[Previous entry: "Target: Space!"] [Next entry: "Twin symmetries"]
12/01/2004: "War and torture"
My attention was caught today by two news reports related to war. First, the resignation of Col. Tim Collins following allegations of mistreating prisoners. Col. Collins's stirring eve-of-battle speech to British troops preparing to fight in Iraq was strongly praised and impressed me greatly.
“The enemy should be in no doubt that we are his Nemesis and that we are bringing about his rightful destruction. There are many regional commanders who have stains on their souls and they are stoking the fires of Hell for Saddam. As they die they will know their deeds have brought them to this place. Show them no pity. But those who do not wish to go on that journey, we will not send. As for the others, I expect you to rock their world.
“We go to liberate, not to conquer. We will not fly our flags in their country. We are entering Iraq to free a people, and the only flag that will be flown in that ancient land is their own. Don’t treat them as refugees, for they are in their own country.
“I know men who have taken life needlessly in other conflicts. They live with the mark of Cain upon them. If someone surrenders to you, then remember they have that right in international law, and ensure that one day they go home to their family. The ones who wish to fight, well, we aim to please. If there are casualties of war, then remember, when they woke up and got dressed in the morning they did not plan to die this day. Allow them dignity in death. Bury them properly, and mark their graves.
“You will be shunned unless your conduct is of the highest, for your deeds will follow you down history. Iraq is steeped in history. It is the site of the Garden of Eden, of the Great Flood, and the birth of Abraham. Tread lightly there. You will have to go a long way to find a more decent, generous and upright people than the Iraqis. You will be embarrassed by their hospitality, even though they have nothing… “
“There may be people among us who will not see the end of this campaign. We will put them in their sleeping bags and send them back. There will be no time for sorrow. Let’s leave Iraq a better place for us having been there. Our business now, is north.”
The second news item that caught my attention was about the use of sleep deprivation as a form of torture, a practice that appears to be widespread, including by the US and the UK. Discussed is the effectiveness of sleep deprivation in breaking the resistance of prisoners by promising them uninterrupted sleep after days without. In the article, there is a picture of the former KGB prison in Vilnius, Lithuania. The prison is now the Museum of Genocide Victims and until recently had a former inmate as its tour guide. Visitors can walk around the old cells, the warden's office, the isolation rooms, the showers and latrines, a padded cell for torture, rooms where remains are kept "until the people are ready to give proper respect", and finally, in the lowest area of the prison, the execution room. In the execution room, visitors tread on an elevated glass floor with lighting below showing personal items of the killed. A book shows the names of the victims, photographs and personal history.
I stood in those cells, I stayed inside the tiny isolation chamber and I walked on the floor of the execution room. I cannot describe how oppressive the atmosphere is, how overwhelming it is to stand before a close cell containing the bones of the dead, what went through my mind as I sat in the warden's office or in the wet punishment room. Maybe the picture I took, shown here, gives an impression of what I mean. It was a mere 15 years ago that the KGB ceased to use the prison, when the USSR collapsed. Seeing this picture brought back the memories from my 22 November 2003 visit. I don't think I'll ever forget.
