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Abstract
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The letter from Sudan is apposite. It describes a current tragedy, that, like many others, is going on ‘under the radar’. Certain brave elements have tried to expose brutality by government forces, but the sad truth is that once a state institutionalises violence, it rarely relinquishes this trait, unless the slate can be totally wiped clean, as happened with the Nazis in Germany.
The medical profession must also acknowledge its acquiescence in such brutality. The use of torture has long been condemned, both as a means of injuring political opponents the state and of extracting information. Though torture is nothing new, as visits to medieval castles’ dungeons or ‘oubliettes’ readily demonstrate, it has become a quasi-science.
Nazi doctors abused their profession by carrying out experiments on prisoners, and their publications were roundly condemned (even if scientifically verifiable), but shockingly the report on CIA involvement in torture in Iraq and Afghanistan provides clear evidence of medical involvement in torture techniques.
In fact, two doctors, James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, were paid the colossal sum of US$81m for their ‘expertise’ in advice concerning the use of torture methodology, for which, it has been rightly said, they deserve to be tried for crimes against humanity, just like the genocidists in Rwanda.
But, alas, the USA involvement in torture is nothing new. Another doctor, one AE Rollins, invented the so-called ‘Tucker telephone’ in the 1960s. This was an electrical device that, wired to toes and genitals, delivered electric shocks at varied frequency and intensity to restrained prisoners. In the shockingly crude, gloating parlance of the perpetrators, prolonged application of the device, which often resulted in multi-organ failure or insanity, was termed ‘a long-distance call’, as the device had to be cranked continuously. It was frequently used on Viet Cong prisoners ...
Language: en |