Let's Talk Torture
This is a subject that most of us tend to avoid. However, the reaction of a society to torture tells us a lot about that society. After the events in Abu Graib came out, Americans, not everyone, but more than a few, were horrified.
Chiefly, there were both army investigations and a US Senate investigation. We can all speak about how that was done. Or how low cogs in the machine paid most of the price. But in general, the public reacted as Democratic societies do. We recoiled in horror. Yes, the pictures of that infamy will live in horror. It also broke a pattern in the long-standing treatment of prisoners of war. One reason the army threw the book at some people.
I am prefacing this piece with that reaction because, after the assault on the Crocus City Hall, Russia was publicly involved in quite a bit of torture to extract confessions.
I will also have to put a trigger warning here. Some of the descriptions of torture are very descriptive. So, if the subject tends to trigger you, stop reading now. However, I am not including the worst photos. Only a single screen cap via Twitter, with the least triggering image. Nor is this a defense of ISIS. But I hope we all agree torture has no place in civilized societies. And I will add this. It’s not an exception in Russia. Units do this for fun with POWs as well.
So, let’s dive in using Russian channels. Let’s start with. the more matter of factly Volyamedia:
Torture of terrorism suspects ‘consolidates society’
On March 23–25, z and propaganda TG channels published videos of Tajik citizens detained in the Bryansk region, whom Russian authorities accuse of committing a terrorist attack in Crocus. One had his ear cut off, the other was given an electric shock to the genitals. The third was brought to court in an unconscious state.
All the detainees were severely beaten; one, judging by their appearance, had a broken jaw (in the video from the first interrogation, the jaw was still intact).
Propagandists, such as the Shot channel, publish interviews with Russians who praise the security forces for their quality work, call them “our guys” and say that they themselves would have acted more harshly, and that the security forces treated the detainees “like human beings.”
We know very well how the “law enforcement” system in the Russian Federation works. We know that torture is the norm not only in colonies and in combat zones, but also in the work of the Investigative Committee, the FSB, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. But previously, videos or photos of torture were not posted online by the security forces themselves.
“Field interrogation or interrogation using special means is a common practice. She was, is and will be in the organs. And with the cops, and in the office, and with the soldiers. But this was not advertised. In certain circumstances, a professional officer must be able to quickly obtain testimony from a detainee, especially one detained for terrorism. To do this, he does not have to cut his ears, fingers or tear his nails, shove something in his ass or break his jaw. You have to be able to work with a client so that he breaks down before he becomes a piece of meat. What works for many is just a clear explanation that they are now just a meat carcass. People break down. All. Torture is usually a stinking business if you don’t know how to work. Those who detained these Tajiks do not know how to work, they are just stupid sadists,” says an employee of the 2nd service of the FSB of the Russian Federation, who previously served in the Russian Armed Forces during the Second Chechen War and in Syria.
The arrest in the Bryansk region was carried out by officers of the FSB Directorate for the Bryansk Region, the DSRG “Rusich” (whose fighter cut off his ear) and the “Akhmat” unit. Moscow colleagues assess their actions as extremely unprofessional. Organizing an ambush on a car and letting several passengers escape into the forest, and then putting on a bloody performance with cutting off ears on camera — this is the style of armed gopniks.
The military also shares the same opinion. DSRG “Rusich” and “Akhmat”, according to sources in the RF Armed Forces, repeatedly tortured prisoners of war and civilians, not to obtain any information, but just for fun.
The proud demonstration of torture in TG channels, according to our interlocutor at the FSB, is a bad sign. According to him, such measures of influence in the near future may be, if not legalized, then allowed for widespread use. “Every redneck will start cutting up suspects, shocking them, trying everything he saw in the movies. This will definitely cause a backlash. They will also cut us into belts,” said an employee of the 2nd service.
A source in the presidential administration believes that the topic of torture of detained Tajiks was deliberately picked up and will continue to be promoted by the media. “Nobody gave these assholes orders to cut their ears. But this can now be used to solve several problems at once. Show citizens that our state is harsh, not like Europe, it really punishes, and since it punishes cruelly, it protects well. Please note that there is not a single resignation in the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the FSB after the disastrous work at Crocus, because the whole situation is presented as a success, and not as a failure. Another problem that this topic of torture solves is a clear signal to society. If you are with us, you will torture yourself or watch others being tortured. If you are against us, they will torture you, accompanied by the approving roar of your neighbors. Cruelty consolidates a cowardly society,” says an AP employee.
The last paragraph struck me as the source of this practice. It’s about sending signals to regular citizens. If you step out of line, we will break your fingers and jaws and cut your ears off. Oh we don’t care if you are innocent, You will admit to anything we charge you with, or die in the process.
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