The Theotorture of Guantánamo
David L. McColgin (2011) "The Theotorture of Guantanamo" in Nathan C. Walker and Edwin J. Greenlee, eds., "Whose God Rules? Is the United States a Secular Nation or a Theolegal Democracy? (Palgrave Macmillan 2011)
17 Pages Posted: 16 Dec 2014
Date Written: December 1, 2011
Abstract
In Whose God Rules? Is the United States a Secular Nation or a Theolegal Democracy? (Palgrave Macmillan 2011) defense attorney David McColgin described his experience representing Guantánamo detainees. Coined as theotorture, McColgin recounts how female government interrogators told Muslim detainees they were menstruating and spread red liquid on their faces, aware of the passages in the Quran that prevent male Muslims to pray if touched by a woman other than his wife. Such acts as these, including desecrating the Holy Quran, led to riots and suicide attempts. These examples of theotorture, where the theology of the religious minority is used to achieve a policy goal, represent the most extreme example of a theolegal nation.
Keywords: torture, Guantánamo, islam, muslim, detainees, quran, torture report, interrogation
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