Difference between revisions of "Waterboarding"

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(okay, both sides are in now - let's polish this up. Anyone get a Cheney quote we can use?)
(no sense in whitewashing it)
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'''Waterboarding''' is one of the mildest forms of [[torture]] ever devised. It leaves no marks and does no permanent physical harm but is terrifying to the victim.
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'''Waterboarding''' is a method of coercion that dates back to the time of the Italian Inquisition in the 1500s. A tightly bound prisoner has porous cloth placed over his mouth and nose. Water is poured over his face in such a manner as to convince the prisoner that he is drowning.  <ref>[http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=1356870]</ref> The practice was revived in the wake of [[9/11]] but quickly attracted harsh criticism once it came to light.  
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The practice dates back to the time of the Italian Inquisition in the 1500s. A tightly bound prisoner has porous cloth placed over his mouth and nose. Water is poured over his face in such a manner as to convince the prisoner that he is drowning.  <ref>[http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=1356870]</ref> The practice was revived in the wake of [[9/11]] but quickly attracted harsh criticism once it came to light.  
 
  
 
In 1901, Major Edwin Glenn was court-martialed and sentenced to 10 years hard labour for waterboarding an insurgent in the Phillipines during the Spanish-American War. <ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1933315,00.html]</ref><ref>[http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=1356870]</ref> In 1947, Yukio Asano - a Japanese officer - was charged with war crimes and received 15 years hard labour for waterboarding a US civilian. <ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/04/AR2006100402005.html]</ref> It was declared illegal by US generals in Vietnam <ref>[http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1026/dailyUpdate.html]</ref> and a US soldier was court-martialed after ''The Washington Post'' (21.1.1968) published a front page photograph of him supervising the waterboarding of a captured North Vietnamese soldier. <ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/04/AR2006100402005.html]</ref> <ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1933315,00.html]</ref>   
 
In 1901, Major Edwin Glenn was court-martialed and sentenced to 10 years hard labour for waterboarding an insurgent in the Phillipines during the Spanish-American War. <ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1933315,00.html]</ref><ref>[http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=1356870]</ref> In 1947, Yukio Asano - a Japanese officer - was charged with war crimes and received 15 years hard labour for waterboarding a US civilian. <ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/04/AR2006100402005.html]</ref> It was declared illegal by US generals in Vietnam <ref>[http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1026/dailyUpdate.html]</ref> and a US soldier was court-martialed after ''The Washington Post'' (21.1.1968) published a front page photograph of him supervising the waterboarding of a captured North Vietnamese soldier. <ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/04/AR2006100402005.html]</ref> <ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1933315,00.html]</ref>   

Revision as of 21:20, April 13, 2007

Waterboarding is a method of coercion that dates back to the time of the Italian Inquisition in the 1500s. A tightly bound prisoner has porous cloth placed over his mouth and nose. Water is poured over his face in such a manner as to convince the prisoner that he is drowning. [1] The practice was revived in the wake of 9/11 but quickly attracted harsh criticism once it came to light.

In 1901, Major Edwin Glenn was court-martialed and sentenced to 10 years hard labour for waterboarding an insurgent in the Phillipines during the Spanish-American War. [2][3] In 1947, Yukio Asano - a Japanese officer - was charged with war crimes and received 15 years hard labour for waterboarding a US civilian. [4] It was declared illegal by US generals in Vietnam [5] and a US soldier was court-martialed after The Washington Post (21.1.1968) published a front page photograph of him supervising the waterboarding of a captured North Vietnamese soldier. [6] [7]

CIA sources describe the technique as used in coercive interrogation thus:

"The prisoner is bound to an inclined board, feet raised and head slightly below the feet. Cellophane is wrapped over the prisoner's face and water is poured over him. Unavoidably, the gag reflex kicks in and a terrifying fear of drowning leads to almost instant pleas to bring the treatment to a halt." [8]

According to the same sources, CIA officers who submitted to the technique in training lasted an average of 14 seconds before "surrendering."

Controversy

Opponents of US policy on coercive interrogation of suspected terrorists and "unlawful combatants" captured in Afghanistan and in the Gulf War, want waterboardnig to be classified legally as "torture" so that it would automatically be made illegal under US law.

Top US officials say the technique, as performed by the CIA as an interrogation technique is not "torture" and rebuffed attempts to reclassify or ban it.

References

1. http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=1356870

2. http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/print?id=1322866

3. http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1026/dailyUpdate.html

4. http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1933315,00.html

5. http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=1356870

6. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/04/AR2006100402005.html

7. http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1026/dailyUpdate.html

8. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/04/AR2006100402005.html

  1. ↑ [1]
  2. ↑ [2]
  3. ↑ [3]
  4. ↑ [4]
  5. ↑ [5]
  6. ↑ [6]
  7. ↑ [7]
  8. ↑ [8]
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