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Brooke Juice
Prof. Mendieta
Phil 197H
Section 001
11 Dec 2015
Torture Tactics
As long as there have been humans, there has been conflict. As long as there has been
conflict, there has been war. As long as there has been war, there has been torture. Oftentimes
when warring parties meet in battle, circumstances become dire and great men resort to desperate
measures to achieve their goalsand from this, stems torture. Torture is used as war tactic to
achieve a goal, can be categorized into types of torture, and has a different range of effects.
When torture tactics are put into practice, there is motive as to why it is done. Generally,
the first possible explanation as to why torture is used is because the torturer enjoys inflicting
pain on an individual (Purpose of Torture). He or she may not gain anything from hurting
another person or group of people other than the simple satisfaction of torturing another
individual. In war, however, the motive behind torture is more often geared toward gaining
something or reaching some sort of end goal (Purpose of Torture). For example, soldiers
during war may use different torture techniques as a form of punishment or retribution. Torture
may also be used by soldiers a means forcing someone to do or say something. When torture is
used, a hierarchy comes into existence, which consists of the torturer(s) and the victim(s)
(Purpose of Torture). Both of the parties involved undergo different effects. The torturer falls

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into a dominant position and becomes filled with a sense of control from having power over the
victim. The torture tactics that are used on a victim can effect a person in various ways
depending on the type of torture that is being used (Purpose of Torture).
There are many torture techniques that can be used and these techniques are divided into
different subcategories: physical, psychological, and spiritual torture (Defining Torture). Any
torture done or relating to the body constitutes as physical torture. Physical torture can be turned
into psychological torture, which can be defined as torture of, pertaining to, dealing with, or
affecting the mind, especially as a function of awareness, feeling, or motivation (Defining
Torture). When torture is considered spiritual, it is a torture tactic that is targeted at ones
religion. Depending on the category the technique falls into, different results can occur.
However, a similarity between these different types of torture is that they are used to destroy a
persons sense of self-rule. Unmaking a person and unmaking the sense of who they are is an
existent purpose, regardless of the type used (Defining Torture).
Using torture tactics as a means of attaining information or as punishment has been
around for centuries. Roots of the first uses of torture date back as far as 530 AD in ancient
Rome (The Justice Campaign). Roman jurists justified using torture by saying the merits
behind it were the highest form of truth. It was also argued that no statements made as a result
of torture had ever been proved untrue. In the 12th century, France and Italy adopted the same
tactics used in ancient Rome (The Justice Campaign). Torture as a form of extracting a
confession became a norm in the law system. While some believed that torture was the best way
to get the truth, there were some who were against using torture, especially as a means of forcing
information out of someone. Aristotle, a fourth century philosopher, for example, argued against
the use of torture (The Justice Campaign). He said, Those under compulsion are as likely to

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give false evidence as true, some being ready to endure everything rather than tell the truth,
while others are really ready to make false charges against others, in the hope of being sooner
released from torture. Atonius Matthaeus II, a Dutch lawyer, was also opposed to using torture
tactics and fought against them in the mid 1600s (The Justice Campaign). His oppositions to
torture consisted of the affront to natural justice by torturing an innocent and the possibility
that the accused persons perception of truth would be skewed under torture (The Justice
Campaign) During the American Civil War, the rights of those involved in war were taken into
consideration and laws banning torture were added to the American military code. The code
revision went into effect on April 24, 1863 stating:
Art. 16. Military necessity does not admit of cruelty -- that is, the infliction of suffering
for the sake of suffering or for revenge, nor of maiming or wounding except in fight, nor
of torture to extort confessions. It does not admit of the use of poison in any way, nor of
the wanton devastation of a district. It admits of deception, but disclaims acts of perfidy;
and, in general, military necessity does not include any act of hostility which makes the
return to peace unnecessarily difficult (Instructions for the Government of Armies of the
United States in the Field)
Despite being prohibited, one of the most notorious and more recent cases of torture
being used in war can be seen in Guantanamo Bay (The Justice Campaign). Torture tactics
began being used in Guantanamo Bay soon after the attacks to the United States on September
11, 2001. Questioning of those who were potentially involved or knew information about the
attacks took place in a U.S. prison camp based Guantanamo, where detainees were held (CIA
Tactics: What Is 'enhanced Interrogation'?). The intent behind using the torture tactics were to
retrieve helpful, truthful information linked to the attacks to the U.S. on September 11th, and to

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uncover this information quickly. During the time that these tactics were being used, they were
never referred to by officials as torture tactics. These tactics were instead given the euphemism
of enhanced interrogation techniques (CIA Tactics: What Is 'enhanced Interrogation'?). It was
also said that the end goal of using these enhanced techniques justified their use and that the
techniques did not fall under the definition of a torture. The tactics, being cruel in nature, used on
detainees included, waterboarding, temperature extremes, sleep deprivation, sound
bombardment, forced medication, solitary confinement, defiling scared texts, and sexual assault
or harassment (The Justice Campaign).
Waterboarding is an example of a physical type of torture. In Guantanamo, waterboarding
is one of the first tactics that were used. When prisoners were water boarded, they underwent
simulated drowning (CIA Tactics: What Is 'enhanced Interrogation'?). The prisoner would be
flipped upside down or positioned in a way where their legs were higher than their head. Then a
barrier, such as cloth or plastic film, would be placed over the prisoners face. Once this was
done, water would be poured over the barrier near the nose and mouth region (CIA Tactics:
What Is 'enhanced Interrogation'?). This would then cause the prisoners to gag and experience
body spasms lasting for different lengths of time, causing them to feel as if they were going to
drown. In addition to discomfort and body spams, long term effects of waterboarding consist of
broken bones, psychological harm, and even permanent damage to the brain due to extended lack
of oxygen (CIA Tactics: What Is 'enhanced Interrogation'?).
Like waterboarding, temperature extremes are another example of physical torture (The
Justice Campaign). The use of temperature extremes did not originate in Guantanamo Bay.
Temperature changes between heat and cold in cells were first seen in Brazil around 1966.
Putting prisoners in cold cells was approved as an enhanced interrogation technique in

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Guantanamo in 2005. It was later discovered, nevertheless, that this technique was being used
long before authorization to do so was given (The Justice Campaign). When a prisoner was
exposed to a drop in climate, they would experience feelings of uneasiness from the cold
temperature in the cell. Areas other than the cell would be kept at a warmer temperature and the
prisoner would be forced to switch from the two extreme temperatures (The Justice
Campaign).
Other types of tactics used in Guantanamo consist of sensory and sleep deprivation,
sound bombardment, and forced medication. These four are examples of psychological torture.
The first sensory deprivation study was conducted during the cold war and was also used in
Guantanamo. The prisoner would be taken to a room and forced to wear goggles, gloves, and
earmuffs (The Justice Campaign). Within the first twenty-four hours of being unable to see,
hear, or feel properly, the prisoner will begin to experience hallucinations. As prisoners come
closer to the forty-eight hour mark, they experience complete breakdowns and disintegrations
of personality. Sensory deprivation was an effective method used because it made the prisoner
more vulnerable to the interrogator (The Justice Campaign). Sleep deprivation, which first
starts out at physical torture and then turns into psychological torture as time goes on, had similar
effects. During sleep deprivation, detainees would not be allowed to sleep for extended periods,
causing a range of different effects. Memory impairment, psychosis, anxiety, depression, and
lowered immunity, among others, were results of being sleep deprived. U.S. military received
authorization to use sleep deprivation on a prisoner for up to seventy-two hours. The technique
of sleep deprivation was often used in Guantanamo because it was useful for interrogators when
attempting to get prisoners to cooperate with them (The Justice Campaign).

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Sound bombardment is the use of loud noise to instill fear in detainees or to assist in
disrupting their sleep patterns. This was also efficient in covering up the sounds and noises that
those being tortured would make (The Justice Campaign). Although the loud music could have
caused pain to the eardrums, sound bombardment is categorized under psychological torture, due
to the distress it caused prisoners from them being unable to turn it off. It was discovered long
after being done that there were several cases in 2004 where excessive noise was used on
disobliging prisoners in Guantanamo Bay (The Justice Campaign). An official of the U.S.
military confessed that he and others made uncooperative prisoners strip to their underwear,
having them sit in a chair with shackled hand and foot to a bolt in the floor, and forcing them to
endure strobe lights and screaming loud rock and rap music played through two close
loudspeakers, while the air conditioning was turned up to maximum levels (The Justice
Campaign). While the music was loudly playing, prisoners were aware of what was going on. In
other words, they had a sense of knowing that they were being tortured and what was being done
to them.
On the other hand, prisoners were unaware that they were being medicated. Different
types of medication were unknowingly put into the food and drinks of the prisoners in
Guantanamo Bay. This is a prime example of psychological torture (The Justice Campaign).
The drugs that were given to the prisoners caused them to experience the medications side
effects, such as, disorientation, confusion, psychosis, suicidal tendencies, anxiety and depression.
Prisoners did not know why they were experiencing the unpleasant side effects, adding to the
psychological nature of the torture tactic (The Justice Campaign). This was a tactic or an
enhanced technique that was not authorized. Medical experimentation and giving prisoners
unneeded medication was also used in Nazi concentration camps. Although forcing a prisoner to

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take medication or medicating a prisoner without consent was banned by international law
during the time of Holocaust, it was still practiced in places such as Guantanamo (The Justice
Campaign).
Solitary confinement is something that is strictly forbidden by international law and is
considered one of the cruelest forms of psychological torture. It is when a prisoner is forced to
undergo complete isolation as a form of punishment (Breslow). Lack of social interaction can
cause a range of different effects that eventually result in permanent psychological damage (The
Justice Campaign). The effects of solitary confinement include hallucinations, emotional
damage, delusions, impaired cognitive functioning, anxiety and depression. This punishment
tactic is looked down upon in war or any prison because of how damaging the effects can be to a
person. After an individual is left alone for extended periods of time, many prisoners that were
isolated were found profoundly disturbed, given to staring blankly and rocking in place for long
periods, circling their cages repetitively, and mutilating themselves (Breslow). Solitary
confinement has even been referred to by those who had to endure it as a sentence worse than a
death sentence (Voices from Solitary: A Sentence Worse than Death).
Spiritual torture constitutes as anything targeting the religion of another person. An
example of this is the defiling of sacred texts belonging to a prisoners religion (Purpose of
Torture). The purpose of spiritual torture is to dishearten an individual by destroying an element
that they highly value. Another example of spiritual torture is forcing an individual to eat or do
something that is strictly against their religion. When this is done, it can cause a range of
emotions in the victim and eventually cause them to question their faith, loyalty, and morals
(Purpose of Torture).

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It was also later reported that prisoners in U.S. custody were sexually assaulted. Before
prisoners were transferred to Guantanamo Bay, many were first taken to Abu Ghraib, Kandahar
and Bagram (The Justice Campaign). It was at these places that incidents of prisoners being
sexually assaulted and humiliated were said to have taken place. Prisoners said they were
sodomized by officials with broomsticks or rifles. Many also claimed that they were raped or
were threatened to be raped (The Justice Campaign). Other reports from victims said that
assault done by officials included: parading men naked in front of female soldiers, forcing them
to wear womens underwear and dance with other men, forcing them to undress in front of
female interrogators and guards, touching their genitals or provoking them in a humiliating way
and forcing them to watch pornography (The Justice Campaign). Sexual assault and
humiliation is both physical and psychological torture. Physical because of the attack done to the
prisoners body, but also psychological due to the trauma following afterwards and fear that it
instilled at the time of the attack.
President George W. Bush was one who gave authorization to the Central Intelligence
Agency and Defense Intelligence Agency to use enhanced interrogation techniques. These
techniques continued to be carried out years after they were initially ordered to take place (CIA
Tactics: What Is 'enhanced Interrogation'?). However, as time went on, it came into debate as to
whether or not the enhanced interrogation techniques were in violation of international law or
the U.S. anti-torture statues that were already in place. Many argued that the techniques used by
the CIA and DIA were in fact torture, while those involved argued that it did not (CIA Tactics:
What Is 'enhanced Interrogation'?). President Barack Obama came into office on January 20,
2009 and addressed the enhanced interrogation techniques, putting an end to them only two

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days later. He banned harsh CIA interrogation techniques with an executive order that would
ensure lawful interrogation that stated:
Section 1. Revocation. Executive Order 13440 of July 20, 2007, is revoked. All
directives, orders, and regulations inconsistent with this order, including but not limited
to those issued to or by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from September 11, 2001,
to January 20, 2009, concerning detention or the interrogation of detained individuals, are
revoked to the extent of their inconsistency with this order. Heads of departments and
agencies shall take all necessary steps to ensure that all directives, orders, and regulations
of their respective departments or agencies are consistent with this order. Upon request,
the Attorney General shall provide guidance about which directives, orders, and
regulations are inconsistent with this order (Executive Order 13491 -- Ensuring Lawful
Interrogations.).
In addition to this, he also issued an order that called for the closure of the prison based in
Guantanamo Bay, as well as one that called for the review of detention policy options (The
Justice Campaign).
To sum up, torture is something that has been affecting society for many years.
Particularly, torture is used in war and it is used as a weapon. Like any weapon, there is a reason
as to why torture is used. Punishing or trying to extract information from an individual are the
main goals trying to be reached when using torture. Since techniques are so vast and have a
range of effects, torture can be broken down into the subcategories: Physical, psychological, and
spiritual. These three types have been seen in society and in war. Guantanamo Bay is one of the
most well-known places where torture was once used. Torture tactics were used here for years
before they were put to a halt. There are international laws banning the use of torture on an

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individual in general, however, there are still parts of the world where torture is a continued
practice. Fighting the use of torture, and stopping it completely has been an ongoing battle.
Nevertheless, as long as war exists, so will the use of torture.

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Works Cited
Breslow, Jason M. What Does Solitary Confinement Do To Your Mind? PBS. PBS, 22 Apr.
2014. Web. 07 Dec. 2015.
CIA Tactics: What Is 'enhanced Interrogation'? - BBC News. BBC News. BBC News, 10
Dec. 2014. Web. 07 Dec. 2015.
Defining Torture. What Is Torture?. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2015.
Executive Order 13491 -- Ensuring Lawful Interrogations. The White House. The White
House, n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2015.
Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field. ICRC. N.p., n.d.
Web. 07 Dec. 2015.
The Justice Campaign. The Justice Campaign Supporting Human Rights Transparency and
Fairness for Guantanamo Prisoners. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2015.
Purpose of Torture. PHR Toolkits. N.p., 2010. Web. 07 Dec. 2015.
Voices from Solitary: A Sentence Worse Than Death. Solitary Watch. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Dec.
2015.

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