Outsourcing torture: The Egyptian edition

By Heraclitus

I don't have a lot to say about this new Amnesty International report on torture in Egypt. (There's been increased scrutiny of Egypt recently because of a mobile phone film of a man in Egyptian custody being raped with a stick.) I'm not sure there is much to say at this point; I think it's just important to keep reiterating the facts, that our country has sunk itself eye-deep in torture. A good deal of this torture -- but do we really have any idea how many people our government has tortured or ordered to be tortured? Do we really have any idea how many have died under torture at the hands of our intelligence operatives and soldiers, our private contractors, and our allies? -- has been done by the Egyptian government as our behest. A few details from the BBC summary of the report:

The report details the case of Abu Omar, an Egyptian resident in Italy who was allegedly kidnapped by CIA agents in Italy in 2003 and handed over to the Egyptian authorities.

Abu Omar was held without charge in Egyptian jails for nearly four years and in testimony given to an Italian prosecutor he has alleged that he was whipped, subjected to electric shocks and raped.

He was never successfully charged and was released in February 2007.

AI also highlights the case of Mamdouh Habib, an Australian national of Egyptian descent.

He alleges that he was detained and tortured in Pakistan in 2001, handed over to US officials and then flown on to Egypt.

There he was tortured, including in a "water cell" in which he had to stand on tiptoe for hours in order not to drown.

Under torture, Mr Habib says, he confessed to training the 11 September 2001 hijackers in martial arts.

He was later taken to Guantanamo Bay, from which he was finally released in January 2005. He was never charged.

How many "enemy combatants" have we tortured? How many will ever be convicted of anything? At what point do we start seriously trying to stop it?