War on Terror the Transcript

War on Terror

The transcript concentrates on the decision by the Senate Armed Services Committee to pass the bill prohibiting the use of inhumane treatment, with direct applicability to the measures taken by the American administration and the CIA regarding the treatment of alleged terrorists detained in CIA jails and other different detention camps throughout the world. In the end, it is basically a discussion on how far a government or a country can go in order to reach its goals in something that may otherwise be considered entirely right. Are we allowed to use force and forceful actions in order to discover terrorists and in order to continue the global fight against terrorism in an efficient manner?

Certainly, the first observations is that torture was something generally used in the Middle Ages and that, since those times, it had only limited and regional applicability throughout history. On the other hand, these are certainly modern times, times where torture doesn't seem to belong and where human rights are a reality guaranteed by international law.

However, we can point out towards the fact that, different from the Middle Ages and from all challenges of humanity ever since, we are facing a new and dangerous enemy: global terrorism. In no time in history has terrorism been such a constant and global presence, a presence that can be felt in its invisible form in almost any country. The war against this formidable enemy can encompass extraordinary measures.

On the other hand, we are always bound to ask ourselves whether these measures can fit a certain framework, whether we can define reasonable limits to which we can act in the fight against terrorism. In my opinion, we can find that such reasonable limits are determined by the rule of law, in this case, by the rules imposed by international law and international treaties by which the democratic society decided to abide by. Democracy can be imposed only if the right example is given in this sense.

Torture is always completely arbitrary in the sense that you never know whether the person you are working it on is actually a terrorist or, perhaps, an innocent victim. The testimonies given by some of the prisoners are clear to show this.

The testimonies given in the transcription are those of different prisoners that have experienced the conditions in these secret CIA centres of detention. It is difficult not to be impressed by everything the victims have told the radio. The structure of their presentations follows the general forms of violent interrogations. For example, Binyam Mohamed tells us about his interrogation and describes it as almost the interrogators wanted to hear specific denunciations on his behalf and almost as if the torture was senseless after a point where the victim was already unable to provide any more information.