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Waterboarding : The mental and physical torture

In Chile, they called it submarino, a form of simulated drowning that has much the same effect as what we call waterboarding. During Augusto Pinochet's 17-year-long dictatorship, thousands of Chileans were detained by the military and subjected to torture. During the submarino, they were forcibly submerged in a tank of water, over and over again, until they were on the edge of drowning. (The Chilean military liked to foul the water with urine, feces or worse, something that—so far—hasn't been known to be a part of U.S. waterboarding of terrorism suspects.) Submarino became a popular tool for military interrogators, in part because it left relatively few permanent physical marks.

But the impact on the torture victim's mind was lasting. After Pinochet's fall in 1990, the new civilian government in Chile investigated incidents of alleged torture, and found deep scars. Years after they were tortured, submarino victims were still haunted. A 2007 study in the International Review of the Red Cross found that "the acute suffering produced during the immediate infliction of the submarino is superseded by the often unbearable fear of repeating the experience. In the aftermath, it may lead to horrific memories that persist in the form of recurrent 'drowning nightmares.'" As one Chilean who was tortured by submarino under Pinochet put it: "Even today I wake up because of having nightmares of dying from drowning." (Read "Obama: No Prosecution for Waterboarding.")

The news that the U.S. waterboarded one al-Qaeda prisoner, Abu Zubaydah, at least 83 times, and another, the confessed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, 183 times, has given new energy to the debate over whether U.S. interrogation methods amounted to torture. Defenders of waterboarding say that the procedure, while awful for the prisoner, is relatively safe and has few long-term effects. But doctors and psychologists who work with torture victims disagree strongly. They say that victims of American waterboarding—like the Chileans submitted to the submarino under Pinochet—are likely to be psychologically damaged for life.
"This is an utterly terrifying event," says Allen Keller, the director of the Bellevue/New York University School of Medicine Program for Survivors of Torture. "Psychologically this can result in significant long-term post traumatic stress, and produce anxiety and depression."

Defenders of the procedure have pointed to the fact that American soldiers are put through a form of waterboarding during the military's Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape program, as training for the possibility of capture. But Keller points out that being waterboarded during training, as scary as it might be, bears little resemblance to what a detainee would endure. "The trainees know that they are not going to be hurt," he says. "When someone's being tortured there are no such guarantees. There is no reason to believe they aren't going to be drowned."
If a prisoner is waterboarded repeatedly, as Zubaydah and Mohammed were, it's tempting to believe that the effect would lessen over time; that the victim would no longer fear drowning, knowing that his interrogator would stop the process in time. But waterboarding can be so intense—and the fear of drowning so primal—that each time would be a fresh trauma. Worse, being waterboarded repeatedly raises the possibility that something could go wrong and the detainee could, in fact, drown. (Read "Torture Memos Released.")

"Done 183 times on a single person, each flood of water, each subsequent near-death experience, increases the possibility of debilitating and irreparable harm," says Brad Olson, a research professor of psychology at Northwestern University. "The cumulative impact of this waterboarding is tremendous. It's going to produce permanent psychological damage even in the most resilient human."

Keller, who treats victims at Bellevue, agrees that psychological effects of asphyxiation torture like waterboarding can be insidiously long-lived. One patient whose head was repeatedly submerged during torture has constant flashbacks. "Every time he has a shower, he panics," says Keller. One victim panics every time he becomes the least bit short of breath, even during exercise. And in most cases, it is the helplessness the victims endured under torture that renders the experience ineradicable. "They fear that loss of control," says Keller. "That's what is so terrifying."

It can take years for psychological scars to show, and to truly gauge the long-term psychological impact of torture, psychologists need to follow up with victims well after they are released. That may never happen with detainees like Zubaydah and Mohammed—meaning we may never know the final wages of what CIA agents did in dark rooms under our name. But there should be no doubt now that we tortured. "That we would still be having a discussion about whether or not waterboarding is torture is so disingenuous," says Keller. "They should come out and say what it is."



Review!

Interrogation is a type of social encounter in which the normal rules of communicating, of relating, of intimacy are manipulated.

Submarino is similar to Water boarding. They are both forms of controversial interrogation technique usually adopted by the military. During the submarine, their heads were forcefully pushed into a tank of water repeatedly, stimulating drowning closely. The tank of water used may be fouled by the military personnel. Water boarding involves tying up the victim’s hands and legs and his face, covered with a cloth, disallowing and movement. With waves of water poured onto his face, his reflexes kick in and he believes he is drowning. These interrogation techniques have become popular tools and are used by many forces worldwide. However, they amount to torture and are considered inhumane by many. The debate is whether these forms of interrogation should still be practised in this developing age of ours where torture of another living being is somewhat illegal.

The defenders of these torturous forms of interrogation argue that the treatment is relatively safe, leaves behind few physical scars and carries few long term effects and most of the time, successfully makes the victim admit to his crime. They also state that the soldiers undergo these treatments as part of their survival training so as to prepare them for the possibility of undergoing these tortures when captured. It is also a belief that the effect would reduce over time; that the victim becomes used to the pain inflicted upon him and the confidence he will start to possess that his interrogator will stop the process on time. However, others may think adversely. The military training that soldiers undergo do not carry the same mental torture produced upon detainees. The soldiers know they will not be harmed till death during their physical training of water boarding or submarine. In the case of detainees and criminals who experience the terrifying stimulation, there is no guarantee that they will survive the repeated treatment thrust upon them. The aggressor will not know when the breaking point (drowning point) of the victim will be.

As mentioned in the article, one Al-Qaeda militant, Abu Zubaydah was water-boarded over 80 times and the mastermind of the merciless 9/11 attack underwent the same treatment about 183 times. Experiencing the near death stimulation so many times and building up the fear with each subsequent infliction can hardly be considered a form of fair interrogation as the victim is amounted to great suffering and pain. It then becomes a source of retribution, vengeance and torture given by the military soldiers. The treatment is so severe and intense with the fear of drowning so primeval, each water-boarding or submarino attack brings about fresh trauma, anguish and agony. According to research and studies, the magnifying effect of the process is incredibly massive that perpetual emotional scarring and haunting will be created within the victim who is put through the suffering on these interrogation forms, even if they may be the toughest and strongest beings.

Experts like doctors and psychologists also disagree with the defendants strongly. Victims are likely to be psychologically scarred for life. As stated, studies have shown the sharp pain and suffering created during the forced and aggressive stimulation is superseded by the great unbearable fear of going through the experience over and over again together with the near-death feelings each time. Each near-death experience creates endless harm. This is because the victims become so helpless and weak that the process is rendered ingrained. The aftermath includes horrific memories, nightmares and can result in long lived post traumatic stress, anxiety, depression and haunting. In certain cases, hydrophobia arises.

Victims of this terrifying experience should be constantly monitored and counseled by psychologists following their release so as to receive help to cope with their post trauma and damage. Even with superior powers and authority, the soldiers, the people who use these treatment methods do not have the right and the power of God to inflict unconditional pain, suffering and fear onto other human beings. These intensely painful and freak forms of interrogation should be fought to be abolished and more humane forms or investigations and interrogations should be sought after. Singapore would clearly make a good example where interrogation involves mostly communication and minimal infliction of physical pain. In conclusion, torture should not be legalized.



preeti.