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Human Rights Law

Torture

Selected Works

Articles 1 - 19 of 19

Full-Text Articles in Law

Dark Ages Of Human Rights?, Linda A. Malone Sep 2019

Dark Ages Of Human Rights?, Linda A. Malone

Linda A. Malone

No abstract provided.

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The Consequences Today Of The United States' Brutal Post-9/11 Interrogation Techniques, Peter J. Honigsberg Dec 2015

The Consequences Today Of The United States' Brutal Post-9/11 Interrogation Techniques, Peter J. Honigsberg

Peter J Honigsberg

Commentators and researchers have written on the harsh and unlawful tactics that military interrogators employed to obtain actionable intelligence from suspected terrorists following the attacks on September 11, 2001. However, no one has painted the picture of these interrogations through the words of identified and named interrogators. This article does that, by focusing on the words and unique stories of five interrogators. The article then explores the unintended consequences that are still with us today because of the military's enhanced interrogation techniques. Much of the information in this article is not found to this detail anywhere else in the literature, …

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The International Law Of Torture: From Universal Proscription To Effective Application And Enforcement, Winston P. Nagan, Lucie Atkins Aug 2015

The International Law Of Torture: From Universal Proscription To Effective Application And Enforcement, Winston P. Nagan, Lucie Atkins

Winston P Nagan

This Article presents a comprehensive review of world torture and the efforts to eradicate it through both official and unofficial strategies of intervention, with special emphasis on the legal strategies. This Article recognizes the complexity of these strategies as they form a vast number of initiatives emerging from various elements of the international community. Part II of the Article touches on matters of definition and legal history. This enables the examination of the inherent characteristics of torture as they impact issues of governance, social control, and principles of basic respect and human dignity. Part III examines the efforts to universally …

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Using Torture Against Women, Juliet Schiller Aug 2014

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 …

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A Competition Of Minds And A Penetration Of Souls: How Short-Term Interrogation Tactics After 9/11 Led To Grave Long-Term Unintended Consequences Today (As Told Through The Voices Of Four Interrogators), Peter J. Honigsberg Aug 2014

A Competition Of Minds And A Penetration Of Souls: How Short-Term Interrogation Tactics After 9/11 Led To Grave Long-Term Unintended Consequences Today (As Told Through The Voices Of Four Interrogators), Peter J. Honigsberg

Peter J Honigsberg

No abstract provided.

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Linguistic Isolation: A New Human Rights Violation Constituting Torture, And Cruel, Inhuman And Degrading Treatment, Peter Honigsberg Dec 2013

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 …

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Homage To Filártiga, Perry S. Bechky Dec 2013

Homage To Filártiga, Perry S. Bechky

Perry S. Bechky

The Supreme Court’s new decision in Kiobel severely restricted human rights litigation under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS). In doing so, the Court gravely injured the canonical human rights case of Filártiga. This essay celebrates Filártiga, demonstrating that it survives Kiobel in four key respects: its approach to the sources of international law, its conclusion that international law prohibits torture, its dynamic vision of the way the human rights revolution transformed international law, and its hope that courts can help make real a world without torture. The essay presents Filártiga as a living presence and a beacon for future development …

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Implementing Human Rights In Closed Environments Through The United Nations Convention Against Torture, Claudio M. Grossman Dec 2013

Implementing Human Rights In Closed Environments Through The United Nations Convention Against Torture, Claudio M. Grossman

Claudio M. Grossman

 Closed environments pose a major challenge to the full and effective implementation of human rights norms and conventions. However, many conventions contain mechanisms that can be used to further advance implementation of human rights in those closed environments. The United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Convention) has several mechanisms in place that play an important role in enforcing and implementing human rights obligations. Along with the creation of a supervisory organ, the Committee against Torture (the Committee), the Convention provides a framework for: State Party reporting and concluding observations (COBs) under …

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Impunity Writ Large: A Study Of Crimes Committed During Anti-Veerappan Operations, Saumya Uma Dec 2012

Impunity Writ Large: A Study Of Crimes Committed During Anti-Veerappan Operations, Saumya Uma

Dr. Saumya Uma

This paper discusses the atrocities committed by police officials belonging to a Joint Special Task Force (JSTF) established by the state governments of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in India to capture Veerappan – a well-known forest brigand. The paper traces the widespread use of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances of persons from poor and underprivileged communities living on the borders of Satyamangalam forest in this context. It analyzes the atrocities through the lens of international legal standards as well as Indian criminal law. It critically evaluates the responses of Indian state and democratic institutions, including …

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Panel 3: Transparency And Access Of Independent Experts To All Places Of Detention Question & Answer Session , Claudio Grossman, Malcolm Evans Oct 2012

Panel 3: Transparency And Access Of Independent Experts To All Places Of Detention Question & Answer Session , Claudio Grossman, Malcolm Evans

Claudio M. Grossman

No abstract provided.

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Panel 2: How Are Laws Applied And Detention Practices Reformed? Question & Answer Session , Steven Watt, Claudio Grossman, James Ross, Eugene Fidell Oct 2012

Panel 2: How Are Laws Applied And Detention Practices Reformed? Question & Answer Session , Steven Watt, Claudio Grossman, James Ross, Eugene Fidell

Claudio M. Grossman

No abstract provided.

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In Search Of A Forum For The Families Of The Guantanamo Disappeared, Peter Honigsberg Dec 2011

In Search Of A Forum For The Families Of The Guantanamo Disappeared, Peter Honigsberg

Peter J Honigsberg

The United States government has committed grave human rights violations by disappearing people during the past decade into the detention camps in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. And for nearly thirty years, beginning with a 1983 decision from a case arising in Uruguay, there has been a well-developed body of international law establishing that parents, wives and children of the disappeared suffer torture, or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (CID).

This paper argues that the rights of family members were severely violated when their loved ones were disappeared into Guantanamo. Family members of men disappeared by the United States have legitimate claims …

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Those Who Can't, Teach: What The Legal Career Of John Yoo Tells Us About Who Should Be Teaching Law, Lawrence Rosenthal Dec 2010

Those Who Can't, Teach: What The Legal Career Of John Yoo Tells Us About Who Should Be Teaching Law, Lawrence Rosenthal

Lawrence Rosenthal

Perhaps no member of the legal academy in America is more controversial than John Yoo. For his role in producing legal opinions authorizing what is thought by many to be abusive treatment of detainees as part of the Bush Administration’s “Global War on Terror,” some have called for him to be subjected to professional discipline, others have called for his criminal prosecution. This paper raises a different question: whether John Yoo – and his like – ought to be teaching law.

John Yoo provides something of a case study in the problems in legal education today. As a scholar, Professor …

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Waiting For Justice Dec 2010

Waiting For Justice

Dr. Saumya Uma

Kandhamal district of the state of Odisha in India, was the site of targeted violence against Christian dalits and adivasis in December 2007 and August 2008. This publication is a report of the National People's Tribunal on Kandhamal, held in New Delhi on 22-24 August 2010. The report documents the testimonies of 45 victims, survivors and their representatives, 15 expert testimonies of reports of field surveys, research and fact-finding, as well as statements to the Tribunal. It was organized by the National Solidarity Forum - a countrywide solidarity platform of concerned social activists, media persons, researchers, legal experts, film makers, …

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A Dark Descent Into Reality: Making The Case For An Objective Definition Of Torture, Michael W. Lewis Dec 2009

A Dark Descent Into Reality: Making The Case For An Objective Definition Of Torture, Michael W. Lewis

Michael W. Lewis

The definition of torture is broken. The malleability of the term “severe pain or suffering” at the heart of the definition has created a situation in which the world agrees on the words but cannot agree on their meaning. The “I know it when I see it” nature of the discussion of torture makes it clear that the definition is largely left to the eye of the beholder. This is particularly problematic when international law’s reliance on self-enforcement is considered. After discussing current common misconceptions about intelligence gathering and coercion that are common to all sides of the torture debate, …

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People's Tribunal On Torture Karnataka Report, Saumya Uma Jul 2008

People's Tribunal On Torture Karnataka Report, Saumya Uma

Dr. Saumya Uma

This is the interim report of the jury of the People's Tribunal on Torture, held in Bangalore, Karnataka. The Tribunal heard about 98 cases of custodial torture through the testimonies of victims / victim-survivors and / or their family members.

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People's Tribunal On Torture Rajasthan Report, Saumya Uma Jun 2008

People's Tribunal On Torture Rajasthan Report, Saumya Uma

Dr. Saumya Uma

This is the interim report of the jury of the People's Tribunal on Torture, held in Ajmer, Rajasthan. The Tribunal heard more than 50 cases of custodial torture through the testimonies of victims / victim-survivors and / or their family members.

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People's Tribunal On Torture Tamil Nadu Report, Saumya Uma Jun 2008

People's Tribunal On Torture Tamil Nadu Report, Saumya Uma

Dr. Saumya Uma

This is the interim report of the jury of the People's Tribunal on Torture, held in Tamil Nadu. The Tribunal heard more than 250 cases of custodial torture through the testimonies of victims / victim-survivors and / or their family members.

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Communal Crimes Bill, Saumya Uma Dec 2007

Communal Crimes Bill, Saumya Uma

Dr. Saumya Uma

This is an alternative draft law on communal violence, drafted by a section of civil society, and submitted to the Indian government in January 2008. It incorporates concepts and standards from international law, and formulates new crimes as well as standards of evidence and procedure.

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