Degrading prison treatment causes the same psychological damage as torture
Go to original by WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer
[Excerpt] Prisoners who endure poor or degrading treatment suffer much of the same long-term psychological distress as do captives who are tortured, suggests a study published Monday.
The study was based on interviews with victims of ill treatment and torture while imprisoned in the former Yugoslavia, and experts said the findings underscored the need for a broader definition of torture.
“What is the basis for the distinction between torture and other cruel and degrading treatment? Science should inform this debate,” the study’s lead author, Metin Basoglu of the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College in London, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. The study was published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
Steve H. Miles of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Bioethics, who was not involved in the study, said the findings “show that the severity of long-lasting adverse mental effects is unrelated to whether the torture or degrading treatment is physical or psychological.”
“The wrongness of these inflicted harms is compounded by the fact that most abused prisoners, including those in the present war on terror, are innocent or ignorant of terrorist activities,” Miles said.
[From Paul Wright's
