http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2365836,00.html
Germany Companies Profit From Torture Device Exports This Iraqi man was tortured by electro-shock before being rescued by Iraqi and US forces This Iraqi man was tortured by electro-shock before being rescued by Iraqi and US forces Torture is still practiced in many different countries and electro-shockers -- some of which can be bought and exported from Germany -- have become increasingly common in torturing political dissidents. Electro-shockers are black, about as long as your arm and resemble police batons but are capable of causing much more pain. "The pain is extreme," Nedim Baran told German public broadcaster ARD of when he was tortured with an electro-shocker. "You have the feeling your eyes are popping out of your head. You think your head will explode. You can only think about your death." There are electro-contacts on one end that transfer up to 120,000 volts of electricity into the victim's body -- about 500 times the voltage delivered by a power outlet. "The electrons are applied in different places -- to the ears, the tongue, the temples, the genitals, such as women's nipples, and so on," said Mechthild Weng Anson a Berlin doctor who has treated people tortured with such devices. Only recently did the German customs office confirm that German companies export electro-shockers to countries where they are used for torture: 100 to Iran, 84 to Georgia, 115 to Bangladesh. According to ARD television, torture is currently practiced in 87 countries. Little evidence of torture Manfred Nowak Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Manfred Nowak Unlike other torture methods, however, the electro-shockers cause intense pain without leaving any visible wounds, they also make it difficult for doctors to prove that a patient had been subjected to this kind of torture. "They are very, very common weapons of torture," said Manfred Nowak, a human rights commissioner for the United Nations. "A torture method that causes a lot of pain but can't really be proven without eye witnesses is exactly what modern torturers prefer." UN calls for ban In Great Britain, the Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg), Switzerland and Scandinavia, selling electro-shockers is forbidden. This is, however, not the case in Germany, which ranks second behind the United States in exporting the devices. German xxporters need only apply for a license to sell the torture devices abroad. "It is my wish that every country in the world would completely outlaw the export of all electro-shock weapons and punish violators with high monetary fines or prison sentences," Nowak said. +++ ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Check out the new improvements in Yahoo! Groups email. http://us.click.yahoo.com/4It09A/fOaOAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
