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India-Pakistan
Crime & punishment
2019-06-27
[DAWN] TORTURE by law-enforcement agencies is so endemic it is often accepted as ’police culture’. We only have to look at the overwhelming news reports and academic research for proof. And the reason it is so endemic is that there is little to no penalty or accountability against LEAs, and hence no effort to change this culture.

Today is International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. But Pak victims have little hope of receiving any form of support from the judiciary, executive or legislation.

The case of Sajid Masih is a telling ‐ and appalling ‐ example of broken governance. Sajid’s cousin was accused of blasphemy
...the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence to a deity, or sacred objects, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. Some religions consider it to be a crime. In Pakistain you can commit blasphemy by looking cross-eyed at a Koran...
, due to which he was also roped in. They were both arrested and interrogated by FIA officials, during which they were reportedly beaten and abused. By his account, Sajid was allegedly ordered to rape his cousin. He refused. The officials shouted at him to do as he was told. He couldn’t, and jumped out of a fourth-floor window to escape the humiliation. The fall could have killed him. But he survived, albeit with multiple injuries, to tell his harrowing story.
Posted by:Fred

#5  Indian intelligence was taught this madness by the ruskies, if you can believe it.

Hard to believe based on their extensive reputation for loving and caring responsiveness....right...
Posted by: Frank G   2019-06-27 19:13  

#4  The case of Sajid Masih

I just noticed. Masih is sometimes used as an urdu vocalization for Massey, or mostly derived from Masihi, meaning Christian.

This is a tale of persecution.
Posted by: Dron66046   2019-06-27 17:21  

#3  Tryptophan deprivation. Probably to deny production of serotonin. Induce hunger and anxiety ? But it should also lead to bouts of intense rage and impairment of the limbic system, also memory.

Naah... good ol' acid, sulfazine and pain are fine. Besides it keeps the troops with a bad streak occupied and functional. Indian intelligence was taught this madness by the ruskies, if you can believe it. With the Israelis we developed more nuanced approaches, including contorting postures for long periods, ear-splitting music, temperatures - things that leave no trace for those pesky UN types. Later we developed our own techniques, featuring MDA, induced hypnagogia, suggestion, etc. Although the latter is the opposite of torture. It's more of a kind of 'assisted conversion'.

I agree in that it's a question of who's doing it and why. Ruling it out is good, but every case deserves a subjective consideration. As a first policy of course it's bad. If we weren't in the middle of a war, and if there were fewer assholes to process... we'd just be better humans.
Posted by: Dron66046   2019-06-27 17:15  

#2  The problem is that so often torture is applied by the ethically impaired to those not guilty of the crime of which they are accused, resulting in faulty information and false confessions just to make the pain stop. OldSpook used to talk about tryptophan deprivation, although that takes longer. Somewhere around 2010 in the archives, I think.
Posted by: trailing wife   2019-06-27 15:58  

#1  So the problem is the laws in Pak, not torture itself. Blasphemy is not a 21st century crime, for example. Nor is a clueless cleric's opinion considered expert witness in modern courts. But that's the 'Stain for you.

Torture is the fastest, easiest way to get shit done, period. It's also reforming and educational. The only question for morality is , who's allowed to do it and for what.
Posted by: Dron66046   2019-06-27 10:05  

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