Preventing Torture within the Fight against Terrorism 11 by IRCT International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims

NEWSLETTER Volume 3, Issue 1

Preventing Torture Framing the Issue

January 2009

within the fight against terrorism Inside this issue: Co-operation inside

Co-operation inside cramped, plywood walled rooms by Matthew Alexander

During my tour in Iraq as an interrogator, I often found myself face-to-face in the interrogation booth, a cramped plywood-walled room, with men who were in the upper-echelon of Al Qaida. I conducted more than 300 interrogations and supervised more than 1,000. Most of these men had supported in some fashion Abu Musab Al Zarqawi’s campaign of suicide bombings that pushed Iraq into a civil war between Sunni and Shia. In fact, one such man, a Sunni Imam named Abu Ali, told me, “If I had a knife, I’d cut your throat.” Three days later, Abu Ali was telling me the location of an Al Qaida safehouse used for suicide operations where we picked up the man who led us to Zarqawi. Why the sudden change? Interrogation, I found, puts a spotlight on the fundamentals of the human condition. It is in that cramped plywood-walled room that words become giants, tears flow like rivers, and emotions rage like wild fires. This is partially because the stakes of an interrogation are extremely high – lives are in the balance. But also, there is a deep connection

that occurs between the detainee and the interrogator. These are, after all, two human beings, both wanting and needing something from the other. The interrogator controls the destiny, and the very lifeblood, of the detainee. The detainee controls information. But it is the interrogator, because of his position of authority, that bears the greatest responsibility to act ethically. It is incumbent upon the interrogator to never forget his duty to act in accordance with the Geneva Conventions – that sacred document that lays out the most

typical extremist. This was, after all, a man with a family. A man that had joined Al Qaida out of a need for protection from the Shia militia that had killed his best friend and forced him from his home. During those three long days of repeated interrogations, I came to understand Abu Ali as a man filled with hate, but also filled with hope. He hated America for having put him in the situation where he had to choose Al Qaida, but he also maintained a hope that America would eventually reverse its path and reach out to Sunnis.

It is incumbent upon the interrogator to never forget his duty to act in accordance with the Geneva Conventions—that sacred document that lays out the most basic of human rights afforded in the interrogator-detainee relationship. basic of human rights afforded in the interrogatordetainee relationship. What was it that stirred the humanity within Abu Ali and convinced him to change course from the cause that he had served just 72 hours prior? His son. For three days my partner and I strove to understand Abu Ali, as an individual, not as a demigod or a stereo-

During these long, frustrating hours I reminded Abu Ali that the future of Iraq lay in the hands of its sons and daughters. To achieve peace, the next generation would have to find a path towards reconciliation. I said to him, “Look, we Americans made plenty of mistakes…but that doesn’t mean we can’t work together to fix it now.”

cramped, plywood walled rooms Colombian media and the fight against terrorism

Recommended reading

My partner asked, “Abu Ali, do you want your son to grow up in this cycle of violence?” “I want my son to grow up in peace,” he responded. It was then that he made the decision to reject Zarqawi’s extreme ideology of intolerance. He decided to accept our olive branch of friendship and provided us important intelligence information – information that helped lead us to Zarqawi, the Preacher of Hate. This would not have been possible had we decided to use torture or harsh methods of interrogation. That would only have reinforced Abu Ali’s assumptions about Americans. It was our show of respect and understanding that convinced Abu Ali that Americans and Sunnis could work together towards a peaceful Iraq. A year later the U.S. military received political backing to engage in what many of us from within had been advocating – reconciliation with Sunnis in Iraq. In the sum-

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Cooperation inside cramped, plywood walled rooms (cont.) mer of 2007, General David Petraeus reached out to the Sunni tribes in Iraq and helped facilitate the Anbar Awakening, which dramatically dropped violence across the country. This tactical episode points to a larger strategy that should be pursued by American policymakers. In the words of Fredrick Kagan, a professor of military history at the U.S. Military Academy, “Unfortunately, our current military doctrine is moving very much in the direction of seeing all potential enemies as target sets, and not seeing them as collections of hu-

man beings with weapons, where what really matters is your interaction with the human beings.” This attitude has resulted in frequent cases of torture and abuse at Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan, and Iraq. The U.S. must change its approach towards interrogations from one based on fear and control to one based on negotiation and compromise. Torture and harsh techniques are counterproductive to preventing terrorist attacks and are in direct contradiction to the basic American principles of liberty, justice, and freedom. We have a unique window of opportunity in the United

States with the incoming administration to reverse our course. President-elect Barack Obama has promised to outlaw torture across the entire U.S. government and close the prison at Guantanamo Bay. Given the Sunni willingness to forgive the past, this is an encouraging step towards a negotiated end to this war. The current conflict between the United States and Al Qaida cannot be resolved solely through military means. Most members of Al Qaida have joined the group for a variety of reasons that have little to do with ideology and it is only by approaching our “enemies” in

a spirit of cooperation and negotiation that we will be able to achieve a peaceful end to this conflict. From policymakers to foot soldiers, we would do well to conduct this war with that premise in mind, including those interrogators and detainees that sit down face-to-face every day in cramped plywood walled rooms all over the world. Matthew Alexander is a Bronze Star Medal awardee who served for 14 years in the U.S. Air Force and is the author of How to Break a Terrorist: The U.S. Interrogators Who Used Brains, Not Brutality, to Take Down the Deadliest Man in Iraq.

Colombian media and the fight against terrorism by Corporación AVRE

olombia suffers for more than four decades from an armed internal conflict which has victimized principally the civilian population. In this context in the last 20 years more than 70,000 civilians have been murdered, more than 4,000 are killed each year for sociopolitical reasons, hundreds of thousands have been threatened, tortured or disappeared and more than 3 million are in a situation of forced displacement, this added to conditions of extreme poverty where economic, social and cultural rights do not fulfil even a secondary role.

justification for some “democratic” governments resorting to torture and other violations of human rights with the justification to save innocent lives. This has been the stage for the implementation of the policy of “democratic security”, the strategic centre of the programme of the government of President Álvaro Uribe, a policy which has led to the escalation of armed conflict and the growing militarization of Colombian society, reflected in the escalation of the military offensive by the state and insurgent groups, and the restriction of political space to build outlets based on dialogue and negotiation.

Since 2001, the alleged fight “against terrorism” has become the

The Colombian government resorts to practices such as mass illegal detentions and

denial of due process, forced disappearances, extrajudicial executions and torture, that violate fundamental rights, but that are in some cases invisible and in others legitimized under the discourse of the struggle against terrorism in this particular case the “policy of democratic security”. Added to this, there exists an invisibility of victims of state crimes and paramilitary groups. Despite the availability of data and official and unofficial records that account for the systematic practice of torture in Colombia and other human rights violations, these are not publicly recognised, either because they are denied or disguised and

legitimized, when presented, as isolated cases or as effective forms of terrorism prevention and suppression of crime, which represent “lesser evils” compared to the purpose intended. This invisibility condemns the victims to isolation and to privatization of damage for which society at large is culpable and which should be taken communally. Similarly it creates a social environment that contributes to revictimisation and in this way deepens the damage and prevents the possibility of recovery and rehabilitation, as well as complete elimination of these practices and the guarantee of justice and reparation.

Volume 3, Issue 1 In this context the media have played a fundamental role in the “construction” of reality and the imaginary related to war and peace. The exercise of journalism has changed from truth and commitment to society to an activity of political and economic interest, to market requirements and the need for survival, as a priority. Three factors contribute to this situation: the increasing degradation of the armed conflict; political, economic and financial interests that establish settings for corruption; and the current working conditions which have been imposed on media. In October 2008, in alliance with the Central University for Peace and Means, Corporación AVRE held a two-day event for Colombian media representatives. More than 120 persons attended the lectures, which had three goals: •

•

At the end of the process progress will have been made in sensitizing the media on the need to establish new media narratives that encourage respect for the victims and for peace-building. The participants of the workshop have qualified information on the problem of torture, its handling in the media and the impact of the information on the construction of peace. The workshop participants will recognise: the impacts of violence on victims and society, the impact of violence on the

Page 3 exercise of journalism and the impact of information in the construction of collective imagination. What follows is a brief summary of the discussions and outcomes of the event. Although the workshop did not focus on specific conceptual elements on the topic of torture, it allowed it [torture] to be identified as a crime against humanity, as a means of terror that dismantles processes and as a practice at a systematic global and national level, within the framework of the “fight against terrorism”. In the same way it became clear how the media have not only made this situation invisible, but in many cases have played a key role in its legitimacy and the establishment of a collective imagination that naturalizes violence, under the discourse of civil security. On the other hand, the reflections, discussion and exchange of experiences allowed the participants to propose alternatives to counteract this situation, taking into account elements such as: the role of academia in the training of new media, the need for confrontation of sources, to provide information with a rights perspective, ensuring the dignity of victims and the multiplicity of voices. One of the greatest achievements of the event was to identify that both the armed conflict, as well as the way the information is handled, generate psychosocial impacts and impacts on mental health, not only among the direct victims of acts of violence, but among society in

More than 120 persons attended the conference

general and also on the journalists as social subjects who exercise their profession in the midst of many difficulties. Through the analysis of cases, the characterization of the information being shared and joint reflection, they identified impacts such as fear, stigma, confusion, pressures on journalists, self-censorship, misinformation and the polarization of society, among others. As a result of this work they suggested alternatives that take into account these situations and tend to prevent revictimization, not deepen the damage caused by acts of violence and that establish agendas for peace. It was difficult in two days to reach consensus on a proposal for a journalistic approach to this matter, since they put forth long debates and reflections that must be worked on across the regions, with broader audiences, which allow, from diverse voices, the establishment of alternatives that take into account the characteristics, and the particular needs of such a diverse and dynamic country and so dynamic in

its social, political and cultural juncture. Nevertheless we are sure that both the presentations of the conference, as well as the remarks in the working groups with participants, can be published and be a reference point for further debate and consultation material for journalists in this exercise, as this has been a hitherto invisible item on the public agenda and there are not many support tools in this regard. This publication will include a conceptual framework that enlightens and clarifies key concepts such as torture, human rights, state responsibility and related international instruments that prohibit these practices that have been ratified by the Colombian government; the papers of the lecturers; and the thoughts of the groups. The mission of Corporación AVRE, a non-governmental organisation, is to conduct interdisciplinary psychosocial and mental health work rooted in human rights.

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The “Preventing Torture within the Fight against Terrorism” newsletter is published bimonthly as part of a joint FIDH-IRCT project aimed at reinstating respect for the prohibition against torture in counterterrorism strategies both globally and in ten target countries: Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Mauritania, the Philippines, Russia and Syria. The newsletter editors welcome submissions of content for future issues, including articles (send query first), comments, letters to the editor (up to 250 words) and suggestions for recommended reading. To submit content or make enquiries, email Brandy Bauer, IRCT Senior Communications Officer, at tortureandterrorNL@irct.org

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For more information about the “Preventing Torture within the Fight against Terrorism” project, please visit the IRCT web site (www.irct.org) or contact: Sune Segal, Head of Communications, IRCT, +45 20 34 69 14, sse@irct.org or Isabelle Brachet, Director of Operations, FIDH, +33 1 43 55 25 18, ibrachet@fidh.org

This newsletter is being published with funding from the European Commission