Psychological Torture and the Bush Administration

(New York, August 22, 2007) -- The crystal blue waters and bright, hot day begged for a jump in the surf. But my friend, a refugee from Ethiopia, just wouldn't go near the ocean. "I haven't gone swimming for years," he said, shaking his head sadly, "Ever since the regime tortured me when I was a student. They stuck my head in dirty water until I thought I would drown."

People tend to think of torture as physical. Torture conjures up images of the thumbscrews in the Tower of London and the rack during the Spanish Inquisition. Action movies to historical dramas focus on the infliction of severe physical pain that leave a body scarred, maimed or disfigured.

But torture is as likely to be mental as well as physical. The iconic photo of the Abu Ghraib torture scandal -- the hooded man on a box with outstretched arms -- was being subjected to psychological torture. The wires attached to his arms went nowhere -- he merely believed he would be subjected to electric shock.

The Convention Against Torture has long established torture as being either "physical or mental." The US anti-torture statute also adopts this definition. Even before the Geneva Conventions, the US military opposed psychological torture such as "waterboarding" -- pouring water into a detainee's nose and mouth until he believes, like my Ethiopian friend, he will drown. After World War II, the US military successfully prosecuted several Japanese soldiers who had subjected American prisoners to sleep deprivation and "waterboarding." And an American officer was court-martialed in 1968 for helping to "waterboard" a prisoner in Vietnam.

Distinguishing physical torture from mental torture is not always clear, which is one reason international law does not try to differentiate the two. However, in common understanding, three elements of psychological torture often get overlooked.

First, many coercive interrogation methods that are "only" psychological often cause lasting physical harm. According to the Physicians for Human Rights, psychological torture can have extremely destructive short and long-term physical health consequences, including memory impairment, headache and back pain, and severe depression with vegetative symptoms. For instance, sleep deprivation can result in hypertension and other cardiovascular disease, in addition to serious psychological problems.

Second, some methods of psychological torture have not traditionally been recognized as such. Placing a prisoner in indefinite solitary confinement, with little or no human contact for weeks or months or years, is likely to be far more destructive to an individual than a relatively brief infliction of physical pain, however cruel. Yet indefinite isolation is rarely labeled torture.

Third, the harm caused by mental torture, though unseen, can have a far more lasting impact on the individual than physical torture. The Minnesota-based Center for Victims of Torture says that people who have endured mock executions frequently relive their near-death experiences, inducing chronic fear and helplessness, and may feel as if they are already dead.

The US armed forces understood this in its new field manual on intelligence gathering. It specifically prohibits "waterboarding," mock executions and other primarily psychological methods of coercive interrogation.

Unfortunately, the Bush administration would still like to have us believe that mental torture isn't really torture. Last month July, the administration issued an executive order on the CIA's detention and interrogation program. Although there are some nice words about banning torture and other ill-treatment, the clarity and specificity of the army manual is missing, no doubt intentionally so.

The executive order tacitly endorses the CIA secret detention program, which allows indefinite incommunicado detention, itself a form of psychological abuse. There is no explicit prohibition of "waterboarding," a practice that the vice president and CIA director on down have refused to declare illegal. Administration officials have suggested that sleep deprivation remains permitted.

The Bush administration's recurring failure to openly and categorically ban torture deemed merely psychological places all Americans at risk. So long as these methods remain among the tools of CIA interrogators, the US will have no moral authority to complain about such techniques being used against Americans held abroad.

President Bush should rewrite the executive order to end CIA secret detentions and unlawful psychological as well as physical abuse. It is high time the administration stopped playing mind games with torture.

Comments

[Billie]

It is ironic that we have lost our moral authority, because of the warped view of a man who claims to commune with God.

Politigal,
Don't you think that many Americans are complicit? One man could not have done so much damage if so many had not looked away while others were being ruined. I am deeply concerned about my country, so fearful, so politically correct, so willing to follow a leader who is clearly not ethical or courageous. We are not a nation of children, but we are acting like it.

I believe our leaders are a mirror of ourselves. We've lost our moral authority not because of Bush, but because as a nation we've lost our courage and have devalued truth because it's troublesome. Too much marketing has rendered everything meaningless and spin-able. We need to bring back meaning and respect. Otherwise, all the books in my library are like ghost voices from a bygone era where humanity had value.

[SeriousBlack]

President Bush should do a lot of things. None of which he WILL do.

[JonathanDS2U]

When psychological torture is used in an apparent attempt to achieve political ends, I feel reluctant to assume that it isn't really some belligerant creep releasing his venom, getting off on the comparative difficulty of tracing non-physical violence.

[anastasiabeaverhousen]

The American people have underone mental torture over the past 6 years.

We have been bullied at every turn - "anyone who isn't for us is against us".

Black or white. NO gray in the shrub's world at all.

Wouldn't it be nice if life were black or white? IT ISN'T. Never has been, never will be.

We faced nuclear annihilation every day during the Cold War. Terrorism is a law enforcement issue, not a war.

I long for the days when the only thing the shrub tortured was the English language.

[eVilempire]

First off, thank you. I enjoyed this blog.

I'd like to add that there are studies out that conclusively indicate that psychological harm or trauma resulting in PTSD can literally shrink the hippocampus, a fairly important area of the brain, resulting in some of the symptoms you described earlier.

As for the White House's support of torture... I've always found it interesting that the one guy in Washingtong who actually WAS tortured, Sen. McCain, did not appear to be given as much credence on the issue as he should've been when he attested that torture would not only yield unreliable results but would undermine America as a whole.

...Pretty bad when our "leaders" think they know more about something than a guy who has been permanently disabled as a result of it.

[politigal]

It is ironic that we have lost our moral authority, because of the warped view of a man who claims to commune with God. Makes one wonder who is really "talking" back to Bush.
The saddest part of this is that this Administration's torture policy is not the only area where our "moral authority" has been lost.
The next Administration has a long way to go to turn world opinion around - & changing our stand on torture & allowing our Prisoners the due course of law would get us part way there.
We are going to discover that we will have nothing to thank this Administration for.

[commonsenselives]

"President Bush should rewrite the executive order to end CIA secret detentions and unlawful psychological as well as physical abuse. It is high time the administration stopped playing mind games with torture."

But, I don't think I'll hold my breath....

[dijo]

Bush was into torture as a frat boy in college. He and his fraternity brothers were into branding the pledges like cattle. He is a disgusting excuse for humanity and the worst U.S. president in history. It will take decades for the damage he and his cronies have done to our world image to be undone, if we can recover at all.

[SamThornton]

Once President Bush and his people are out of office, we need something like the highly successful South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission in order to bring the facts about torture into the open and to ensure that this inhuman activity is no longer an option for future government officials.

Those responsible should be brought to account, whether it's under US or international law. If this means that Bush and his former top officials need to be arrested and escorted to the Hague, so be it.

[eVilempire]

I agree. 100%

[topseeded]

I agree with you 100 percent. It is imperative that we punish all those responsible for the torturing of human beings and to pass explicit laws again cruel and inhuman treatment of any kind. No American leaders should have any doubt that any kind of torture will result in severe punishment.