Administration of Torture

Jaffer, Jameel; Singh, Amrit Pal

doi:10.7312/jaff14052

Cited by 34 publications

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“…Other cases, however, are less clear. 117 What is the status of so-called passive techniques like forced standing, forced exercise, sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, denial of adequate nutrition or medical care, and isolation? The so-called ''Five Techniques, '' or sensory deprivation techniques, were applied to IRA prisoners held in Northern Ireland in the 1970s.…”

Section: The Severity Of Painmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Meaning of Torture

Kenny

2010

Polity

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Despite being the subject of much recent scholarly work, torture remains an ambiguous concept. As recent legal arguments have made clear, such vagueness has important and immediate political consequences. This article makes a number of contributions towards resolving this ambiguity. First, it argues that the distinction between physical and psychological abuse is unwarranted. Second, it puts forward a logical basis for the distinction between torture and legally permissible punishments like incarceration. Third, it distinguishes between torture and related concepts like cruelty or sadism by stressing the instrumentality of torture. Ultimately, torture is defined as the systematic and deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person over whom the actor has physical control, in order to induce a behavioral response from that person. Polity (2010) 42, 131-155.

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Section: The Severity Of Painmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Meaning of Torture

Kenny

2010

Polity

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Torture

Bufacchi¹

2013

The International Encyclopedia of Ethics

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The idea of “torture” plays a strategic role in our ethical reasoning, being often identified as the limit case of savage human behavior, unspeakable agony, and even political injustice. That torture holds this place in our collective imagination finds affirmation in the everyday use of the term “torture” as a figure of speech, when certain personal experiences are too readily labelled as a form of torture, as in the case of a visit to the dentist or a university exam. Less figuratively, the term “torture” can be used to bestow the most intransigent condemnation of a certain act – for example, when (rightly or wrongly) rape is equated to torture (McGlynn 2008; see Rape).

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In the name of the state. The secret society of the torturers

Mackert

2011

Berlin J Soziol

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dann aber steht das geheimnis zwar nicht mit dem bösen, aber das böse mit dem geheimnis in unmittelbarem Zusammenhang"georg Simmel (1907) Zusammenfassung: Folter ist ein Akt extremer kollektiver gewalt, der im Auftrag eines Staates im geheimen ausgeübt wird. die Frage, was Menschen dazu bringt, anderen Menschen diese extreme gewalt anzutun, verengt den blick für ein Verständnis der Folter allzu schnell auf individualistische erklärungsversuche. der vorliegende Aufsatz geht im gegensatz dazu von der gruppe der Folterer aus und rückt die sozialen beziehungen dieser Form der Vergesellschaftung und die von ihnen ausgehenden sozialen dynamiken und effekte in den Mittelpunkt. In einem ersten Schritt werden georg Simmels formale bestimmungen der geheimen gesellschaft rekonstruiert und auf die geheime Gesellschaft der Folterer angewandt und spezifiziert; auf dieser Grundlage werden im zweiten Schritt handlungsbedingungen der Mitglieder der geheimen gesellschaft der Folterer herausgearbeitet; der dritte Schritt bestimmt die eigendynamischen Prozesse des Phäno-mens der Folter, die aus der Eskalation politischer Konflikte, der Gruppe der Folterer und der Situation der Folter erwachsen. Die These lautet, dass sich aus der Perspektive einer relationalen Soziologie ein theoretischer Zugriff auf das Problem der Folter ergibt, der weiterführende Erklärungen des Phänomens ermöglicht.Schlüsselwörter: Folter · geheime gesellschaft der Folterer · georg Simmel · Relationale Soziologie · Prozesse · Dynamiken · Erklärung In the name of the state. The secret society of the torturers Abstract: Torture is an extreme act of collective violence that is secretly executed in the name of a state. In order to explain the reasons why people torture others, individualist approaches concentrate on individuals' motives or interests. Contrary to that, the article argues that torture should be understood as a social relation. Thus, it takes the social relations of the group of torturers as a starting point. Firstly, following georg Simmel's analysis of the secret society the paper berlin 432 J. Mackert argues that the group of torturers can adequately be conceptualized as a secret society; secondly, against this background the article reconstructs the conditions which structure torturers' agency; finally, this article offers an outline of the processes and dynamics that allows for explaining the phenomenon of torture. The thesis of the article argues that a relational sociology helps better explain and understand the social phenomenon of torture.Pour le compte de l'État. La société secrète des tortionnaires Résumé: la torture est un acte de violence collective extrême accompli pour le compte d'un État. la question des motivations poussant les tortionnaires à agir restreint quelque peu hâtive-ment la compréhension de la torture à des tentatives d'explication individualistes. la présente approche part au contraire du groupe des tortionnaires et se focalise sur les relations sociales de cette forme de socialisation ainsi que sur les dynamiques social...

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Administration of Torture

Cited by 34 publications

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The Meaning of Torture

The Meaning of Torture

Torture

In the name of the state. The secret society of the torturers

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