Monday, June 26, 2017



The British used waterboarding in Northern Ireland

Its long been known that the British government used torture in Northern Ireland during "the troubles". The Five Techniques were the subject of a case before the European Court of Human Rights, and it has since emerged that (contrary to the evidence it gave at the time) the British government had an official policy of torture. British army officers have admitted being torturers (that guy is still an MP, BTW. I guess Tories love torturers). But previously the admissions of torture have bene restricted to the Five Techniques. Now it turns out that they waterboarded, sexually assaulted, and electrocuted people as well:

Fresh documents which allege waterboarding was used by the British Army and the RUC in the North in the 1970s have been uncovered by a Derry human rights organisation.

Extracts from the papers - which also include claims of sexual assault and the use of electric shock treatment - will be read aloud by the actor Stephen Rea and others at a seminar hosted by the Pat Finucane Centre (PFC) and Amnesty International in London today (Monday).

Most of the documents, which have been seen by The Irish Times, are statements made by alleged victims to the Association for Legal Justice (ALJ).

In a way this isn't surprising. The British used similar techniques in Palestine, Malaya, Cyprus and Aden, and taught "friendly" dictatorships how to use them. At the same time, its worse than what's been previously alleged. And those responsible, from the soldiers and constables pouring water down people's throats to the politicians who authorised it, need to be prosecuted for it. And if the current British government won't commit to a full investigation and holding its past criminals to account, they should be joining them in the dock for perversion of the course of justice.