Torture vs Other Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment
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- Date Submitted: 03/21/2014 06:32 AM
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Torture vs Other Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment
Following reports of human rights violations by the US military in Guantanamo bay, concerns were raised as to the narrow definitions of what constitutes torture. The United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment defines torture as being “severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental”. According to this definition, methods of torture that did not cause physical harm to another person were seen to be legal as they did not constitute torture.
Between 2000 and 2002, Metin Basoglu, et al, conducted a study to examine the impact of various form of psychological torture in order to determine whether this method of torture caused as much long term mental suffering, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, when compared to physical torture. Three hypotheses were to be tested: more distress and perceived uncontrollability was caused by extreme physical pain compared to stressors that did not; PTSD and depression was more likely to develop due to experiencing physical torture; uncontrollability and perceived distress of torture stressors, without exposure, would result in a greater likelihood of the development of PTSD and depression.
Target and linkage sampling were used to reduce sampling bias and ensured that participants met the five torture survivor areas of interest including experience of certain index stressors. Additionally, an adequate number of PTSD sufferers, which developed following torture, were also required. A total of 279 independent variables, all from former Yugoslavia, met both the index stressor conditions of interest and the inclusion criteria. All participants were former prisoners of war and as such, had experienced varying levels of torture, both physical and psychological. The dependant variables in this case are those who developed PTSD and/or depression following torture while being detained.
A total...
Following reports of human rights violations by the US military in Guantanamo bay, concerns were raised as to the narrow definitions of what constitutes torture. The United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment defines torture as being “severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental”. According to this definition, methods of torture that did not cause physical harm to another person were seen to be legal as they did not constitute torture.
Between 2000 and 2002, Metin Basoglu, et al, conducted a study to examine the impact of various form of psychological torture in order to determine whether this method of torture caused as much long term mental suffering, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, when compared to physical torture. Three hypotheses were to be tested: more distress and perceived uncontrollability was caused by extreme physical pain compared to stressors that did not; PTSD and depression was more likely to develop due to experiencing physical torture; uncontrollability and perceived distress of torture stressors, without exposure, would result in a greater likelihood of the development of PTSD and depression.
Target and linkage sampling were used to reduce sampling bias and ensured that participants met the five torture survivor areas of interest including experience of certain index stressors. Additionally, an adequate number of PTSD sufferers, which developed following torture, were also required. A total of 279 independent variables, all from former Yugoslavia, met both the index stressor conditions of interest and the inclusion criteria. All participants were former prisoners of war and as such, had experienced varying levels of torture, both physical and psychological. The dependant variables in this case are those who developed PTSD and/or depression following torture while being detained.
A total...