 A
young prisoner
dies after 16 hours of
begging and crying
out for help - during
which time prison
guards and medical
professionals ignored
his pleas. A prisoner
in need of immediate
medical care is repeatedly
shocked with a TASER gun (50,000 volts) for
complaining, then strapped down to a bunk
and left to die. Hooded prisoners are paraded
around their cells naked; others are strapped
down in five-point restraints, left to squirm in
their own bodily waste for hours on end; pris-
oners who are fully restrained and leashed are
beat senseless for the crime of
insolence. These prisoners are
segregated for months, sometimes
years, in environments that
impose varying degrees of restrict-
ed environmental stimulation and
social isolation.
Abu Ghraib 2004? No, treatment
that I've observed in U.S. prisons,
where I've been incarcerated since
1979.
The individuals we confine to our prison ware-
houses do not, by virtue of their convictions,
magically become non-human beings: they
remain vitally alive, sentient creatures capable
of growth, who experience the same range of
human emotions, cares, and concerns as any
other human being. One has absolutely no
control over their day-to-day existence while in
prison; one is totally dependent on, at the com-
plete mercy of, the system and its wardens. The
prison machine does not recognize the subjec-
tive human being, it sees only an object to be
manipulated and controlled. All its bureaucrat-
ic gears, large and small, seen and unseen,
grind away at one's humanity. It lends cre-
dence to the maxim that true inhumanity
always works to destroy the soul - not just the
body.
When considered in the legal context, most def-
initions of torture exclude pain and suffering
arising from, inherent in, or incidental to, what
we deem lawful punishment. That legal caveat
is premised on a logical and intellectual fallacy.
Torture must be defined independently of law.
To hold otherwise is to contend that anything
can be justified under the color of law. |
The one essential factor that seems to distin-
guish torture from other "legitimate" forms of
punishment is the element of dehumanization.
In its most basic sense, to dehumanize means
to deprive another of human qualities. Any
treatment, whether intentional or incidental, that
operates to dehumanize an individual goes beyond
punishment; and amounts to little more than the
needless infliction of pain and suffering. Though
methods of torture are often physical, the
ultimate goal of torture is largely psychological.
For example, "brainwashing" is a process that is
designed and calculated to make an individual
conform to the will of his or her keepers. This
practice is classified as torture under both U.S. and
international law.
Objective researchers have long noted the par-
allels between methods of brain washing and
the prison experience. Both regimes assault
defenseless human beings in a manner that
causes intense psychic pain through the impo-
sition of total control. Whether that control is
achieved through physical force, psychological
coercion, or a combination of both, it violates
the individual's integrity as a human person. As
the level of dehumanization increases, the level
of evil in our world increases. As human beings
lose their identities, they lose a sense of their
own souls.
Many in our society contend that those who
have offended have forfeited their rights and
deserve to be treated "like animals," as one
Texas warden declared. That sentiment may be
emotionally and politically satisfying, but it evi-
dences little respect for human dignity and, in
the larger picture, is profoundly unwise. In real-
ity, the vast majority of the human beings we
warehouse in our prisons will one day return to
society. If those human beings have been psy-
chologically abused or treated with violence
they are likely to re-enter the community angry,
possibly more dangerous, and far less capable
of leading law-abiding lives.
If the goal of our penal philosophy and the
practices employed in our prisons is to promote
and ensure public safety then one is hard
pressed - given all the known evidence - to see
how that purpose is actually being served. A
truly civilized society would seek to overcome
dehumanization without dehumanizing in
kind.
Joseph Giarratano has spent the last twenty-five years behind
bars. A dedicated activist, he was a 2004 recipient
of the American Association on Mental Retardation’s
Gunnar Dybwad Humanitarian Award for his efforts in
the exoneration of Earl Washington. Giarrantano has
worked closely with the Center for Teaching Peace since the late
1980s, and currently sits on their Advisory Board. His writing has appeared
in the Yale Law Journal, the LA
Times, and numerous other publication. |
