American torture deaths

[solarbird]

There's a report coming out - against Obama administration wishes - on deaths in the American torture programme. Some of it's already out, but this will be a larger, less censored version. One takeaway:

The interrogation and detention regime implemented by the U.S. resulted in the deaths of over 100 detainees in U.S. custody -- at least. While some of those deaths were the result of "rogue" interrogators and agents, many were caused by the methods authorized at the highest levels of the Bush White House, including extreme stress positions, hypothermia, sleep deprivation and others. Aside from the fact that they cause immense pain, that's one reason we've always considered those tactics to be "torture" when used by others -- because they inflict serious harm, and can even kill people. Those arguing against investigations and prosecutions -- that we Look to the Future, not the Past -- are thus literally advocating that numerous people get away with murder.

Some autopsy reports from murder victims of the US torture programme, such as this one, prepared by US military doctors and brought to the public by the ACLU. Many of these cases list "cause of death" as "undetermined," allowing those responsible to remain undisciplined in any way. eta: lyonesse has issues with my issues with the use of the word "undetermined"; see comments below.

Meanwhile, the NPR ombudsman has refused interview by Salon regarding the NPR's policy against calling torture "torture" when it is conducted by the United States.

Comments

[jonathankorman.livejournal.com]

I am reminded of a number (http://roachblog.blogspot.com/2005_03_13_roachblog_archive.html#111111636096712011) from 9Driver at Roachblog:

When I did my seven year hitch in the Navy, the gold standard for horrible, communist, totalitarian, non-Geneva convention deadly bastards who you never wanted to get captured by was the North Vietnamese.

They were happy if you died in your cell. They tortured. They hated. They abused just for perverse commie, Stalinist fun. They were the worst. Worse than Nazis, even, because the Nazis at least sometimes pretended to be civilized about POW treatment. The North Vietnamese didn't even pretend.

So how many American POWS died while captured by the insane and lawless North Vietnamese during the entire Vietnam war? One hundred and fourteen. From all causes.

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

It's amazing how many of these prisoners had pre-existing heart problems. /snark

[avram]

Reminds me of back in the '80s, when the NYPD tried to claim that African-American men had weak necks, and that's why so many of them died from being put in choke-holds.

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

this is serious abuse of technical terminology. the cause of death *is* medically undetermined -- you can't tell from the corpse if hypothermia was at fault, or the bash to the head, or the pre-existing heart condition. but any fool can see that the bashing and the restraining and the overall hell of the post-capture treatment led to the actual *death* -- but these are the *circumstances*, not the *causes*, in an autopsy report.

ARGH.

[solarbird]

In some of the few reports where they acknowledge that the death was caused by mistreatment - I have no idea what the pattern may have been - they list the cause as homicide. So I suppose I'm continuing the error - but I've etad the above to call out your objection here.

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

like in a car crash. the car crash is the *circumstance*. the *cause* might be "head broke open, brains got crushed". (appropriately phrased of course.)

just to clarify....

a *cause* of homicide implies "someone tried to kill this guy". not hit, not chill, but kill.