Posted by Eugene Volokh:
Redefining "Sexual Torture":
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2005_06_05-2005_06_11.shtml#1118444574
What interrogation tactics should be allowed, especially for people to
whom we should apply the Geneva Convention (because they are lawful
combatants covered by the Convention, or unlawful combatants to whom
we have unilaterally agreed to extend Convention protections) is a
difficult question, on which I have little to add. But I do think that
in discussing the subject, both critics and defenders of various
practices should call things by their proper names.
Consider this item in [1]The Guardian (UK):An American soldier has
revealed shocking new details of abuse and sexual torture of prisoners
at Guantánamo Bay in the first high-profile whistleblowing account to
emerge from inside the top-secret base. . . .
What's the "sexual torture" that the article then gives as an example?
Here are the only materials that relate to sex:
Among the most shocking abuses Saar recalls is the use of sex in
interrogation sessions. Some female interrogators stripped down to
their underwear and rubbed themselves against their prisoners.
Pornographic magazines and videos were also used as rewards for
confessing.
In one session a female interrogator took off some of her clothes
and smeared fake blood on a prisoner after telling him she was
menstruating. 'That's a big deal. It is a major insult to one of
the world's biggest religions where we are trying to win hearts and
minds,' Saar said. . . .
This may or may not be acceptable. Giving porn as a reward hardly
seems like a Geneva Convention violation; taking off one's own clothes
doesn't seem particularly problematic, either, though it may well be
embarrassing to the prisoners; rubbing up against to people may be
more problematic; I don't quite know what to think about the fake
blood. I also realize that they may have been taking advantage of the
prisoners' sense of modesty, and of their religious taboos. One can
debate to what extent this is proper, effective, or good policy given
how it might look to outsiders.
But surely "sexual torture" is a pretty substantial exaggeration of
what the article describes, even as to the most potentially troubling
items.
References
1. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1479040,00.html
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