The Kansas City Star finally published my letter to the editor on torture – tiny URL: first part and tiny URL: second part. I first wrote about my submission to the paper in a post on Show Me Progress titled: “Limited use of torture” in the Kansas City Star.
The online comments at the Star’s “Unfettered Letters” forum associated with my letter are a sad commentary on the state of our nation. tiny URL
The letter:
Torture is never OK
I’m not surprised to read a letter to the editor advocating crimes against humanity (11/21, “Limited use of torture“), given the tortured parsing of the present U.S. attorney general at his confirmation hearing. I shouldn’t be surprised since it’s apparent that, as a nation, we appear to base our morality, ethics and legal knowledge on the superficial content of television melodramas.
The prohibition of torture is a non-derogable human right – an absolute under federal law, international treaty obligations and the peremptory norms of international law. That is, no executive order, no law and no treaty (even if “the life of the nation is threatened”) can remove that prohibition under any circumstances. To do so is a crime against humanity.
There are several other non-derogable human rights. The analogy of police deadly force presented by the letter writer is a false one. If he wanted to provide a proper analogy in his justification of torture, he should have written about “limited use of murder (extra judicial death)” or “limited use of slavery.” Now, that would convince everyone that it’s all OK, don’t you think?
Michael Bersin
Warrensburg, Mo.
Yep, those comments are the real pieces of work.
The second comment:
The naivete of Professor Bersin knows no bounds. He concludes that wars are fought according to rules written by the Marquis of Queensberry.
Good intel often determines the course of the battle, and the war…
I don’t recall signing my letter “professor”. Somebody is watching me!
I don’t recall my letter mentioning anything about war. I don’t recall the letter advocating torture mentioning anything about war. Did Congress do something and not tell the rest of us?
United States Constitution, Article I, Section 8
The Congress shall have power to…To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water…
Another comment:
…How far do you go with Michael? Do you agree with the prohibition “even if “the life of the nation is threatened”? If Michael is indeed a Professor he may be inflicting a lifelong handicap on his students…
I guess possessing critical thinking is considered a handicap by some people. Or maybe ignorance is a virtue.
United States Constitution, Article VI
…all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land…
Title 18, Part I, Chapter 113C, Section 2340. (1) ”torture” means an act committed by a person acting under the color of law specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering (other than pain or suffering incidental to lawful sanctions) upon another person within his custody or physical control; (2) ”severe mental pain or suffering” means the prolonged mental harm caused by or resulting from – (A) the intentional infliction or threatened infliction of severe physical pain or suffering; (B) the administration or application, or threatened administration or application, of mind-altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or the personality; (C) the threat of imminent death; or (D) the threat that another person will imminently be subjected to death, severe physical pain or suffering, or the administration or application of mind-altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or personality; and (3) ”United States” includes all areas under the jurisdiction of the United States including any of the places described in sections 5 and 7 of this title and section 46501(2) of title 49.
Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Convention Against Torture)
Article 3 . 1. No State Party shall expel, return (“refouler”) or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture. 2. For the purpose of determining whether there are such grounds, the competent authorities shall take into account all relevant considerations including, where applicable, the existence in the State concerned of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights.
Article 4. 1. Each State Party shall ensure that all acts of torture are offences under its criminal law. The same shall apply to an attempt to commit torture and to an act by any person which constitutes complicity or participation in torture. 2. Each State Party shall make these offences punishable by appropriate penalties which take into account their grave nature.
Article 16. 1. Each State Party shall undertake to prevent in any territory under its jurisdiction other acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment which do not amount to torture as defined in article I, when such acts are committed by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. In particular, the obligations contained in articles 10, 11, 12 and 13 shall apply with the substitution for references to torture of references to other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
2. The provisions of this Convention are without prejudice to the provisions of any other international instrument or national law which prohibits cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment or which relates to extradition or expulsion.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
Article 4. 1 . In time of public emergency which threatens the life of the nation and the existence of which is officially proclaimed, the States Parties to the present Covenant may take measures derogating from their obligations under the present Covenant to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation, provided that such measures are not inconsistent with their other obligations under international law and do not involve discrimination solely on the ground of race, colour, sex, language, religion or social origin.
2. No derogation from articles 6, 7, 8 (paragraphs I and 2), 11, 15, 16 and 18 may be made under this provision. 3. Any State Party to the present Covenant availing itself of the right of derogation shall immediately inform the other States Parties to the present Covenant, through the intermediary of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, of the provisions from which it has derogated and of the reasons by which it was actuated. A further communication shall be made, through the same intermediary, on the date on which it terminates such derogation.Article 7. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In particular, no one shall be subjected without his free consent to medical or scientific experimentation.
As further evidence that newspaper blogs really suck one of the commenters blathers on about bringing “the real world of ‘kill or be killed'” to the conversation whilst “sipping a good scotch and smoking good cigars”. Go read it, it’s got to be straight from an unsolicited 24 script written and submitted by an anxious 14 year old. So much for the rule of law and the Constitution.
Yup, as a people, we really do get or morality, ethics, and legal knowledge from television melodramas. Well, some people get it:
The ones who argue that “torture has existed in every war” (therefore it’s okay now; we just need to look the other way) seem to be proving Mr. Bersin’s point…
Good letter Prof. Bersin… thx
Of course America shouldn’t torture, it is the Supreme Law of the Land not to, and when Bush says he can interpret McCain’s detainee amendment on the fly, the prohibition of torture whisked away with the flip of a signing statement, he is violating the Supreme Law of the Land and arguably committing impeachable offences.
Even the American Bar Association has indicted this act as a violation of the separation of powers, a cornerstone of our fundamental American form of government.
I wasn’t shocked to hear some of the extreme comments your concerned letter attracted, because unfortunately I’ve grown accustomed to some of these “oh let’s just nuke ’em til they glow” kinds of attitudes.
But speaking to the culture of unbridled and repugnant expressions of violence and bluster that come out of the mouths of many, I have to say that with all the simulated violence and bloodletting that occurs so frequently in our media world, persistently being pounded into the eyes and ears of many of our citizens, collectively we are subtly being inculcated into accepting this cruel and brutal behavior as reality.
I question the ability for us as humans to metabolize the sophisticated light and sound show that we all almost constantly bathe in – violence in video games, movies – and park these observed behaviors and violent tendencies into some benign realm of merely just being harmless “entertainment”.
These attitudes seep in – they creep into our consciousness.
When we see the oh so exciting Jack Bauer on Fox’s 24 beat his chest with cro-magnon bravado – and subsequently get rewarded for it – the conditioning takes place, saying that this is how we should behave; this is how we win.
But in reality this is how we will lose. In war, it is life that is the loser.
This is how we will lose as a society, continuing to invest in amplifying cultural values that end up pitting us at our fellow human being’s throats – life is not Hollywood, but tough guy comments that say we should throw away the rule of law “cause we’re at war” I think more accurately reflects the “scriptorical” record coming out of Hollywood, rather than the historical record from real life.
I have worked in Hollywood for 20 years and know that the cultural race to the bottom has been more a function of the same no-holds barred attitude spawned from Reagan’s free market evangel of an unregulated cornocopian vision of how our economy should work.
Sadly, the only thing that has “trickled down” is our values, our cultural mores, and the ability to responsibly educate our children and take care of our own.
The American family feels it is under siege by the values coming out of Hollywood, especially folks in the Midwest here in Missouri.
There is a way for the Federal Government to return to the kind of stewardship to our publicly owned airwaves that sets priorities for our media venues and begins to uplift and inspire, as opposed to take advantage of and sell-out.
Seeing the unbalanced effects of the efforts to privatize every molecule on the planet and to make government the hand maiden to Corporate interest, shows all the negative results that have cascaded into the Health Care crisis, the oil war in Iraq, the giant sucking sound that Perot prophesized about actually coming true – and also the increasing levels of worthless sensationalism in our media, information and communications outlets.
This base level of morality delivered through reality TV shows, violent messages and the constant pounding of celebrity’s tawdry displays, is so much more entertaining and distracting then what goes down in a first grade classroom, isn’t it?
Like a train crashing in slow motion, this level of violent and banal content is so much more profitable, and in as much, has monopolized the main stream and has put moral consideration and restraint to the side, along with the foundational values of our future generations.
There are so many amazing individuals doing such valuable work to reform our educational system inside of the classroom, but what about the culturally unbridled and valueless “education” they are receiving outside of the classroom?
The educational impact occurring outside of the classroom is an area that has been avoided and ignored for far too long considering our children’s experiences outside of the classroom may have an impact on their values and educational perspectives that makes up possibly 90% of their forming minds and their walk through life, where their classroom work might make up 10%.
This is a political problem that must be grappled with, and it’s time to enter this arena. If through legislation we can have even a slight positive impact on this educational environment occurring outside of the classroom, the whole world becomes a better place.
Having worked in the entertainment industry, I know that these show biz executives are just putting their fiduciary responsibilities above their social and cultural responsibilities because like Simons says – Reagan said, blow up the bottom line at any cost.
At any cost: even at the expense of the integrity and moral composition of our culture and communities.
The brilliance of our fundamental American system of government is balance and moderation, but increasingly we have been following the nightmarish scenario that President Franklin D. Roosevelt put forward when he said that Fascism is when Corporate power supersedes public power, and makes government subservient to its rapacious appetite for profits.
This is where we are today.
Drawing on my experience in the entertainment industry, I have seen firsthand how things have gotten so unbalanced and out of control in regard to the lack of cultural and social responsibility exhibited by the programming carried by our massive media multi-national conglomerates.
I see these trends as being the byproduct of market populism taken to the nth degree, putting profits and power over people and life. These trends can be reversed through an insightful analysis of the problem, innovative and creative approaches to solving the problem and then political practicality as we implement it and get it passed.
I have been crafting and will propose a piece of Federal legislation to contend with the negative impact that the unhinged free market ideology has caused to our educational system outside of our classrooms.
It is called the HELPME Act.
Healthy Education and Learning through a Positive Media Environment.
It is an effort to return our nation’s leaders towards hand-holding our corporate culture into the kind of ethical and social stewardship our communities so desperately need and deserve today.
Simply, it will provide for 15% of the programming of our media venues to carry culturally, socially and educationally responsible material — that’s about one out of every six hours. It won’t be based on censorship, but rather creating economic incentives to broadcast information, shows, and programming that have positive impact upon the kind of learning and values we want to blossom and spread.
Investing in education to improve the quality of life for our nation and for our children should be an absolute priority, and it is a political priority for me in my run opposing pro-war Republican Todd Akin.
Refocusing our creative attention and legislative resources to this end will raise our expectations, lift our hope and the results will bring America to higher ground.
In your service,
Byron DeLear
Byron@DeLearforCongress.org
http://www.DeLearforCongress.org
Congressional Campaign in Missouri’s 2nd District
That we actually are debating torture is indication how 9/11 has changed us for the worse.
More importantly, it suggests how ugly the election will be next year.