cruel and unusual punishment Torture works... to inflict unspeakable pain on defenceless people to break the will and destroy the personality of the victim to brutalize the victim and torturer to make the victim say what the torturer wants to hear to increase terrorism by normalizing brutality and antagonizing communities to inspire hatred and terror across whole communities to deepen divisions in society by dehumanizing certain groups to lower the moral standards of society Torture doesn’t work... to stop terrorism to make us safer Not in our name "I’m in a cage like an animal. No-one’s asked me am I human or not". Wazir Mohammed, an Afghan taxi driver held in Bagram and Guantánamo, released in late 2003 "I did not see light for two weeks… They put me in the dark. I was surprised. I did not know what I did wrong or what I did. They starved me; they handcuffed me, there was no food… I was surprised that the Americans would do such a thing. It shocked me." Jamil El Banna, a Jordanian national with refugee status in the UK, describing his treatment in Bagram, Afghanistan "Americans hit me and beat me up so badly I believe I’m sexually dysfunctional… I point to where the pain is… I think they take it as a joke and they laugh." A Guantánamo detainee quoted in tribunal transcripts released under a US Freedom of Information Act lawsuit "I needed the toilet and I asked the interrogator to let me go. But he just said, ‘You’ll go when I say so’… Finally, I squirmed across the floor and did it in the corner… He comes back with a mop and dips it in the pool of urine. Then he starts covering me with my own waste, like he’s using a big paint-brush… All the while, he’s racially abusing me, cussing me." Martin Mubanga, a UK national held in Guantánamo from May 2002 to October 2004 "The British interrogators also interrogated me with a soldier in a corner with a gun. They saw that I was shaking and shivering and what a bad state I was in medically. However, they did nothing for me." Tarek Degoul, a UK national held in US custody in Afghanistan "They punched me, they kicked me, once to my chin. Another time I was told to lie down and they picked me up by my neck so I was half-strangled and they said ‘we are going to kill you unless you confess what you did’." Jannat Gul, an Afghan held in the US military facility in Gardez, Afghanistan, and then for 16 months in Bagram. He was released in March 2005 "I was questioned for four weeks in a windowless room by plain-clothed US agents. I didn’t know if it was day or night. They said they could make me disappear." Mohammed, a former detainee allegedly held in a facility jointly run by the Pakistan intelligence services and the CIA New names, old abuses New terms are being used to describe old abuses in order to deflect accusations of torture. ‘Stress and duress’ techniques Also known as "enhanced interrogation techniques", these are painful, psychologically damaging and physically debilitating procedures authorized by the US administration. Many can constitute torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Environmental manipulation Forcing prisoners to suffer extremes of cold and heat, dazzling and permanent white light (or oppressive and permanent darkness), loud noise, including music chosen to offend the victims. Forced grooming Forcibly shaving prisoners, a practice that causes additional distress and humiliation for Muslim men. Sleep adjustment Repeatedly waking a prisoner to induce disorientation. Stress position An initially uncomfortable and progressively more painful position, such as a half squat with arms raised, that prisoners are forced to maintain for long periods. This causes intense pain with-out physical contact or scarring. Waterboarding This has been described as a technique whereby the detainee’s head is forced under water to the point where they believe they will drown. The Church Report described it as when water is poured on a detainee’s towelled face to induce the perception of drowning. In both cases, it amounts to torture. Justice not revenge Human rights activists are sometimes accused of not caring about the needs of victims of terrorist acts. "How would you feel if your child’s life was at stake?" they are asked. What we would do in a moment of such panic and desperation is difficult to predict, but it is a measure of the extent of our despair rather than a guide for moral behaviour. Maybe we would ourselves commit an atrocity if we believed it would save our loved ones – but it would remain an atrocity. Law and government policy should remain guided by the need to protect the human rights of everyone. Amnesty International’s campaign Amnesty International consistently urges all governments to condemn and prohibit torture and ill-treatment, to investigate all allegations of such abuse, and to prosecute any official who condones, acquiesces in or commits torture or ill-treatment. Amnesty International is now mobilizing people in a campaign to challenge the use of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in the "war on terror". The USA, which has led the assault on international human rights standards during the "war on terror", should set the example in reasserting these standards. All governments must play their part. You can: • DENOUNCE the use of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in all circumstances • CHALLENGE the argument that torture is being used to defend your security. Torture doesn’t prevent terror; torture is terror • REFUTE any justification (by politicians, officials or anyone else) for torture and ill-treatment You can: • SPEAK OUT against torture and ill-treatment – talk to your friends, relatives and colleagues, and contact your local media • DEMAND that your government prevents the use of torture and ill-treatment and complies with international human rights standards that ban these abuses • SUPPORT Amnesty International and other organizations that are campaigning to stop torture and ill-treatment. amnesty international www.amnesty.org********