The use of torture in American prisons is a sign of “the loss of our national soul,” lawyer, author and activist Jennifer Harbury told about 150 people at the Unitarian Church of Evanston Sunday.
“(Torture) doesn’t help,” Harbury said. “It just makes people want to get rid of you. And that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”
Harbury, whose husband was captured, tortured and eventually killed by the Guatemalan military in 1992, spoke with attorney Patricia Bronte, who represents detainees at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in “A Presentation and Discussion on Torture,” sponsored by several religious and activist organizations in the Evanston area.
Harbury said detaining prisoners who don’t need to be in prison does more harm than good.
“If we use rape, torture and terror, aren’t we going to get backlash?” Harbury asked.
In addition to denouncing torture, Harbury suggested alternative means of gathering intelligence.
“If you really want good information you need time,” Harbury said. “Don’t send an American in (to talk to the prisoners). Send in a Muslim religious leader. Send someone in they can relate with.”
Bronte said that of the 759 men who have been detained at Guantanamo Bay in the last four years, 287 have been released or transferred. Like Harbury, she said the unnecessary detention of prisoners was dangerous to the United States, “planting seeds of hatred.”
“Perhaps the worst torture is just knowing that they are prisoners indefinitely,” Bronte said, speaking of the conditions at Guantanamo Bay.
Bronte, who has been to Guantanamo Bay twice, said that the local iguanas are treated well – if someone accidentally runs over one, he must report it – but the guards aren’t as concerned about the prisoners. She spoke of a prisoner who saw a dog that was kept in an air-conditioned cage and received regular meals. When the prisoner asked to be treated the same way, the guard responded that the dog was owned by the U.S. military.
Bronte said prisoners have been interrogated for up to 20 hours each day and shackled to a ring on the floor in a way that forces them to assume a fetal position. While she expressed her disappointment in President Bush, she said the problem extends far beyond the Oval Office.
“I urge you not to make the same mistake I did, and that’s just to blame President Bush,” Bronte said. “If President Bush left tomorrow, we would still have Guantanamo.”
Bronte emphasized that the prisoners should be given a fair trial, not detained and tortured. She encouraged audience members to go out and share their feelings about torture with their friends and family after they left the event.
“Let the world know the agony of the detainees in Cuba,” Bronte said.
The audience gave Harbury and Bronte a standing ovation after a lengthy question-and-answer session.
“I thought it was powerful,” said David Borris of Highland Park. “The problem with the topic is that it’s so dark. These are difficult things to discuss.”
Mary Dudek, a member of the church’s peace and justice committee, said the speakers represented the values of the church and she was especially affected by Harbury’s personal accounts.
“It fits perfectly with our principles.” Dudek said. “(Our first principle is) respecting the inherent worth and dignity of every human being. That’s what this is all about.”
Reach Annie Martin at [email protected].
