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How does IRI select torturers?
02-Jun-2010
The IRI institution of torture: More and more, we see evidence of torture in IRI prisons. I will be the first one to agree that Iran is no stranger to torture in the past 60 years, or probably back further, but the extent in which we see torture in Iran is unprecedented. But, OK, IRI is still better than the PotPol regime, however, no consolation prize here. Seeing all this torture, the question in my mind was “what kind of person would become a torturer?” As a non-psychologist, I found it fascinating that the internet is full of all kinds of little experiments and theories on torture and the people who administer it, and I would like to share some thoughts with you (w/ appologies to our IC psych majors). Most experiments/theories I encountered were from the aftermath of the World War II in which scientists tried to rationalize how a sane person would do atrocities to Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals and, in general, the enemies of the state. Here are the defined steps towards becoming a torturer:
“The torture process to the torturer
1. Reluctant or peripheral participation
- Official encouragement: As the Stanford prison experiment and Milgram experiment show, many people will follow the direction of an authority figure (such as a superior officer) in an official setting (especially if presented as mandatory), even if they have personal uncertainty. The main motivations for this appear to be fear of loss of status or respect, and the desire to be seen as a "good citizen" or "good subordinate".
- Peer encouragement: to accept torture as necessary, acceptable or deserved, or to comply from a wish to not reject peer group beliefs.
- Dehumanization: seeing victims as objects of curiosity and experimentation, where pain becomes just another test to see how it affects the victim.
- Disinhibition: socio-cultural and situational pressures may cause torturers to undergo a lessening of moral inhibitions and as a result act in ways not normally countenanced by law, custom and conscience.
- Organizationally, like many other procedures, once torture becomes established as part of internally acceptable norms under certain circumstances, its use often becomes institutionalized and self-perpetuating over time, as what was once used exceptionally for perceived necessity finds more reasons claimed to justify wider use.”
Now, labeling IRI prisoners with words like mohaareb, monaafegh, mofsed-ol-fel-arz or khoon-halaal makes sense.
Milgram’s experiment: One of the first experiments I came across was Milgram’s experiment (1960’s) which was repeated a few years ago by Derrel Brown giving exactly the same results. In this experiment, ordinary people were coerced to administer what they thought was up to lethal high-voltage to actors for wrong answers, who pretended to be in pain or unconscious. I will let the video do the work now, but remember that more than 50% of ordinary people could be coerced into flipping the switch all the way up to the deadly 450 volts.
Milgram Experiment (Derren Brown)
Amazing, wasn’t it.
The Asch Paradigm (the power of conformity in groups): Now, if someone showed you a few lines and your group was asked to identify the tallest line, and all other members identified the shortest line, what would you say?..... Don’t be too sure. Watch this video example of social pressure: “The Asch conformity experiments were a series of studies published in the 1950s that demonstrated the power of conformity in groups. These are also known as the "Asch Paradigm".”
Little Eichmanns: To summarize, given the environment, the pressures and the dehumanization of the prisoners these torturers become what is known as Little Eichmanns: “Little Eichmanns is a phrase used to describe the complicity of those who participate in destructive and immoral systems in a way that, although on an individual scale may seem indirect, when taken collectively would have an effect comparable to Nazi official Adolf Eichmann's role in The Holocaust .” I will spare the remaining clips, theories, experiments (summarized at the end* for interested readers) and go right to the cream of the crop.
Enrichment towards the cream of the crop psychopathic torturer: There is agreement that around 1-4% of population (up to 20% of the criminals in jail) are capable of psychopathic behavior, who actually enjoy torturing people. Now, if given that 50% of the ordinary population can be coerced to administer torture and 1-4% will actually enjoy doing it, it is very clear how a government like IRI can take advantage by selecting for and finally focusing on a torture-capable psychopathic group to do its dirty work.
Can a torturer claim that he was following orders? It is important to note that in most sites I looked at, The UN Human Rights charter and The Nuremburg trials the torturers were held in the same level as the people who ordered torture and the Little Eichmann defense, i.e., I was ordered to torture, therefore, it is not my fault, did not work. I can just see the IRI supporters jump up looking for their pens to write about water-boarding in Gitmo, Abu Gharaib, and Bagram air-base and how they were able to get away with it. My answer is, first of all, water-boarding was wrong. Secondly, a few water-boarding cases cannot be compared to e.g., Torture in Rejai Shahr, one question from IRI supporters and in general, a systematic program of torture, rape and murder by IRI, and finally, just because someone else got away with it, you probably will not.
A final thought: I am sure that IRI torturers have a life, for the most part and go home at night to their wives / children whom they love dearly. Our challenge is to first of all let these IRI torturers realize how IRI is manipulating them to do evil, and finally, let them know that they will not spare punishment by claiming they were Little Eichmanns. Maybe then, we will see a reluctance and shame on these evil-doers and we will see more videos smuggled out of IRI prisons (See, e.g., Torture in Rejai Shahr) and force IRI to back down on this 7th century practice and join the human race in a 21st century civil society.
* For more experiments and talks in the field of social conformity/torture, see, e.g.: Social influence, Stanford prison experiment, My Lai Massacre, Lord of the Flies, Hofling hospital experiment, Moral disengagement and Banality of evil
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Shazdeh Asad count me in
by IRI on Fri Jun 04, 2010 11:09 AM PDTI am also one of the list above. A patriot who cares more about Iran and her region that the West and it's slaves. For whatever price, we shall remain independent, for whatever price.
Iranian of the day:
by Shazde Asdola Mirza on Thu Jun 03, 2010 03:33 PM PDTDarveesh = Peeshi = Jolly Me = ... = Aynaki = Baluchi = lover of IRI
MeyBokhor_Manbarbesuzan / Darveesh
by MM on Thu Jun 03, 2010 03:33 PM PDTMBMB - After 31 years, one can safely say that the SAVAK goons retired 1.5 generations ago. And, judging from the pictures we see, the new breed of IRI torturers are religious zealots with bad attitude, and most probably sociopaths / psychopaths.
Darveesh - YW
Darveesh - glad u like ur own jokes and d only one laughing
by Darveesh on Thu Jun 03, 2010 03:12 PM PDTd only one laughing? - d? you mean the?
at you claiming not to be an anti iranian?
glad you got it.
You ask "How does IRI select torturers?"
by MeyBokhor_Manbarbesuzan on Thu Jun 03, 2010 05:56 AM PDTWell it did not have to. It just reemployed SAVAK goons. After the revolution these well (read Mossad) trained goons were a dime a dozen.
Divaneh - darveesh is a clown trying to kill us w/ his jokes!
by MM on Wed Jun 02, 2010 05:58 PM PDTand looks like Darveesh copied S. Palin, of all people, to pick up a line to tell us.
Palin Speaks: 'How's that Hopey-Changey Thing Working Out for Ya ...
Darveesh - glad u like ur own jokes and d only one laughing
by MM on Wed Jun 02, 2010 05:49 PM PDT.
no fooladi, that is not the way i meant it - sorry
by MM on Wed Jun 02, 2010 05:45 PM PDT.
There is a recruit here
by divaneh on Wed Jun 02, 2010 05:35 PM PDTDarveesh tortures me with his silly comments and I am sure he is very well capable of more.
Thanks MM for the very good blog. I hope one day Iran can pay respect to all its children such as your father and Fooladi's uncle who in different ways worked and suffered for a better Iran.
ok you are not anti iran
by Darveesh on Wed Jun 02, 2010 04:52 PM PDThehehe
and i invented the earth.
MM
by fooladi on Wed Jun 02, 2010 04:51 PM PDTI dont think anybody deserves to be taken to a court just because of his/her "political position". I am really hoping you did not mean that.
fooladi
by MM on Wed Jun 02, 2010 04:44 PM PDTNo matter what your uncle's political position, he deserved a day in court and if guilty, spend time in jail. No torture. period
those who don't know history tend to make same mistakes, so one day, we have put these experiences down so that the next generation know what happens when civil laws run amock.
Darveesh - we are not anti-Iran, but anti-IRI
by MM on Wed Jun 02, 2010 04:34 PM PDTWhile we care about other atrocities committed elsewhere, and I have to tell you that I answer to and respond to many calls by the human rights groups to protest this and that or to save someone. Nonetheless, as the Iranian Diaspora, we are also very much focused on the atrocities committed by IRI and would like them ended one way or another.
I suppose you like what you see in IRI and have no shame in claiming that the prisoners probably deserved every torture, rape and murder that was coming to them. Or, is it that you cheered when IRI's rebuttal for Neda's murder came out?
MM
by fooladi on Wed Jun 02, 2010 04:32 PM PDTAt least I and you are able to speak about our uncles and fathers. There are hundreds of thousands of relatives of victims of torture in Iran who dont have this oppurtunity. The history of our land is filled with blood of young and old who were tortured and murderd simply because of what they believed in. We have a duty as Iranians to do our best for this never to happen to our homeland.
BTW, I am very proud of my uncle, his conviction and his love for Iran and it's people. Although I think his politics were at best naive
fooladi
by MM on Wed Jun 02, 2010 04:24 PM PDTSorry to hear about your uncle. My dad also had similar experience in IRI jails, but not as extended as your uncle's tortures in two regimes.
Maybe someday we will have a blog where we record our families' struggles in IC and expose these torturers as what they are:
sociopaths and psychopaths
and set the stage for their trials down the line......
how is that anti iran working for you?
by Darveesh on Wed Jun 02, 2010 04:19 PM PDTwell i assume?
Darveesh - how about
by MM on Wed Jun 02, 2010 04:16 PM PDTIRI
Syria
Saudi Arabia
Pakistan
IRI
N. Korea
China
IRI
i am thinking?
by Darveesh on Wed Jun 02, 2010 03:24 PM PDTinquisition?
savak?
mosad?
cia?
names that pops into mind:
popes?
shah?
israel?
america?
My late uncle who spent
by fooladi on Wed Jun 02, 2010 03:07 PM PDTMy late uncle who spent time at Evin as "guest" of both pahlavi and Velayate faghih regimes once told me an interesting story related to this topic:
My uncle ended up in Evin whilst a polytechnic student during shah pahlavi. There he got to know a certain Savak interrogator who took special pleasure in being bruital to the prisoners, specially the "danshjoos", (university students), particularly the ones from aryamehr (Sharif) and Tehran polytchnic Universities. He eventually divulged to the prisoners that he tried getting to these universities for 5 years and failed the concoor (enterance exams), and ended up doing national service,etc. He somehow blamed his failure on these students. he, as a tehrani, specially despised the ones like my uncle who were "dehati", from provinces. He just could not get it why a dehati should become a "mohandese bargh", and a "bacheh terooni" just a "diplomeh bi car". In short, the guy had a deep issue with the intelligencia. My uncle and his comrades did their best to convince the guy that they all had a common "class enemy", they were all "victims of shah" and all that, to no avail.
My uncle met the same torturer again. after revolution in Evin. This time the torturer was serving the islamic regime. had a beard, and wait for it, a student at Azad University! Islamic regime knew well of the torturer's previous affiliation, but he had done a "tobeh", given up drinking, and had a few relatives in the mullahs regime. So islamic regime had hired him for his usefull skills. So maybe "previous experience" counts a lot in selection process of islamic regime for the post of torturer.
As for my uncle, he survived the Evin to tell me the story, but most of his comrades did not. My uncle did visit the mass burial location of his comrades in khavaran on 16th azar every year till his untimely death at the age of 45 due to tortures he got subjected to at Evin. I accompanied him on one occasion and it was the most moving experience of my life.....
Dorood bar tamame shohadaye rahe azadi
MM: Like yourself, I am not a physiologist either but I wonder
by Bavafa on Wed Jun 02, 2010 02:17 PM PDTthinking out loud
If they internalize "good vs. bad" (saint vs. evil) and once they believe in that, then it becomes easier to justify his/their own action no matter how savagery it may be. Such internalization & brainwashing certainly would not be limited only to torturers, but their act is certainly one of the most horrendous one.
Mehrdad
P.S. And of course what other tool better then religion to brainwash one in "Saint vs. evil" game.
IRI grabs the worst
by Anonymous Observer on Wed Jun 02, 2010 01:36 PM PDTsociopaths, psychopaths and sadists to fill its interrogation and torture staff. These are people who are totally detached from reality and have to internal comprehension of human decency.
I think the selection process is simple
by oktaby on Wed Jun 02, 2010 01:20 PM PDTtake the most violent and repressed. This gets into nature/nurture that could not possibly be helped by a mortaje' mindset.
There is also an auto acceleration or compounding that happens and that is situational. We saw it in Abu Ghraib and multiplied by 100 it is going on all over IRR prisons and dungeons. The psychological damage is often worse than physical.
Even in an experimental setting, one can see it can get ugly really fast and participants lose perspective very quickly. This experiment was done in early 70s at Stanford and got so ugly that it was terminated and disallowed for good..
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmwSC5fS40w (the long version is also online)
OKtaby
MRX - it is called sociopath/psychopath
by MM on Wed Jun 02, 2010 01:00 PM PDTand you are right. The cream of the crop, as mentioned in the text, are psychopaths who were beaten out of their pants when kids, enjoyed hurting animals when they were young and are more than happy to do this dirty job now.
It all comes down
by MRX1 on Wed Jun 02, 2010 12:53 PM PDTto sex! fact of matter is that alot of these guys are sexualy depressed or have been sexualy abused when they were kids. (Of course I know we have no homo's and pervert in iran according to the brilliant president!) add that to the fact that most of these guys are low life's to begin with, with no real power out side of prison. so there is one place they can feel they are on top of things. There is one place they feel they have the power and after all power is the ultimate afrodisiac. bottom line they themselfs are tortured soul to begin with!
thanks Mehrdad - these "animals" have homes too
by MM on Wed Jun 02, 2010 12:52 PM PDTHowever, if there is any hint of descency left in these torturers, I imagine they think about it no matter how much they have internalized/suppressed their feelings. Nightmares is a separate matter and I hope they don't get a wink of sleep.
In Iran, I really blame the Mullahs for instigating this kind of behavior and give these torturers a divine task to rid the society of monaafegh, mohaareb, mofsed-ol-fel-arz and khoon-halaal which makes it righeous to torture, rape and kill prisoners.
PS, e.g., the rape of virgins to prevent them from going to heaven once they are executed is a totally religious mumbo-jumbo concucted by Mullahs and easily obliged by these ruthless bastards.
MM: Great blog and topic
by Bavafa on Wed Jun 02, 2010 12:13 PM PDTI had seen a couple of these videos before (and no, not during IRI recruitment of me as a torturer) and the findings are quite interesting.
However, what I often wonder about act of torturing and torturers is that how do these people go home to their wife and families. How can they sleep at night or not wonder if those victims were their own kids/wife or relatives.
In the spirit of staying accurate and correct, I would not be calling these people "animals" as that would be a true injustice and insult to all animals.
Anyway, thanks for the great topic.
Mehrdad