Customer Reviews

Unspeakable Acts, Ordinary People: The Dynamics of Torture

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It is diffucult to write a book as broad as this, but I hope this review helps you to get a better understanding of what this book is about. To put it simply, Conroy examines the dynamics of torture: how it is done, what kind of person tortures others and why, and what is the affect of torture on the person actually tortured. Conway uses an excellent method of making his points in that he decides on an aspect of torture he wants to examine (e.g. the effect of torture on the tortured), gives details of three actual torture event (always Belfast IRAs tortured by British, Palastinians tortured by the Israeli army, and a black cop-killer tortured by Chicago police), then draws conclusions from them. This is not to say that he limits himself and his studies to these three events; far from it. Conroy interviews victims from these tortures and many others. One of the most intersting aspects of the book is when Conroy examines the question of who tortures. He interviews several persons who tortured (including members of South American armies, a U.S. soldier in Vietnam, a British agent in Africa, etc.) and determined that they have the remarkable ability to rationalize what they have done. Conroy even admits that the majority of the torturers are cordial, likable people. He then presents, through describing scientific experiments that all people have the ability to torture, because people have the ability to rationalize actions that they consider inconsistant with their general opininos of themselves. I could go on as Conroy draws several fascinating conclusions about various aspects of torture. However, one aspect of this book that this reader had problems with concerns Conroy's handling of the Chicago Police aspect of this book. While in other portions of this book, the author is surprisingly objective, in the Chicago case, Conroy's bias shines through. Conroy spent years researching this case for his newspaper and it seems as if his reputation as a journalist depends on coloring the judge as inept and the entire case as racist. I find this aspect of the book to be an unprofessional result of typical journistic arrogance. In all, an excellent, thought provoking, highly recommended book.

Unspeakable Acts, Ordinary People by John Conroy

In 1975 the United Nations defined torture as "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted by or at the instigation of a public official on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or confession, punishing him for an act he has committed, or intimidating him or other persons...Torture constitutes an aggravated and deliberate form of cruel , inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." However, as John Conroy points out in his important new study of torture, Unspeakable Acts, Ordinary People, "the UN definition... has proved to be not so easily interpreted in court. When does pain or suffering become 'severe'?" he asks, and how do we define "cruel, inhuman or degrading" treatment?

This study of torture examines its practice in Ireland, Palestine and the United States, with reference to its history and to its continuing effects upon its victims and asks "what kind of person tortures another human being?" It answers this by examining the professionalisation of torture and its use as a political tool. "It became a function," he was told by a former Rhodesian torturer, "It became a part of the job. It became standard operating procedure." Conroy describes how the Greek secret police tortured recruits in order to make torturers out of them, making it easier for the torturers to dehumanize their own victims and to rationalize what they themselves were doing:

"The isolation of the recruits eliminated external points of view that might interfere with the indoctrination."

Therefore the normal limits of obedience were dissolved and serving authority became its own reality for one recruit: "Torturing became a job... If the officers ordered you to beat, you beat. If they ordered you to stop, you stopped. You never thought you could do otherwise." Conroy explains how the training of torturers is an exact science designed to project "a positive self-image" and points to a Yale study on the limits of obedience. The experiment illustrated how easily people could ignore responsibility and view themselves as a link in the chain of authority and concluded that "ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process." Conroy sees this conclusion as informative:

many people are unable to act on their values... even when it is patently clear that they are inflicting harm, relatively few people have the resources to resist authority... in view of the positive reinforcement engendered by a largely satisfied society, it is not difficult to understand how a torturer can hold on to a positive self-image... The British comforted themselves with the rationalization that their methods were nothing compared to the suffering created by the IRA. The Israelis regularly argue that their methods pale in comparison to the torture employed by the Arab states.

Conroy also points to the "infectious" nature of torture: the five techniques used against the hooded men in Ireland had been inflicted on people across the British empire, in Palestine, Malaya, Kenya, Cyprus, British Cameroons, Brunei, British Guiana, Aden, Malaysia and the Persian Gulf. The Israeli Justice Moshe Landau, clearly impressed by the British techniques used in Ireland, established guidelines for the application of "moderate physical pressure" on Palestinian prisoners:

Landau cited the decision of the judges of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Ireland vs. the United Kingdom, the decision that determined that the five techniques were inhuman and degrading but not torture. In the years after the Landau Commission filed its report the GSS and the IDF (the Israeli secret police) had adapted the British methods wholesale

Thus the case of the hooded men, and the European Court's watered down definition of what was done to them by the British state, set an international precedent.

John Conroy met and interviewed the torturers of Palestinians at Beita and Hawara and reported on the trial that exposed the torturers of Andrew Wilson in Chicago. Ted Heath, who was British Prime Minister who during the torture of Irish internees in 1971, refused to be interviewed by the author. The hearings into their case were held in secret in the human rights building in Strasbourg. Crucially, Conroy points out that the 14 volume, 4,500 page transcript of that hearing today remains secret. The democratic government on whose behalf the torture was carried out in 1971 closed ranks in a repeated pattern that continues to this day.

John Conroy raises vital questions about the use of torture in the present and in the future. Importantly, the book acknowledges that torture still happens and it shows how it is still used by governments who have learned from its use in the past. Methods that have filtered down from Ireland and other British colonies have made their way to Palestine and the Palestinian authority's prisons: "The Soviet Union, China, and North Korea provided the inspiration for the British use of the five techniques. The British methods inspired the Israelis. Israeli methods have in turn inspired the Palestinians, who now have their own torturable class in the West Bank and Gaza." Unspeakable Acts, Ordinary People is an important book because it shows that torture is not something that happens far away and that it can happen in western democracies. It provides vital information required by anyone who wants to understand the role of torture. As Conroy sums up, "(it) is always easier to see torture in another country than in one's own". As he concludes, there are no happy endings for the victims: "It seems a very small leap to argue that torture is the perfect crime. There are exceptions... but in the vast majority of cases, only the victim pays."

Most of this book examines three case studies, from numerous different angles, unveiling the mentality of torturer and tortured alike. The breaking up of the three cases into non-sequential sections aids readability a bit, and the whole tone of the writing is very collected and non-sensational. It does a great job of pointing out not only the details of the individual cases, but the importance of those tortures as events for the societies involved.

It's refreshing that Conroy puts focus on first world torturers, and forces us to consider that so-called civilized societies can produce monsters just as starved, desperate nations can. And it suggest that a person can be a monster one day, and a normal, caring human being the next- it forces us to examine the importance of context, the universal susceptibility of humanity to cruelty, and the significance of governmental authority in converting individuals into torturers and back again.

Conroy also spends a few chapters explaining the history of torture, the trends that arise, and the elements where people are just unpredictable, and torture occurs in ways and places you wouldn't expect. Sadly, torture seems to be a major driving force in society, and in law, through most of mankind's history. Conroy also gives away the tricks torturers use to inflict maximum suffering with minimum risk to themselves, often using techniques that horribly scar the mind while making no changes to the body. This may lead you to evaluate current news stories differently.

I must say, though, I've read numerous books about war crimes, tyrants and acts of slaughter without difficulty, but this actually was difficult to read at times. Particularly the section about the 5 techniques awakened a disgust in me that I, as a hardened reader, rarely feel. This book is easily important enough to justify the disturbing details. But it's even more of a downer than the title would suggest, and sensitive readers may not be able to stomach it.

Unlike books in which the cover promises much more than the author delivers, this one reflects "truth in advertising." The title and content fit together beautifully.

There may be better ways to illustrate the profound and disturbing fact that, given the right circumstances, ordinary people can and do commit unspeakable acts, but I doubt it. In an area in which authors seemingly find it easy to draw conclusions beyond their legitimate findings, and sensationalism can creep in with or without intention, John Conroy has done an excellent job of sticking with the facts and generally letting them speak for themselves. It's a good example of "less is more."

Conroy's extensive research and careful explication, coupled with
a carefully crafted framework for presentation of the data make it easy for the reader to follow what he is presenting. Setting forth examples of torture in three different settings and following this pattern of presentation in subsequent sections lets us end up with a clear gestalt of his material. A reporter, Conroy sticks to his training and avoids the temptation to
confuse his role with that of a research psychologist. The outcome:
--A clear presentation of what torture is and how ubiquitous it is.
--A strong blow to the common view that only monsters engage in torture and that torture occurs only in places far removed from us.

In appreciation to the author and to my son who recommended the book to me, I heartily commend it to anybody who seeks to understand today's world.

"Unspeakable Acts, Ordinary People" is a thoughtful investigation of torture in the modern world. Conroy reconstructs three episodes: the torture of IRA suspects by the British Army in 1971; the torture of Palestinians by Israeli troops in 1988; and the torture of a cop-killing suspect by Chicago police in 1982. Along the way, he reflects on torture in countries such as Greece, Rhodesia, and Uruguay; he also explores the implications of scientific studies such as the famous Milgram experiment. The narrative is constructed out of media accounts, official documents, and Conroy's own interviews. The writing is calm and factual, even though the subject is horrifying.

Although this book was published in 2000, it will be a wake up call for anyone who naively thinks think that Abu Ghraib was the work of a "few bad apples" in the U.S. Army. The "stress and duress" techniques used in Iraq -- sleep deprivation, hooding, sexual humiliation, muscle stress, etc. -- are standard operating procedures for interrogators who want to torture prisoners without leaving traces of physical abuse. As Conroy documents, these techniques were used in Northern Ireland and on the West Bank; they were also taught to Latin American soldiers by the U.S. Army and the CIA.

The only thing unique about Iraq, alas, is the fact that U.S. soldiers were stupid enough to film their own atrocities.

The above quote comes from the brief biographical piece on John Conroy included in the online program for the 2000 Amnesty International USA Midwest Regional Conference, one of the many human rights forums at which he has lent his expertise on torture as a featured speaker. I agree with the view expressed in the quote completely - this book brilliantly illuminates some fundamental truths that we must face if we are to eliminate torture.

The most important issue is alluded to in the following quote from the book's introduction (pp. ix-x): "When I embarked on this project, when I was still unsure as to what form the manuscript would take, dozens of people asked me if I was going to visit various nations well-known for their use of torture. It seemed to me that these well-meaning men and women had the idea that torture was something done in some backward civilization by the barely human and certainly ignorant. I was gradually becoming aware, however, that torture is something that most of us are capable of, and so I decided to use case studies that I thought American readers could identify with - `people like us' who deployed the brutal methods I'd heard associated with the Third World."

The countries on which the case studies focus are Great Britain, Israel, and the United States. Most people in the United States would probably react to news of the project underlying this book in the same manner as Conroy describes, and would not understand why such a book would focus on the chosen countries. Therein lies the problem we must recognize if we are to end torture: torture is not something confined to far away or backward countries full of strange, ignorant people - despite the universal prohibitions on torture contained in international law and the laws of almost all nations, it is something that is also done by individuals functioning on behalf of our own and closely allied governments, purportedly in our interest, and with our approval or at least our acquiescence. As Conroy states (p. 240), "I found I did not have to journey far to learn that torture is something we abhor only when it is done to someone we like, preferably someone we like who lives in another country."

In my opinion, the most valuable works of nonfiction are characterized by accuracy, by focusing on important and unrecognized or insufficiently appreciated facets of life, by treating the subjects and readers with respect, and by a level of organization and quality of writing that makes the process of reading and thinking about the issues covered well worth the reader's time. This book succeeds in all of these aspects.

The organization of the book into four sections, each containing a chapter on each of the three case studies, followed by a chapter covering the fundamental issues brought to light by the case studies and by Conroy's additional research and analysis, serves as an excellent framework. Conroy is a highly gifted writer (one of the first things I did upon finishing the book was to buy and read his earlier and equally well written Belfast Diary: War as a Way of Life), and the discussions of the case studies are well worth rereading, but the fact that one can glean the central points from the four summary/analysis chapters makes the book particularly useful as a continuing reference.

Having spent a number of years studying literatures on various forms of human violence and brutality, I can wholeheartedly endorse this book as illuminating a set of truths as important to those concerned with human rights as one is likely to find. Only a sampling can be included in a brief review.

One crucial section is in the first of the overview chapters, entitled "History and Method," where Conroy identifies four central aspects or patterns of torture through the ages. Another is his discussion of the Milgram experiments on obedience to authority in the chapter entitled "Torturers." Yet another is in the final chapter, entitled "Bystanders," where he describes how when evidence of torture in democracies is brought to light, there is a common pattern of denial and other responses more sympathetic and helpful to the torturers than to the victims.

The most crucial point of all is illuminated by Conroy's statement (p. 122) about what it was like to interview torturers: "The worst part of these interviews was that they were not difficult. Finding the men was not easy, convincing them to talk to me was hard work, but invariably our meetings went well. I never met the monster I anticipated." If we are to stop torture we must stop looking for monsters and begin by looking in the mirror and into our own hearts. If you are interested in helping, reading and absorbing the wisdom of this book is as good a first step as you can take.

This is a book for those who think that the guys in the white hats must be the good guys.

The right to be free from torture is absolute under international law, and there are no exceptions permitted. John Conroy chose to look at torture by governments of three Western democracies - Israel, Great Britain (in Northern Ireland) and The United States (Chicago) and to talk not only to the victims, but where possible, to the torturers. There is no reason to think that most torturers in other, non-democratic, countries are any different from those we meet here. Most regard themselves as doing an unpleasant but necessary job - maintaining the security of the State from the Outsider, be he Irish Catholic, Palestinian or Black. Others are sadistic, and would be sadistic torturers under any regime. While Conroy limits himself to a specific incidence from each country, we know that more than 60 men were tortured in the same Chicago police station where Conroy's events take place, that Great Britain tortured or unjustifiably shot many dozens of IRA suspects, and that Israel routinely tortured hundreds of Palestinians until this year.

We are all aware that torture occurs in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, China, Turkey, and Sudan. It is less well known that torture is also widespread in the jails of India and Mexico. The understated story that Conroy tells gives powerful evidence of how easy it is to slip into such practices, even in a democracy. Under the right (or wrong) circumstances the torturer could be you or me.

How do ordinary people become torturers? This provides an unusual and eye-opening examination of a little-discussed topic, using firsthand interviews, news accounts and official documents to examine interrogation processes around the world. Psychological and social influences on the development of torture are revealed in depth.

Diane C. Donovan Reviewer

In the first pages of his book, ``Unspeakable Acts, Ordinary People: The Dynamics of Torture,'' John Conroy states that he is not giving an balanced overview of torture in the world. Instead of going to the Red Chinese Laogai, or a Ugandan dungeon, he uses examples where we might consider the government forces to be the good guys-- Israel, Britian, and Chicago.

This is both the strength and weakness of his book. It makes the stories more immediate, unpredictable, and chilling. There are no cheap thrills to be had by relishing over the details of the grisly methods of some far off totalitarian or third world savage.

However, this is also the book's weakness. For these acts do come in the name of doing good, stopping terrorism or murder, and despite their admitted excesses, are also different, then, in kind from the other type I mentioned. The Israeli and British (which was more psychological in nature) problems happen in the context of a long and brutal, on again, off again, war marked by periods of sudden violence and terrorism, where soldiers become frustrated, and, because of the democratic nature of their goverments, often are targets in a way that the armies of more brutal governmets are not forced to endure. The Chicago incident happened in the wake of a cold blooded cop killing-- though it was not an isolated case, if testimony is to be believed.

Also different is that in each of these cases, there were those within the ranks who protested the acts, and this was not-- as Conroy points out was the case with the Gestapo, the Imperial Japanese, or the various forms of the KGB-- broadly applied terror tactics against the population as a whole designed to stifle dissent.

Conroy gives a brief history of torture, reminding us that not so long ago it was considered a judicial remedy and a legitimate investigation technique, though I think it is a mistake to equate corporal punishment in a society that could never have afforded a prison system, with the modern concept of torture.

The strength of the book is less in its analysis than in its reporting. Conroy talks directly to those involved in the incidents, and reveals them to be ordinary people. This is disturbing, but not quite as surprising as he expects us to be.

Now, if the chief Gestapo torturer, or the best inflictor of pain in the Lubyanka, sounded like my next door neighbor, THAT would give me pause.

Provides a balanced perspective to types of torture, understanding the torturer and the torture survivor, and to look at how social systems continue to ignore or support the use of torture. By using four very different case studies Conroy is able to open the readers perspective of the topics. I suggest that my interns read this book as a comparitive study which had been accomodated by having matching chapters in each of the case studies.
This book is highly recommended.