knowledge at work - august

Secret abuse in CIA Prisons

America, the leader of the developed world believes in rationality, fair play and equal rights for all. It was one of the cofounders of the Human Right Commission. However this articles jolts all those high ideals one holds for America. It shows the dark grim face hidden behind all those smiles of affability. This article even though maintains a narrative tone elicits an array of human emotions depending on the cultural background of the reader. To an Asian reader like me this article elicits scorn, anger and disbelief towards the CIA and pity towards the detainees. I cannot understand the rationale behind such inhuman treatment.
One recurrent feature of the news in the article was the fact a lot of the news said was by anonymous sources. We see that the CIA has kept everything under cover. All facts are concealed from the public domain. Thus as a reader we don’t know whom and what to believe. This is an issue of serious concerns. The writer also makes a claim to know the insights into the depth of the incident. However the writer himself does not know any specifics to this report. The foundation of the facts is a weak a it is based on unrevealed reports. This appropriation of facts is rampant among many governments. The Iranian authorities are using prolonged harsh interrogations, beatings, sleep deprivation, and threats of torture to extract false confessions from detainees arrested since the disputed June 12 presidential election. The confessions appear designed to support unsubstantiated allegations by senior government officials that Iran's post-election protests, in which at least 20 people were killed, were supported by foreign powers and aimed at overthrowing the government. Human Rights Watch has collected accounts from detainees after their release illustrating how the authorities are mistreating and threatening prisoners in a deliberate effort to obtain false confessions. A 17-year-old boy who was arrested on June 27 and released on July 1 told Human Rights Watch how his prison interrogator forced him and others to sign a blank statement of confession. The authorities have conveniently concluded that detainees have confessed to their involvement in a foreign-backed plot to overthrow the government with a "velvet" revolution. Thus here we see how helpless we are. Truth is being revealed but political pressures are suppressing our voice. Detention is unethical, that I strongly believe that. However this practice rampant numerous countries and is validated by law.
Even if there is a lack of sources regarding the incident that had taken place, the knowledge issue does serve to remind us about how even in a democratic, socialist, secular country like America, one cannot be guaranteed basic human rights. Emotions have taken over reason in case of the American CIA. They have used fallacious reasoning and got stuck in the vicious circle of rationalisation. The fear of having another attack like 9-11 has made the interrogators ruthless and inhumane. Their emotions have taken oven their reason. They have developed a biased perception against Asians. Fallacious reasoning, that just because a few set of brown skinned people turned out to be terrorists all of them are has lead them to make hasty generalisation. All emotions have built up and are removed on detainees.

This article raises questions like are we really free? Is our entire life going to be governed by fear. The movie New York directed by Kabir Khan deals with a similar knowledge issue. However it is much more effusive and open about facts. In that movie we see the social implications detention. 10000 people were detained after the World Trade centre attack and all were found innocent. In this movie we see the psychological impact it has on one such detainee. Rather than solving the problem detention triggers societal evils. After the inhuman treatment people are unable to lead a normal life. In this movie a detainee goes o to become a terrorist. I am not justifying his acts but I genuinely believe that what he did was a normal human reaction. Once a successful and jovial boy he was transformed to a ruthless murderer. And looking at this makes me feel unsafe. This could happen to anyone. Are we all at the mercies of the judgement of some official who may just find the way we look suspicious. And the biggest highlight is that he won’t have to feel guilty or be punished. He will only be “reprimanded” for playing with the lives of innocent people. What kind of justice is this?
Detention is an unethical practice which if left unchecked can encroach into anybody’s life and devour it without even a warning. The proponents of detention may counter argue that detention preventive measure to ascertain security. However can arbitrary judgments made by a few officials, based value judgements and not facts decide the fate of thousands of people?