generalspeaking

Saturday, December 15, 2018

Subtle Torture

"Generally, we don't hear of physical violence. Six to ten hours of questioning, yes."
"If they're [two Canadians held hostage in Beijing] being held to mess with Canada, I would guess they are being treated fine. If being held for corporate law violations, I would guess they're being treated fine."
"If being held for political reasons, I truly do not know."
Dan Harris, Seattle lawyer

"It's there [keeping hostage location under wraps] to break you down."
"Depriving stimulation is very important. It plays tricks on your mind."
"Isolating someone in that way for an extended period of time, holding them incommunicado without any oversight, it's the perfect environment for torture and other illegal treatment of a suspect."
Peter Dahlin, director, Safeguard Defenders

"[Such] enforced disappearances constitute a gross violation of human rights, and an international crime so severe in fact that under certain circumstances it may amount to a crime against humanity."
Michael Caster, human rights advocate, The Diplomat

"We were fed three meals a day but we had guards in our room. The lights were on 24-7. There's nothing in your room.":
"If you want a drink of water, they have to get it. If you want to brush your teeth, they have to go get your toothbrush for you."
"A day with variety was six hours of interrogation alone in a room with three uniformed security police. A day without variety was silence. Nothing. Waiting. White walls. Locked in two rooms at opposite ends of a compound [Garrett and wife Julia], unaware of each others' whereabouts."
"Two guards' piercing eyes followed each movement until a knock signalled shift change."
Kevin Garratt, Canadian Christian aid group worker

Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig were taken into custody earlier this week, a Chinese official says. (Associated Press/ International Crisis Group/Canadian Press)

Not quite equally balanced with the experience of Huawei's CFO, Meng Wanzhou, taken into custody in Vancouver on the strength of a U.S. warrant for extradition to stand trial on accusations that Ms. Weng manipulated U.S. financial markets in her professional capacity as CFO, financing deals on telecommunications equipment with the Islamic Republic of Iran, despite U.S. sanctions against the country.Three days of hearings produced an agreement on bail for Ms. Meng. And she has many options to appeal extradition to the U.S.; a process that can take years.

In 2016, Mr. Dahlin, in Beijing to help train and provide support to human rights lawyers, was arrested in the middle of the night, taken to a compound and detained there for 23 days. His cell was luxurious by standards of other descriptions of detainees in Chinese custody, complete with bed, desk, sink, toilet and shower. Everything covered with "suicide padding". He had nothing to read or to write with. Two guards watched around the clock, and he was not permitted to utter one word to them.

Once he satisfied Chinese authorities by reading a scripted confession broadcast on state TV, acknowledging that he had violated Chinese law, he was released, but only after being subjected to prolonged sleep deprivation and psychological intimidation where one night men rushed into his cell, surrounding his bed, then dispersed. "It's a way to exert physical and psychological pressure to get someone to confess", explained Joshua Rosenzweig of Amnesty International.

So it's anyone's guess when and whether former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig, on loan from Foreign Affairs, now working with an international think tank, and Michael Spavor, a Canadian businessman whose business is to promote tourism and investment in North Korea, will be released. And what their tales of personal anguish will have been during this experience in Chinese pique over a powerful Chinese businesswoman with links to the Communist ruling party having been subjected to the indignity of arrest, the world watching with avid consuming interest.