Truth, torture, and the American way : the history and consequences of U.S. involvement in torture / Jennifer K. Harbury.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Harbury, Jennifer.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Human rights--Government policy--United States.

Human rights.

Human rights--Government policy.

United States.

Human rights--Latin America.

Latin America.

Torture.

Political prisoners--Abuse of.

Political prisoners.

Physical Description:

xxxi, 227 pages ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

Boston : Beacon Press, [2005]

Summary:

Jennifer Harbury's investigation into torture began when her husband disappeared in Guatemala in 1992; she told the story of his torture and murder in Searching for Everardo. For over a decade since, Harbury has used her formidable legal, research, and organizing skills to press for the U.S. government's disclosure of America's involvement in harrowing abuses in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. A draft of this book had just been completed when the first photos from Abu Ghraib were published; tragically, many of Harbury's deepest fears about America's own abuses were graphically confirmed by those horrific images.This urgently needed book offers both well-documented evidence of the CIA's continuous involvement in torture tactics since the 1970s and moving personal testimony from many of the victims. Most important, Harbury provides solid, convincing arguments against the use of torture in any circumstances- not only because it is completely inconsistent with all the basic values Americans hold dear, but also because it has repeatedly proved to be ineffective- Again and again,'information' obtained through these gruesome tactics proves unreliable or false. Worse, the use of torture by U.S. client states, allies, and even by our own operatives, endangers our citizens and especially our troops deployed internationally.

Contents:

An early glimpse

The fall of Abu Ghraib

The lessons of Latin American human rights history

From the Latin American torture cells

What can be done : the law

Paying the price

Reflections on our future.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 192-215) and index.

ISBN:

0807003077

OCLC:

60349106