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5 - Case 2

‘Enhanced Interrogation’ and the Prohibition on Torture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 January 2022

Simon Frankel Pratt
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne
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Summary

In Chapter 5, I investigate the emergence, institutionalisation, and cessation of the US use of torture during interrogation, in the form of ‘Enhanced Interrogation Techniques’ developed for the CIA’s detention and interrogation programme. I question whether this represents the erosion of international and domestic prohibitions on torture and find that it does not; they too continue to exist, but temporarily transformed, before reverting back to their earlier form. This process occurred because the CIA developed a new ‘science’ of interrogation and placed it at the centre of new institutional capacities to detain and interrogate ‘high-value’ prisoners, which they justified on the basis of its scientific validity and efficacy. Their legal and scientific arguments revolved around distinguishing their activities from torture, which they never claimed was appropriate but also never admitted to using. As these justifications increasingly failed, the use of EITs stopped and was again prohibited.

Type
Chapter
Information
Normative Transformation and the War on Terrorism
The Evolution of Targeted Killing, Torture, and Private Military Contracting
, pp. 86 - 119
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • Case 2
  • Simon Frankel Pratt, University of Melbourne
  • Book: Normative Transformation and the War on Terrorism
  • Online publication: 06 January 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009092326.006
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  • Case 2
  • Simon Frankel Pratt, University of Melbourne
  • Book: Normative Transformation and the War on Terrorism
  • Online publication: 06 January 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009092326.006
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Case 2
  • Simon Frankel Pratt, University of Melbourne
  • Book: Normative Transformation and the War on Terrorism
  • Online publication: 06 January 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009092326.006
Available formats
×