Torture as a Political Technology: A Socio-Political Analysis of the Widespread Use of Torture

Lead Research Organisation: Queen's University Belfast
Department Name: Sch of Natural and Built Environment

Abstract

This is an impactful cross-disciplinary research into the use of torture as a political technology. It will be conducted in collaboration with an international civil society organization (the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel - PCATI), and with two universities in the UK (SOAS and QUB).
Events of the last two decades show that torture cannot be regarded as a relic of the past, underscoring the importance of investigating its operation and internal logics. We do so focusing on Israel as a case-study. In common with other colonial and post-colonial regimes, Israel uses torture not as the rare exception, but systematically. Independent human rights experts estimate that approximately 50% of Palestinians have been exposed to torture by Israeli security agencies, either directly or indirectly. Israel therefore provides a paradigmatic case study for investigating the effects of the widespread deployment of torture. Firstly, our research explores what the systematic application of torture aims to do to the communities thus targeted. Framing the deployment of torture as a political technology (Foucault 1975), we examine whether and how it seeks to shape subjects, communal ties, and political relations. We therefore examine torture as a phenomenon that extends beyond the exertion of brute violence, and should rather be considered as a colonial technology of population control. Second, we examine the effects of the prolonged and widespread use of torture on the society which facilitates its use, by mapping and analysing the interfaces between the security apparatuses and civic infrastructures that enable this deployment of torture. We do so with a particular focus on the healthcare system. Healthcare is not only most directly implicated in sustaining torture; as a system predicated on the ethics of care, its convergence with the violence of torture is most striking. However, unlike most literature to date, our research does not focus on the ethical codes of the medical profession as a normative set of principles that are being compromised, eroded, or violated in this convergence (see Research Context). Rather, we examine how ethics is institutionalised and operationalised as a set of practices and procedures used to mitigate and mediate the incongruity between the rationales of torture and medical practices of care. Extensive archival research, coupled with interviews, will enable us to reconstruct the infrastructures, effects and rationales of torture.
Our research is based on the exclusive access this research team has been granted to the archive of PCATI. The PCATI archive provides a rich and highly valuable source of data documenting torture practices implemented by Israeli security agencies. Most significantly, the archive includes depositions provided by more than 5,500 Palestinian victims of torture. These depositions were all conducted with lawyers, usually shortly after the conclusion of the interrogations and while the victim was still incarcerated. The nature of these depositions, as well as their sheer volume, is, in and of itself, an invaluable wealth of knowledge whose scholarly significance cannot be overstated. The archive further includes tens of thousands of documents, ranging from medical records and social worker reports to official responses to appeals and correspondence with government offices. Together, these afford direct access to first-hand accounts of the practice of torture. The access granted to the PCATI archive therefore presents a unique opportunity for investigating the systematic use of torture. The project will consist of the processing (digitisation, rationalisation, database construction) of the archive, and a close and detailed investigation into its data to expose facets of torture which thus far have remained hidden.

Publications

10 25 50
 
Description Full details will be provided on completion of the project.
Exploitation Route Full details will be provided on completion of the project.
Sectors Government

Democracy and Justice

Security and Diplomacy

 
Description Full details will be provided on completion of the project.
First Year Of Impact 2023
Sector Government, Democracy and Justice,Security and Diplomacy
 
Description Mapping authorised practices
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Contribution to new or improved professional practice
Impact It assisted in challenging the use of interrogation methods which violate the UN Convention Against Torture, Cruel, Inhumane and Degrading Treatment, and which are illegal according to international law.
 
Description AHRC IAA Leading Impact Fund QUB
Amount £924,800 (GBP)
Organisation Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 12/2022 
End 07/2023
 
Description Impact Accelerations Grant
Amount £10,000 (GBP)
Organisation School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London) 
Sector Academic/University
Country United Kingdom
Start 02/2023 
End 07/2023
 
Description PhD Studentships, QUB
Amount £121,104 (GBP)
Organisation Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 09/2022 
End 09/2025
 
Title Archive coding 
Description This is a research tool which is used to classify interrogation practices. It is based on a coding method developed in this research. The method allows extracting longitudinal quantitative data from a text-based archive. 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact This research method allowed the dissemination of aggregated data in policy papers. This data was also used in an appeal submitted to the International Criminal Court at the Hague. 
 
Title Digital Archive - The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) 
Description A digitized archive of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI). PCATI is a human rights organisation dedicated to providing legal aid to victims of torture, and to combating torture. The archive houses tens of thousands of documents relating to more than 5,500 individual PCATI cases from 1990 to the present. The archive includes victim depositions, legal documents and accompanying records. The construction of the archive included the sorting and scanning of 63,148 pages (close to 5,000 files). All printed materials were processed through an optical character recognition (OCR) software to allow searches. The construction of the digital archive was completed on 30 October 2022. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact In addition to creating a primary research tool for future investigations of torture and state violence, this database serves the needs of PCATI and associated civil society organisations (CSOs) in their efforts to combat torture. 
URL https://stoptorture.org.il/en/
 
Description 7 October CRSV Workshop 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact This workshop brought together international experts on conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) to develop a toolkit for processing and preserving CRSV evidence and for formulating guidelines for ethically-informed and victim-centred reporting and disseminating CRSV evidence. These tools would prove highly advantageous for policymakers and civil society organisations operating in regions where CRSV is prevalent.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024
 
Description Beyond the Archive: Critical Conversations on Images of Past and Future 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Engaging with undergraduate and postgraduate students and other scholars working on research relating to archives. Four talks were delivered and the speakers engaged with the audience through formal and informal discussions.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/event/beyond-archive-critical-conversations-images-past-and-future
 
Description Community Archives: International Collaborations 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Establishing international co-operations with researchers and practitioners working on community archives. on Research in Community Archives in Israel, which was held in Haifa, Israel
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Protect the Israeli Judiciary - but Don't Let It Launder War Crimes Against Palestinians 
Form Of Engagement Activity A magazine, newsletter or online publication
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact A magazine article which connects some of the research findings to current events and makes them accessible to the general public.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://theintercept.com/2023/03/29/israel-judiciary-war-crimes-palestine/
 
Description The Istanbul Protocol: Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and its 2022 amendment Workshop 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact A workshop for practitioners from the health sector on the amendment introduced to the 2022 Istanbul Protocol.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023,2024