Law Commons^™

Using Torture Against Women, Juliet Schiller

Juliet A Schiller

According to Juan E. Mendez, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, more than half the countries that formulate the United Nations use torture. Torture is considered to be one of the most serious violations of international laws. It is classified as a crime against humanity and as a war crime. Women are at greater risk for organized violence compared to men. According to Amnesty International, women are frequently singled out for torture in armed conflicts because of their role as educators and symbols of the community. This essay presents research into the practice of torture against women in the form of …

Linguistic Isolation: A New Human Rights Violation Constituting Torture, And Cruel, Inhuman And Degrading Treatment, Peter Honigsberg

Peter J Honigsberg

Sunnat was placed in a cell among other detainees in the general prison population. He spoke neither Arabic nor English, the linguae francae of the prison and the only languages spoken by the detainees in neighboring cells. Consequently, for much of his time in Guantanamo, Sunnat talked to no one. He awoke each morning and cried. Sunnat could, of course, reach out and communicate through eye contact, hand signs and facial expressions. However, Sunnat never had meaningful conversations with his neighbors.

Absence of meaningful human contact is a characteristic of isolation and a source of suffering caused by isolation. Sunnat …