Amit links to the rich American debate on how terrorists (not covered by Geneva Accords -- nor deserving such protections) ought to be interrogated. He believes (and we agree) that the only way to ensure these monsters will not be tortured -- torture being inconsistent with democratic values -- is to significantly raise the price of torture.
This, of course, is a typically great American debate. We are interested in its Indian counterpart.
Does anyone, for example, know what standards the Indian Army & RAW have to abide by in their treatment of detainees? Are they forbidden from inflicting cruel and degrading punishments? If torture is prohibited to them, how is torture defined?
Further, should we not consider extending the scope of these restrictions on the civilian police too? Afterall, our police does much worse things routinely to detainees than the degrading antics of some loony American soldiers in Abu Ghraib -- or the discomforts meted out to the monstrous Khalid Sheikh Mohammad.
How about the Indian blogosphere shining a mirror on the sometimes bloody hands of our own democracy?
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Followers
Blog Archive
-
▼
2005
(581)
-
▼
December
(63)
- The Pontiff's Plea
- Surely The Prime Minister Jests
- Mr. Vajpayee's Legacy
- Gender Progress At IITs
- Worse Than Crocodile Tears
- Sayonara
- Secularism
- Polio
- Azad Baluchistan?
- Encircled With Chaos
- Terrorism
- Outrage In Malaysia
- Smashmouth In Serendip
- Random Thoughts on the North East
- A Desolation Called Peace
- Despicable Bigotry, If True
- Kashmir
- India: Constitution: Schools, Caste and Religion
- Tough Talk In Washington
- Democracy
- The Ruby Takes The Cake
- War Ain't Picnic
- Neocons being mugged by reality?
- Latin America's Long March Backwards
- The Extinct Royal Bengal Tiger?
- Idiocy Watch
- The Welfare State and the Arthashastra
- The Death Of Common Sense
- Blog Mela
- The Annals Of Intelligence
- Pankaj Mishra's Warped World
- Bangladesh
- Sepia Mutiny
- Race Riots in Sydney
- No Kidding
- India Shining
- India Dimming
- Identity
- Opium For The Masses
- Persian Idiot
- The Bloody Hands Of Democracy
- Gambling In Casablanca
- Freedom of Expression
- East Asia Summit
- Cambodian History 101
- Bombs in Bangladesh
- Positively Miraculous
- US Public Opinion On Great Power Peers
- Idiocy Watch
- Confused, Anyone?
- Journalistic Tampering in Iraq
- A Nightmarish Stress-Dream
- Russia
- Monsters
- Monday Morning Comedy
- Zia Ul Haq
- A Nocturnal Portrait Of The World
- Neoconservatism
- The Indian Navy
- A Well Deserved Diss
- Hamas
- Ariel Sharon
- World AIDS Day
-
▼
December
(63)
2 comments:
Actually, CN, the same mechanisms exist in US too -- which is why we ar eall privy to the debate ongoing there.
As for our India, we know very little about the approved methods and practices of our forces. We do know our police is ridiculously brutal -- and very little has been done about it in decades. Why should we simply accept assertions that similar brutality does not exist elsewhere in the Government?
All we want to know is what the standard is at the moment?
Best regards.
PR unfortunately cannot comment on RAW. Anecdotes from some Kashmiris suggest the army is much better disciplined in this regard (and hence commands respect) than the paramilitary (BSF and CRPF).
Regarding civilian police, I suspect it will be much harder to enforce these higher standards. Take Mumbai as an example. "Maximum City" by Suketu Mehta has examples of torture. It would be nice to hold the police to Geneva Convention standards. That assumes an ability to bring on overwhelming force, as well as a legal system that is perceived to hand out justice to the guilty. That is just not true in Mumbai. So in many cases, you have persecution - not prosecution - and torture (including feeding the suspect 1kg of jalebis and no water!). From a libertarian standpoint, that's outrageous. However, I'm pretty certain that if a poll were taken, a vast majority of common (and decent) folks would back the police and their tactics. I suspect that's because the police force is relatively disciplined and will not bring on these methods unless there is "reason" to do so. Doesn't mean we don't try to raise the bar - but it's a significantly more uphill battle than doing so in the case of RAW and the Indian military.
Post a Comment