Overview

An all-in-one resource for understanding the issue of torture and enhanced interrogations, including their history as an instrument of state power and warfare, debates over the morality of their use in different contexts, and efforts by human rights organizations and nations to end torture and enhanced interrogation techniques worldwide.

Introduction

Torture and Enhanced Interrogation: A Reference Handbook begins with an in-depth historical overview of the practice, beginning in Ancient Greece and continuing to Guantanamo Bay and beyond. After grounding the reader in the historical fundamentals, the book examines the most explosive controversies that surround the use of torture and enhanced interrogation techniques like waterboarding to extract information from prisoners or alleged enemies of the state. This historical background is supplemented with primary sources that illuminate important torture-related laws and international alliances, as well as the perspectives of torture survivors and human rights advocates. Other features in the book include profiles of notable individuals and organizations associated with the issue, annotated bibliography for future research, chronology of events, and glossary of key terms.