Torture

C.S. Lewis’ final novel in his space trilogy, The Tortured Planet, provides a disturbing image of what our environment may be reduced to if man’s ideals and attitudes toward nature become radical enough to seek destruction of it and to deny our place within its structure altogether. As the novel progresses, the closed world space of the National Institute of Coordinated Experiments, or N.I.C.E, foments distorted rationality, the exploitation of nature and the denial of objective mortality.…

punishment and prison reform were great issues in the nineteenth century; executions declined, transportation as a punishment was ended, and the prison system as we know it today founded. (Source 4) Torture was formally abolished by European governments in the 19th century, however, the actual practice of torture simply decreased during this time. Societies and legal systems have employed a wide variety of definitions of…

The factors that led to the torture of the detainees have not only been seen in the Iraqi prison. As demonstrated by Milgrim’s experiment, obedience to authority even to a fault is a widespread phenomenon. Zimbardo’s experiment showed conditions much like those in the real prison that…

Torture and Gendered violence in Abu Ghraib INTRODUCTION As the British journalist Fisk (2010) mentioned in " Robert Fisk: The truth about 'honour' killings”, most female prisoners held at Abu Ghraib were raped, and some of them even got killed after returning home because their families felt shamed. On the other hand, Zurbriggen (2008) points out that male prisoners in Abu Ghraib also suffered from sexualized torture and abuse from female American soldiers. In "The…

Horror endorsed through duty and a review of its controversy led many to question the ethics of being truly and fully obedient. Marianne Szegedy-Maszak, journalist and author of “The Abu Ghraib Prison Scandal: Sources of Sadism”, discusses the possible reasons why the Abu Ghraib Prison Scandal occurred (75-77). Causing people to wonder how supposedly sane human beings could accomplish such insane acts, the American soldiers that were a share of this horrific crime against humanity displayed no…

discovery of extremely graphic photographic evidence.” Photographs and videos taken by the soldiers as the abuses were happening were not included in his report, Taguba said, because of their “extremely sensitive nature” which is stated by Hersh in “Torture at Abu Ghraib.” These conditions were horrible for all involved and the U.S. received backlash because they were held responsible for these people. These pictures are horrible to look at and will physically make you sick to think about the…

As Marianne Szegedy-Maszak states in “The Abu Ghraib Prison Scandal: Sources of Sadism,” everyone has the potential to be a torturer (Szegedy-Maszak 76). According to Szegedy-Maszak, the “unconscionable acts” committed at Abu Ghraib were likely caused by “the anxiety and helplessness” of their living conditions in Iraq (76). In attempt to investigate the motives behind sadistic acts in situations similar to the Abu Ghraib Prison Scandal, Philip G. Zimbardo, author of “The Stanford Prison…

reliable information which could lead to successful prosecution. These actors have played a major role in exposing some of the most controversial actions of the government. For example, Sergeant Joseph Darby and Sergeant Samuel, both exposed of the torture taking place in the Abu Ghraib prison. Sergeant Joseph Darby provided the pictures of the abuse that led to an investigation and resulted in dishonorable discharge and reprimands for 11 of the soldiers. Whereas, Sergeant Samuel Provance…

How willing are humans to fill a role they are given? This is the question that the Stanford Prison Experiment conducted by Philp Zimbardo, professor of psychology, answers, even if it may not have been the original goal of the experiment. When people are pushed to the extremes, by internal or external factors, they are willing to do nearly anything. Zimbardo says that we “create, populate, and perpetuate” “prisons of the mind.” I agree with his statement, as many of the problems we have in a…

Marianne Szegedy-Maszak, author of "The Abu Ghraib Prison Scandal: Sources of Sadism," states that everyone is subjected to be a possible torturer (Szegedy-Maszak 76). Szegedy-Maszak asserts, the "unconscionable acts" committed by the Abu Ghraib were likely caused by "the anxiety and helplessness" of their horrific living conditions (Szegedy-Maszak 76). Philip G. Zimbardo, author of "The Stanford Prison Experiment," attempts to clarify the reasoning and motivation behind the sadistic acts in…