True, but.....

[nancylebov]

“Once you torture someone, it is hard to un-torture them.”

Aside from the moral and legal issues, I'm distracted by the question of how it could be possible (if hard) to un-torture someone other than by rewinding time.

Comments

[llennhoff.livejournal.com]

You could brainwash them into believing they were never tortured.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

PSTD is a likely result of torture (and probably of brainwashing, if it works), and it involves brain damage. Making a person forget torture doesn't mean that all the effects are gone.

[avram]

Isn't that pretty much the point Hutson was making?

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Yes. It's just that the phrasing got to me.

Try keeping an ear out for whether and how people make absolute statements these days.

[cuglas.livejournal.com]

Take away the memory. Memory loss can be induced by electro-convulsive shock treatments. You could shock the memory of being tortured out of them.

There are also drugs in development that lessen the emotional impact of an experience. They're designed for PTSD and they're going to make it easier for people to forget the feeling of a bad experience. They'll remember the event, but won't remember how it feels.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

See above about the limitations of memory removal. AFAIK, there is no way to control which memories ECT destroys.

[cuglas.livejournal.com]

Control is poor. In general, the closer the memory is to "now," the more likely it is to be removed. If you did it shortly after the torture, you'd probably (but not certainly) get rid of the recent memory of torture. Recent memories that are 2-6 weeks old (http://www.med.umich.edu/psych/care/ECT-Ed.html) are pretty responsive. Some people get spotty memory loss up to six months back.

So no guarantees... but if you did it within two weeks after the torture, you'd have a good chance of wiping the whole thing with ECT.

[avram]

But would that bring them back to their pre-torture condition, or would you just have a scared, traumatized person who doesn't remember why he's scared?

[cuglas.livejournal.com]

Hard to say. Nobody has tried it.

ECT removes the memory and PTSD is a memory dysfunction. The person wouldn't remember the torture, so no PTSD from the torture. Whether the long term effects of imprisonment and forced ECT would be a problem is an open question. ECT isn't nearly as traumatic as torture, though, so it's probably a net gain.

[avram]

Also, coming back to the original point, saying "Yeah, we tortured this guy, but then we fucked around with his memories so he doesn't remember it" hardly makes his testimony more reliable.

[cuglas.livejournal.com]

*snort*

The best answer is "Don't torture people."

I'm very encouraged that both Obama and McCain are clearly anti-torture.

Yeesh. I never thought "anti-torture" was a requirement in a candidate. It should go without saying that an American presidential candidate is anti-torture.

[holzman.livejournal.com]

When did McCain remember that torture is bad?

[surliminal.livejournal.com]

easy.
Change the definition of "torture".
A Passing lawyer..

[terriwells.livejournal.com]

Love your icon.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

I bet you'll love the comic it was taken from even more.

http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=2710