Act Against Torture - A coalition of activists based in the San Francisco Bay Area working to abolish torture and indefinite detention, to end U.S. intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to prevent future wars.
Addamer - A Palestinian non-governmental, civil institution which focuses on human rights issues. Offers support for Palestinian prisoners, advocating the rights of political prisoners. Works to end torture through monitoring, legal procedures and solidarity campaigns.
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU): Accountability - Since 2003, the ACLU filed several Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for records relating to the abuse and torture of prisoners in U.S. detention centers overseas. While many documents have been released, many vital records are still being withheld.
Amnesty International Online (AI) - A worldwide campaigning movement that works to promote all the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international standards. Also see AI Security with Human Rights.
Cage Prisoners - A non-sectarian Islamic human rights website that exists solely to raise awareness of the plight of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and other detainees held as part of the War on Terror.
Canadian Centre for International Justice - A charitable organization that works with survivors of genocide, torture and other atrocities to seek redress and bring perpetrators to justice.
Center for Justice & Accountability, The (CJA) - CJA, based in San Francisco, works to prevent torture and other serious human rights abuses around the world by helping survivors hold their perpetrators accountable.
Death Squad Protection Act - On July 13, 2000 the Senate passed a measure in the FY 2001 Defense Authorization Act that if passed by the full Congress the legislation would effectively shield the activities of foreign death squads, torturers and kidnappers from public scrutiny and would greatly undermine the efforts of official truth commissions - many of which have been aided by the declassification of such records - to clarify responsibility for human rights violations. This page provides background to the bill and examples of the kinds of military HUMINT reports that would be exempt from release if the Senate language is included in the final bill.
Fact Sheet No.4, Methods of Combating Torture (UN) - The United Nations have edited a series of quite useful Fact Sheets. This one targeting combating torture covers lists of pertinent international instruments, treaty monitoring bodies, special rapporteurs, as well as mentions the UN voluntary fond for victims of torture and selected (special) issues. Annex with complaint forms and guidelines.
Guantánamo Testimonials Project - A long term research project of UC Davis Center for the Study of Human Rights to assess the effects of the U.S. war on terror on human rights in the Americas.
Lucifer Effect by Philip Zimbardo - This book provides a detailed chronology of the transformations in character that took place during the experiment Zimbardo created many years ago that randomly assigned healthy, normal intelligent college students to play the roles of prison or guard in a projected 2 week-long study. Zimbardo was forced to terminate the study after only 6 days because it went out of control, pacifists were becoming sadistic guards, and normal kids were breaking down emotionally. Also visit Zimbardo's home page and The Stanford Prison Experiment page.
New York Times Torture Euphemism Generator - From Rob Beschhizza: "Reading the NYT's stories about the Iraq War logs, I was struck by how it could get through such gruesome descriptions — fingers chopped off, chemicals splashed on prisoners — without using the word 'torture.' For some reason the word is unavailable when it is literally meaningful, yet is readily tossed around for laughs in contexts where it means nothing at all. It turns out the NYT has a reputation for studiously avoiding the word, to the point of using bizarre bureaucratic alternatives. It must be awfully hard work inventing these things. So I thought I'd help out by putting together a torture euphemism generator that the New York Times' reporters can use to help avoid the T-word in their thumb removal and acid bath coverage."
Physicians for Human Rights: Torture - Investigating and reporting on the devastating consequences of torture on individuals, institutions, and society.
Principles of Medical Ethics (UN) - Adopted by General Assembly resolution 37/194of 18 December 1982. Principles of medical ethics relevant to the role of health personnel, particularly physicians, in the protection of prisoners and detainees against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Prisoner Abuse: Patterns from the Past - National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 122. CIA interrogation manuals written in the 1960s and 1980s described "coercive techniques" such as those used to mistreat detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The Archive also posted a secret 1992 report written for then Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney warning that U.S. Army intelligence manuals that incorporated the earlier work of the CIA for training Latin American military officers in interrogation and counterintelligence techniques contained "offensive and objectionable material" that "undermines U.S. credibility, and could result in significant embarrassment."
Psychologists' & Physicians' Involvement in Detainee Interrogations - The issue of psychologists and physicians participating in the planning or implementation of detainee interrogation in settings like the Guantanamo Bay Detainment Camp and the Abu Ghraib prison has sparked continuing controversy, formal ethics statements by health care associations (e.g., the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Psychological Association), and a rich array of thoughtful articles expressing diverse views. This web page provides citations of over 230 articles, books, and chapters addressing this controversy.
Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) - In September 1999, in response to PCATI's petition, nine justices of the Israeli High Court ruled to absolutely prohibit the use of torture during interrogation. The PCATI, an independent human rights organization founded in 1990, monitors the implementation of this ruling in detention centers and continues the struggle against the use of torture in interrogation in Israel and the Palestinian Authority through legal means, support of relevant legislation and through an information campaign aimed at raising public awareness of the subject.
Torture and War Trauma Survivors in Primary Care Practice - For physicians to recognize how torture can affect health status, it is important to understand that history taking may be difficult and that little information may emerge that would explain the origins of scars, fractures, or disabilities. Recognizing the clues to a torture history allows physicians to assist patients in describing the trauma. In addition, knowing the subacute and chronic signs and symptoms of torture enables physicians to diagnose and treat often obscure symptoms with a much clearer understanding of the sources of the difficulty. Paying special attention to the interview process will support torture survivors in detailing often horrific events. Full text.
Torture on Trial - Jesuit Fr. Steve Kelly and Franciscan Fr. Louis Vitale were arrested as they approached the Fort Huachuca gatehouse on November 19, 2006, as they sought entry to speak with enlisted personnel and deliver a letter denouncing torture (see letter here) and the Military Commissions Act of 2006 to Major General Barbara Fast, commander at the post and a key figure in the torture scandal at Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq. When they were not allowed to pass, they knelt in prayer, and were soon arrested. They both received a federal citation for trespass and were released a couple of hours later.
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) - A powerful voice for human rights working within the Unitarian Universalist tradition of service and advocacy. Also see th STOP Torture Campaign initiated in response to the human rights crisis created by the U.S. torture and abuse of detainees in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay.
World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) - OMCT is to-day the largest international coalition of NGOs fighting against torture, summary executions, forced disappearances and all other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
Today, it counts 297 organisations spread across 92 countries. See Interactive Map of the coalition members.
World Organization for Human Rights USA - A non-governmnental human rights organization dedicated to the prevention of torture and other human rights abuses.
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