Re: [A-List] Re: R2I Problems Arise in the Hands of the Untrained Torturer

["Chris Burford" <cburford@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Yes, very revealing article in the Guardian on Saturday

On May 3rd, commenting on the debate about the Mirror photographs, I
wrote on PEN-L :-

>>
This morning the Mirror stands by the overall story but shades its
world exclusive by saying that the soldiers who provided the pictures
say they are authentic and emphasising a beating.

My guess is that this leaves the Mirror, which was a passionate
opponent of the war, convinced that there is a real story here, but
keeping open the possibility that the picture was a re-enactment by
disgusted members of the regiment of something that actually happened.

Even though the imperialist philosophy of the British contingent to
the Coalition, is that they are much better at peacekeeping than the
Yanks, two bits of evidence make me believe the stories.

1. A couple of years ago I met a man in his thirties on a language
course whose job involved preparing British armed forces to withstand
torture. So they had to bark humiliating orders at them and keep them
awake a long time and cold etc. One of the techniques was to to mock
them sexually. I remember thinking at the time that presumably this
was regarded as psychologically very stressful and intrusive but would
not cause actual injury.

2. A few weeks ago a group of half a dozen British detainees were
released from Guantanamo and told their stories. A very credible
mature islamic prisoner described how   female prostitutes were used
to masturbate younger male prisoners,
who appeared to be very disturbed by this abuse of their religious
principles and sense of personal identity. The older prisoners would
joke about this, but to the younger prisoners it was actually rape.

These bits of evidence suggest that within the British army and the US
army, rape and sexual humiliation in its various forms is considered
not really torture but a softening up process particularly suitable
for muslims, who are considered to be rather backward sexually. It
leaves out of the picture what the military intelligence actually do
to prisoners, once they have encouraged the squaddies to have a little
bit of fun with them. It seems entirely credible that within certain
sections of the British army photographs of a similar nature have been
circulated. This probably provides a cover for more serious torture.

Either way it is a disastrous imperialist strategy in the 21st
century.
<<



Chris Burford
London


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David McDonald" <dbmcdonald@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "The A-List" <a-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; "Activists and scholars
in Marxist tradition" <marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, May 08, 2004 3:57 PM
Subject: [A-List] Re: R2I,Problems Arise in the Hands of the Untrained
Torturer


> Has anyone seen this list of "50-odd" techniques? All the ones I've
> heard about sound like torture to me.
>
> David McDonald
>
>
> UK forces taught torture methods
> David Leigh
> Saturday May 8, 2004
> The Guardian
>
> --clip--
>
> >The US commander in charge of military jails in Iraq, Major General
> Geoffrey
> Miller, has confirmed that a battery of 50-odd special "coercive
> techniques"
> can be used against enemy detainees. The general, who previously ran
the
> prison camp at Guantánamo Bay, said his main role was to extract as
much
> intelligence as possible.<
>
> --clip--
>
>
>