US Torture: Voices from the Black Sites (Left Gearing Up for "War Crimes" Trials)

I could not sleep at all for the first two to three weeks.

Bull$h!t. He would have died. You die from sleep deprivation of that length and severity. Nice story, but clearly unbelievable. He may not have slept well, but he HAD to have slept.

Most of the maltreatment I read about in the article is no worse than I've experienced on a bad flight.

The United States signed the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment almost 25 years ago. Because anyone can say this or that constitutes torture the US negotiators had the following added as a "declaration".

(1) (a) That with reference to article 1, the United States understands that, in order to constitute torture, an act must be specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering and that mental pain or suffering refers to prolonged mental harm caused by or resulting from (1) the intentional infliction or threatened infliction of severe physical pain or suffering; (2) the administration or application, or threatened administration or application, of mind altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or the personality; (3) the threat of imminent death; or (4) the threat that another person will imminently be subjected to death, severe physical pain or suffering, or the administration or application of mind altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or personality.

Much of the criticism of the US as a torturer could be averted if people simply read the anti-torture treaty.

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