Reply #13: The Burge torture cases in Chicago [View All]

[IChing]

Police Commander Jon Burge and homicide detectives of Areas 2 and 3 Police Headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, were charged with torturing nearly 200 African American men between 1972-1991. Admissions by detectives, eye-witness accounts and other evidence have indicated that Burge and his men “systematically tortured individuals during interrogations, also proves that officers throughout the chain of command were aware of the torture and condoned its practice,” Ritchie quoted in a summary of the case she provided to RAW STORY.

Evidence provided in the Burge cases paint a picture not unlike what has emerged from the Abu Ghraib scandal, or allegations relating to abuse by US authorities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and other US detention facilities in the Middle-East.

The techniques detailed in the Chicago torture cases included “electrically shocking men’s genitals, ears and lips with a cattle prod or an electric shock box, suffocating individuals with plastic bags, mock executions, and beatings with telephone books and rubber hoses,” according to court documents.

No one has been convicted in any of these cases because of the statue of limitations. Some have even been promoted, with the exception of Burge, who was fired but continues to receive a police pension despite the confirmation by internal investigations of horrific atrocities committed against African American men under his care.

An internal report prepared by the city of Chicago confirms accounts of prisoner confessions having been elicited by torture. Subsequent judicial reviews of the 193 known cases have found that Burge and his detectives violated Article I of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, (Hinton v. Uchtman, 395 F 3d 810, 822-23>>>>

Raw story:http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Report__0713.html