodyıs dinural rhythm), and certain tricks with light. For example, a subject may be in a room with bright lighting of such intensity that the eyes almost cannot be kept open. Then with the flip of a switch the room is plunged into absolute darkness. Such extreme, abrupt shifts affects not just the iris of the eye, but neurochemical balances deep within the brain as well.
