Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Tortured Logic: Thumbscrewing International Law
Scoop Link: Torturers used to
practice their craft behind a wall of secrecy. Now some U.S.
officials are defending torture as a necessary tool in the
“war on terror.”
By Eyal Press
Eyal Press
is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York
Times Magazine, The Nation, Atlantic Monthly, and other
publications.
When U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld charged in March that Iraq had violated the Geneva Conventions by parading captured U.S. soldiers on television, the U.S. media were awash with stories about the fine-points of international law.
Article 13 of the Geneva Conventions does in fact state that prisoners “must at all times be protected…against insults and public curiosity.” But there is something else that the Geneva Conventions prohibit: torture. And on this score, Rumsfeld and others in the Bush administration have been notably less attentive to the letter of the law.
Recent revelations in the media suggest that torture is becoming acceptable in some quarters of the U.S. government, with terrorism replacing communism as the official rationale. And as during the cold war when U.S. trainers taught torture techniques, Washington’s tolerance of such practices could have a ripple effect around the world.
For more see
People with Disability Australia - PWDA: CMHA And PWDA Demand Justice And Urgent Reform Following Death Of Simon Cartwright At Silverwater Jail
UNICEF Aotearoa NZ: Vanuatu Quake - UNICEF Aotearoa Launches Urgent Fundraising Appeal For 40,000 Children In Need
New Zealand Defence Force: Surveillance, Aid, Responders And Evacuees Covered By RNZAF Vanuatu Flights
Leonard C. Goodman, IMI: The Democratic Party Faces Its Day Of Reckoning
APEC: Korea Sets Ambitious Priorities For APEC 2025 - Building A Sustainable Tomorrow
New Zealand Defence Force: NZDF Support To Vanuatu