Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the Central Intelligence Agency embarked on a highly classified program of secret detention and extraordinary rendition of terrorist suspects. The program was designed to place detainee interrogations beyond the reach of law. Suspected terrorists were seized and secretly flown across national borders to be interrogated by foreign governments that used torture, or by the CIA itself in clandestine 'black sites' using torture techniques. This report is the most comprehensive account yet assembled of the human rights abuses associated with secret detention and extraordinary rendition operations. It details for the first time the number of known victims, and lists the foreign governments that participated in these operations. It shows that responsibility for the abuses lies not only with the United States but with dozens of foreign governments that were complicit. More than 10 years after the 2001 attacks, this report makes it unequivocally clear that the time has come for the United States and its partners to definitively repudiate these illegal practices and secure accountability for the associated human rights abuses.

This book develops, for the first time, a comprehensive discussion regarding the legality of torture and the efficacy of interrogation. Scientific research has concluded that torture is not effective. So, what interrogational methods are effective and how does one deploy those methods in such a way that is consistent with law and morality?

Before 9/11, films addressing torture outside of the horror/slasher genre depicted the practice in a variety of forms. In most cases, torture was cast as the act of a desperate and depraved individual, and the viewer was more likely to identify with the victim rather than the torturer. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, scenes of brutality and torture in mainstream comedies, dramatic narratives, and action films appear for little other reason than to titillate and delight. In these films, torture is devoid of any redeeming qualities, represented as an exercise in brutal senselessness carried out by authoritarian regimes and institutions. This volume follows the shift in the representation of torture over the past decade, specifically in documentary, action, and political films. It traces and compares the development of this trend in films from the United States, Europe, China, Latin America, South Africa, and the Middle East. Featuring essays by sociologists, psychologists, historians, journalists, and specialists in film and cultural studies, the collection approaches the representation of torture in film and television from multiple angles and disciplines, connecting its aesthetics and practices to the dynamic of state terror and political domination.

Drawing on insights from political science, criminology, and sociology, Torture: An Interdisciplinary Approach investigates the nature and evolution of torture. By surveying the use of torture across time and space, this book considers the development of an international human rights discourse challenging the legitimacy of torture as an instrument of interrogation. Kathleen Barrett, George Klay Kieh, Jr., Gavin M. Lee, and Neema Noori critically assess the effectiveness of legal regimes, both national and international, that arose as a result of this discourse and the emergent global movement to ban the use of torture. In addition to grappling with colonial legacies of torture and the particular ways that great powers, whether liberal or illiberal, deploy these coercive practices, this book argues that torture continues to serve as a repressive practice that mediates the relationship between the state and its citizens in many countries within the global south. The authors demonstrate that as governments move away from one set of perceived atrocities, they develop new methods of torture and establish novel strategies for justifying these coercive practices.

Barnes argues that despite the torture taboo’s violation, it still matters, and paradoxically, its strength can be seen by studying its violation.

Examines the involvement of local actors in conflicts over global norms at the intersection between international relations and international law.

This annual Report on armed conflicts around the world provides detailed information on each conflict which occurred in 2014. The Report sets out the conflicts' classification, applicable norms, key actors, methods of warfare, and the number of casualties. It also analyses key legal issues that arose in the context of these armed conflicts.