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Say No to Torture
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Saying No to Torture:
Bahama Journal Editorial -
Nassau, Bahamas:



The United States of America is a land where paradox and contradiction routinely cavort. In this regard, we today note that while this country has a deserved reputation for being a cradle of democracy, it also has a history that is replete with savagery and barbarism.

For current purposes, we today cite another contradiction.

This time around, the puzzle concerns America’s vaunted and deserved reputation as a land where the human person is revered and where liberal freedoms are constitutionally guaranteed and that other America that routinely turns a blind eye to punishment that amounts to torture.

There has been a furious debate concerning a technique known only as water boarding. Some say that this is but one form that torture takes in today’s United States of America.

As we understand, "Water boarding as it is currently described involves strapping a person to an inclined board, with his feet raised and his head lowered. The interrogators bind the person's arms and legs so he can't move at all, and they cover his face…"

"In some descriptions, the person is gagged, and some sort of cloth covers his nose and mouth; in others, his face is wrapped in cellophane. The interrogator then repeatedly pours water onto the person's face…

"Depending on the exact setup, the water may or may not actually get into the person's mouth and nose; but the physical experience of being underneath a wave of water seems to be secondary to the psychological experience. The person's mind believes he is drowning, and his gag reflex kicks in as if he were choking on all that water falling on his face."

While we are no expert on the subject, this sure sounds both primitive and barbaric to us.

Interestingly enough, we are not alone in this matter. Torture is today universally condemned.

At the level of the United Nations, we learn about a particular convention that, "Bans torture under all circumstances and establishes the UN Committee against Torture."

As we also learn, that Convention defines torture, requires states to take effective legal and other measures to prevent torture, declares that no state of emergency, other external threats, nor orders from a superior officer or authority may be invoked to justify torture. It forbids countries to return a refugee to his country if there is reason to believe he/she will be tortured, and requires host countries to consider the human rights record of the person's native country in making this decision."

The Convention against Torture requires states to make torture illegal and provide appropriate punishment for those who commit torture. It requires states to assert jurisdiction when torture is committed within their jurisdiction, either investigate and prosecute themselves, or upon proper request extradite suspects to face trial before another competent court. It also requires states to cooperate with any civil proceedings against accused torturers."

These prohibitions also apply to the United States of America.

Here we furthermore reiterate our faith-based conviction that, "Human life is sacred." And as we do believe, "The dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. Direct attacks on innocent persons are never morally acceptable, at any stage or in any condition…"

Yet again, based on our faith and reasoned understanding of what it means to be truly human, we are called to assert and affirm relevant "teaching about the dignity of life", a message that "calls us to oppose torture, unjust war, and the use of the death penalty; to prevent genocide and attacks against noncombatants; to oppose racism; and to overcome poverty and suffering."

Quite evidently, we are of the view that, "Nations are called to protect the right to life by seeking effective ways to combat evil and terror without resorting to armed conflicts except as a last resort, always seeking first to resolve disputes by peaceful means. We revere the lives of children in the womb, the lives of persons dying in war and from starvation, and indeed the lives of all human beings as children of God."

As we say no to torture, new information coming in from Amnesty International indicates that, "On Saturday, with a single stroke of his veto pen, President Bush blocked a tough law forbidding the CIA from using water boarding and other despicable interrogation "techniques." Some of these are the same techniques that were used at the now infamous detention centers at Guantanamo Bay.

We are told that, "With his veto, Bush not only justified the use of torture by the CIA but reserved the right to continue to prosecute people based on evidence obtained through torture at military commissions trials in Guantanamo."

We do agree with Amnesty International when they conclude that "Guantanamo Bay is the most visible representation of all that is wrong with these policies."

Amnesty International is convinced that "Bush does not represent the vast majority of American citizens."

We suspect that Amnesty International is correct in its judgment.

March 15, 2008

March 15, 2008 | 6:23 PM Comments  0 comments

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