SENTINEL WATCH December 26, 2005 Issue

A PERFECT STANDARD

DAVE HOHLE

ON MY DESK is a copy of a document given to my grandfather in France following the close of World War I. It was signed by a group of German prisoners who were then under his authority. And it reads: "To the Commanding Officer Paul D. Cook, 1st Lieut. U.S. Armee. The undersigned, in representing the Pris. Of War Labor Co. 89 have to say their thanks for the good and correct treatment, during the time, being a P.W. Is-sur-Tille (France) 15th Sept. 1919." Each soldier signed his name and gave his rank. It's a unique statement of appreciation by a group of prisoners who could have been mistreated, but were not.

Now, 86 years later, it's encouraging to see a worldwide debate about eliminating prisoner abuse in all its forms. The world seems to be approaching the collective realization that torture and coercion are practices that should disappear forever from the earth. In 1984 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Since then, no fewer than 176 countries have either ratified or signed this treaty forbidding physical and psychological abuse of people in detention anywhere in the world.

Not only is the concept of torture repugnant, but it's also clear that the intelligence gained through its use is often of questionable value. The military leader and emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, was aware of this 200 years ago, when he wrote: "The barbarous custom of having men beaten who are suspected of having important secrets to reveal must be abolished. It has always been recognized that this way of interrogating men, by putting them to torture, produces nothing worthwhile. The poor wretches say anything that comes into their mind and what they think the interrogator wishes to know" (Napoleon Bonaparte to Berthier, November 11, 1798, as quoted in Napoleon on the Art of War by Jay Luvaas, Free Press, 2001).