Torture Fable For 5th Graders

Alex is a worker ant for his ant colony. He wakes up everyday and goes out in search of food for the colony. One day he came across the nest of a rival ant colony. He did not understand that the other ants hated his kind. He was quickly captured and taken into their nest.
Alex was scared he did not understand what was going on. His colony did not know where he went and where searching for him. Alex was taken and thrown into a dark room. At certain times he was rudely awakened from his sleep. The other ants kept waking him up, not letting him sleep. Alex didn’t know why they were keeping him up. They also began to play music constantly for 24 hours. Alex was going crazy and very upset. The other ants kept asking him why he was spying on their nest, but he did not and told them so. The other ants did not believe him and continued to harm him, until he told the other ants what they wanted. They finally released him back to his nest. Alex told his friends and co worker what they did to him. They couldn’t understand why the other ants would have done that to another ant.
What happened to Alex is called torture. It is when one side has captured an enemy, and they need to retrieve valuable information from the prisoner. So instead of talking to the prisoner, because the prisoner will not speak, they do horrible things that might seem ok, but they are far from it. Torture is an inhuman way to treat others, especially in the case of humans.

My Thoughts On Project 3

My topic for project 3 was torture and its affects on America. I choose this topic because of how it has become an issue in the United States today. After many hours of research I came to the conclusion that torture is inhumane and it is hindered America’s voice on human rights.
After constructing a well-tuned paper to give readers a non-biased perspective, I decided to let the whole world know what was going on. I posted my essay on a blog website. I choose to publish my paper on a blog because the Internet can be accessed all around the world, and has become a leading tool in global communication. With my essay on the World Wide Web, I decided to post other information and writings about my topic on my blog.
I decided to post some outside organizations that wanted to help the world on human rights. Some of these organizations are human rights specialists. After noting their websites and where to find them, I decided to contact one through a letter. I wrote to the Human Rights Watch in San Francisco, California. I told them that I was a 19 year-old student at Eckerd College and that I had been research torture and its affects on America’s human rights voice. I gave them my support for t heir cause and told them I am trying to help too, by posting a blog. I don’t’ expect that they will get back to me, but I hope that they like the thought that they are reaching some people. The final part to project three is the fable.
I have not completed my fable at this point because I am still researching ideas to make it 5th grade acceptable. The only problem with that is that most 5th graders today are more mature than we make them out to be. I don’t know if I should tell them about ants torturing other ants and how it is wrong because to me its sounds immature. I feel that when I was ten years old I could understand these topics in life. I was not reading children’s books anymore, I was reading Moby Dick. I might have been struggling to understand the vocabulary, and I might not have thought about what the white whale represented, but I understood that Captain Ahab lost his leg to the whale and wanted revenge. I understood the concept of revenge and understood what whaling is and how its is harmful to the environment. Trying to take my topic of torture and make it presentable to 5th graders is a little harder than it seems. I wish that I could just give my essay to some 8th graders, who would have no trouble understanding the topic and what is wrong with it. I feel trying to pick a grade to reach out to is tough, but trying to find a way to tell them a story about my topic is a lot harder.
Project 3 has been a great use of resources and a great way to try and reach out to ones community. From researching a current issue, to writing a essay using ones research. Having the opportunity to publish my work online and have other people see and read it makes me feel like I did something important. Also writing a professional letter to a worldwide organization that supports my topic also felt satisfying. Project 3 on a whole has been a good experience and a good way to help complete work for the writing portfolio. I hope the 5th graders understand the concept of ants torturing each other for viable information.

Letters

To Whom It May Concern:

Hello, I am a 19 year-old student attending Eckerd College in St. Petersburg Florida. I have been researching the issue of torture and America for a project that I am doing. I came across your website and it really helped open my eyes to the matter at hand.
With America using torture on detainees, it has placed at hard damper on America’s human rights voice. I like that your organizations network gives biased information on America’s and other countries use of torture. Being American it is hard to see when you country is at fault for something that it does not promote. With the information given on your website I have now a better understanding of the issue.
With the help of your organization I would like to promote more information about torture and human rights. I feel that most people don’t understand what is going on around them. If you have anymore information to give me on how to promote the issue that would be great.
Thank you for your time,
Sincerely
MW
To Whom It May Concern:
Hello, I am a 19 year-old student attending Eckerd College in St. Petersburg Florida. I have been researching the issue of torture and America for a project that I am doing. I came across your website and it really helped open my eyes to the matter at hand.
America’s use of torture and the affects it has made on our voice on human rights is a major concern today. Your organization gives great insight on the problem at hand. I like the biased information, and the ways to help. As a fellow supporter on anti-torture I like how your website also has updated news on human rights issues around the world. More people need to understand how people are being treated in the world.
With the help of your organization I would like to promote more information about torture and human rights. I feel that most people don’t understand what is going on around them. If you have anymore information to give me on how to promote the issue that would be great.
Thank you for your time,
Sincerely
MW
To Whom It May Concern:
Hello, I am a 19 year-old student attending Eckerd College in St. Petersburg Florida. I have been researching the issue of torture and America for a project that I am doing. I came across your website and it really helped open my eyes to the matter at hand.
America has been the leading voice on human rights since the beginning of the 20th century. After reading your book I never really thought how torture is not only inhumane but destroying the very foundation that America has made on human rights. I feel that the American government must stop these diabolical treatments if it wants to get back to where it was a couple of years ago. Your book gives important information in a nonbiased way. It really helped open my eyes, and I hope that your organization can help in stopping this issue.
With the help of your organization I would like to promote more information about torture and human rights. I feel that most people don’t understand what is going on around them. If you have anymore information to give me on how to promote the issue that would be great.
Thank you for your time,
Sincerely
MW

Anti-Torture Organisations

World Organisation Against Torture
http://www.omct.org/

NION: Never In Our Names
http://www.neverinournames.com/frontPage.do

Amnesty International USA
http://www.amnestyusa.org/Our_Issues/War_on_Terror/page.do?id=1021007&n1=3&n2=821

These organizations support my thesis on torture

America’s Torture

Torture is the act of influencing pain, as punishment, revenge, or to inherit important information. Torture has been a device used to receive information for hundreds of years. Torture has been around since the 13th century in medieval Europe. (Roth 10) Not until the last hundred years or so has torture been abolished and rejected. On December 10, 1948, the United Nations General Assembly approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (Roth 15) The UDHR states in article 5 of their state on human rights, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” (Roth 15) Since then a couple of other international treaties have been created to enforce laws against the use of torture, like the United Nations Convention Against Torture and the Geneva Conventions (Roth 15) In more recent times, Tom Malinowski wrote a piece called Banned State Department Practices. Malinowski is a Washington Advocacy Director for Human Rights Watch. He also worked with the Clinton administration before joining the Human Rights Watch. In his piece, he evaluates the cost, moral and political ideologies to which the United States has practiced the same kinds of torture it has condemned abroad. (Roth 139) In the same way, another piece was written by Kenneth Roth called Justifying Torture. Roth is the executive director of Human Rights Watch and has conducted human rights investigations around the globe, devoting special attention to justice. In conclusion of reading the two papers, torture is an unethical and inhumane way to treat detainees, and the United States needs to reassert itself as the voice on human rights.
In his essay, Malinowski believes that America’s practices must be the same as its policies, if it ever wants to promote democratic change. He points out the Guantanamo Bay scandal. “I stand for 8-12 hours a day. Why is standing limited to four hours?” (Roth 139) Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stated this on a memo about interrogation techniques. He is referring to a torture technique called “force standing,” in which detainees a re forced to stand motionless for extended phases at a time. Every human does stand for about 8-12 hours a day but only about 1-2 hours are actually motionless. Sleep deprivation, exposing to hot and cold temperatures, binding in stressful positions, and stripping naked are all torture methods that were employed by the United States after September 11th. Malinowski points out how Rumsfeld makes these interrogations seem innocuous. Rumsfeld stated that we all stand, we all lose sleep, and we all experience discomfort or shame. Rumsfeld makes the assumption that dictators and tyrants are usually affiliated with beating their enemies, burning them with hot irons, electrocuting, and even rape. Malinowski, points out that most dictators found that it’s possible to torture prisoners without leaving visible scars. (Roth 140) To illustrate the Washington Times in 2004 states that some of the most feared forms of torture are surprisingly monotonous. “Guards would force inmates to stand perfectly still for hours at a time, or make them perform exhausting repetitive exercises such as standing up and sitting down until they collapsed from fatigue.” (Roth 141) The statement was taken from survivors of the North Korean gulag. All in all, torture is being used by the American government, but being made to look guiltless.
After September 2001, a growing census in support of torture grew with the help of the public and media. The Washington Post noted frustration within the FBI over four detained terrorist subjects after 9/11. “We are known for humanitarian treatment….But it could get to a spot where we could go to pressure….where we won’t have a choice, and we are probably getting there.” (McCoy 110) The quote shows how the FBI did not want to be forced into torture, but with the increasing pressure to stop terrorism, they only had one other choice. Not only was the media and the public pushing for torture, in addition academic advise was also adding to the media arrogance. A professor form Harvard Law School, Alan M. Dershowitz gave CBS television’s 60 minutes an interesting proposition.
“If you’ve got the ticking bomb case, the case of the terrorist who knew precisely where and when the bomb would go off, and it was the only way of saving 500 or 1,000 lives, every democratic society would, have, and
will use torture.” (McCoy 111)
The only problem with professor Dershowitz case is how the CIA or FBI would know that the person they arrested was a terrorist. Not only, how would they know if that person knew anything about a bomb. The case seems very unlikely that the situation would arise in the circumstances that professor Dershowitz gives. On the other hand, a colleague of Dershowitz at Harvard, Philip B. Heymann states that if judges started giving permission to use torture that torture would spread and this would compromise America’s international “support of our beliefs.” (McCoy 112) Heymann has a point that Malinowski would also agree too. If America started to use torture to interrogate detainees, America would only be going against its own beliefs on human rights. In the middle of the media debate on torture and terrorism, the Bush administration was already planning on using torture. Right after President Bush’s address to a shaken nation on September 11, 2001, he told his counterterrorism counsel, “Any barriers in your way, they are gone.” (McCoy 113) Rumsfeld interpolated that there were legal restraints. President Bush only exclaimed back, “I don’t care what the international lawyers say, we are going to kick some ass.” (McCoy 113) Nevertheless, the Bush administration went into quick action. John Yoo of the Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel wrote a forty-two-page memo on the Geneva Convention and the U.S. War Crimes Act. He stated in the memo that the international treaties set by the U.S. and Europe did not apply to Afghanistan because Afghanistan was a “failed state”. (McCoy 113) Yoo soon was under friendly fire from the State Department and William H. Taft IV. “The United States has dealt with tens of thousands of detainees without repudiating its obligations under the Conventions.” (McCoy 114) Especially since America is the leader in human right laws and support. The public and the media at the point of the terrorist attack in New York seemed to be acting out of impulse. People at the time wanted to kill any person who even barely resembled Arabic qualities. Anyone with a Middle Eastern background was looked at as a terrorist. People of Middle Eastern backgrounds couldn’t travel in airports because they would probably be arrested or hassled. The increase in pressure to fight terrorism ultimately cost the United States’ humanitarian nature.
The United States has always been a leader a role model when it comes to human rights. Kenneth Roth points out that America’s use of torture has severely weakened the most powerful voice on human rights. In the past the United States has always stepped in when it felt that international human rights laws were being broken. Now with world wide evidence of the U.S. using unethical torture techniques, like those used in Abu Ghraib, other governments have found it easier to turn the tables. Countries like Egypt have defended torture by testimonial to U.S. practice. Malaysia pointing out Guantanamo in use with administration detention. Russia citing Abu Ghraib when justifying abuses in Chechnya, blaming it on low-level soldiers. Cuba pointing out that the Untied State has no moral authority to accuse it of human right violations. (Roth 186) The United States in its use of torture on detainees has struck a blow to its own voice on human rights. Many countries that defend human rights, especially in the Middle East and North Africa, cringe when they hear that the U.S. is coming to their defense. Roth looks at President Bush’s inaugural speech in 2005 and how he speaks of “freedom” and “liberty”. How he speaks out against “tyranny” and “terrorism”, he never spoke on human rights. (Roth 187) How can a country consider itself a bringer of freedom and liberty, when it can’t even stand up for human rights? If the United States wants to uphold its voice on human rights, it is going to need to revise it policy decisions on torture and take responsibility on all levels. With the U.S.’s participation in torture, it has lost it’s stand on human rights.
Torture is an unethical and inhumane way to treat detainees, and the United States needs to reassert itself as the voice on human rights. There are multiple types of torture that the United States doesn’t understand because of how the government has explained them. Furthermore, with the increasing pressure from the media and public after 9/11, the Bush administration resorted to torture against terrorism. In addition, with the Bush administration forfeiting torture, the United States’ voice on human rights has been abolished. Torture even if used without using physical harm, can still leave emotional and mental scars. Torture is not a political issue; it has to deal with all Americans, and their friends around the world. People around the world and in the Untied States need to be more educated on the subject so that it can be better understood how it is morally incorrect. For the United States, it needs to reassess its own human right polices before constituting others. If torture is to be abolished, then the first step is not stopping it overseas, but stopping it in the United States itself. “There is no more important rights violation facing Americans today.” (Roth 201)


Works Cited
Greenberg, Karen . J. The Torture Debate in America. New York: Cambridge UP, 2006.
Plummer, Anne. "GOP Tells Bush 'No' on Defense Appropriations Torture Provision." CQ Weekly (2005). 23 Oct. 2007 .
Roth, Kenneth, Minky Worden, and Amy B. Bernstien. Torture : Does It Make Us Safer? is It Ever OK? : a Human Rights Perspective. New York: New P, 2005.
Shenon, Philip. "Panel Pushes for Nominee to Denounce Technique." New York Times. 24 Oct. 2007. 23 Oct. 2007 .
Zeller, Shawn. "Torture Issue Ties Up Psychologists Association." CQ Weekly (2007). 23 Oct. 2007 .
McCoy, Alfred. W. A Question Of Torture. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2006.