Individuals targeted with electromagnetic harassment and torture have responded to calls for submissions by the UN Special Rapporteur's for
Torture
1. UN Rapporter's call for submissions on psychological torture and ill-treatment ahead of his report to the UN Human Rights Council's 43rd
session
2. Submissions on electromagnetic torture by NGOs and individuals
3. UN Special Rapporteur presents report on psychological torture to the UN Human Rights Council's 43rd session
4. UN Rapporter's call for submissions on psychosocial dynamics conducive to torture and ill-treatment ahead of his report to the UN General Assembly's 75th
session
5. Submissions from four NGOs against electromagnetic harassment/torture and from individuals
6. Report of the UN Special Rapporteur for the UN General Assembly: "Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment"
UN Rapporteur's call for submissions on psychological torture and ill-treatment ahead of his report to the UN Human Rights Council's 43rd session
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Torture/SRTorture/Pages/Call.aspx
Request for completion of questionnaire.
Excerpts from hyperlinked document: "What type of conduct" "should the notion of “psychological torture/CIDTP” be understood to comprise?"
CIDTP:"Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment"
"Psychological torture/CIDTP tend to be trivialized as “torture light” or excluded from the definition altogether, whereas “real torture” is still predominantly
understood to include the infliction of physical pain or suffering. In reality, however, the psychological and physical aspects of torture/CIDTP are strongly, and often inextricably, interconnected
in various ways.
"States have invested significant resources - including through systematic experimentation with political prisoners, suspected terrorists, and psychiatric patients -
towards developing “no-touch” torture/CIDTP by which purposes of coercion, intimidation, punishment and humiliation or discrimination can be achieved without the direct infliction of physical pain,
suffering, or harm."
"At the same time, States have aimed at whitewashing these methods by re-labelling them euphemistically as “moderate physical pressure”, “pressure techniques”,
“enhanced interrogation”, “stress positions”, “white torture”, etc. and/or by requiring that, in order to fall under the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment, mental suffering would have to
result from the infliction or threat of physical pain or suffering."
> Submissions on electromagnetic torture by NGOs and individuals
Reference article: https://www.activistpost.com/2019/12/un-receives-reports-that-us-citizens-have-been-tortured.html
FB post: https://www.facebook.com/activistpost/posts/2646832592030242
Excerpt:
According to the recent report submitted to the UN Special Rapporteur by PACTS INTERNATIONAL,
Members of our community experience the same symptomology of ‘no touch’ torture as recently experienced by the US
diplomats to Cuba and China, which included: nausea, headaches, sleep problems, vertigo, hearing loss and memory and cognitive issues, along with the following forms of “psychological torture”:
workplace harassment, which may lead to termination, vehicle tampering, computer tampering, email tampering, phone tampering, phone monitoring, 24 hr. surveillance,home entry, gaslighting,
involuntary detention in a mental facility, vehicular stalking, organized group stalking, community-based harassment, blacklisting, and much more.
UN Special Rapporteur presents report on psychological torture to the UN Human Rights Council's 43rd session
(2020-02-28) "Human Rights Council Starts Interactive Dialogue With The Special Rapporteur On Torture And Other Cruel, Inhumane Or Degrading Treatment Or Punishment"
"Presenting his report, Mr. Melzer noted that his mandate could not deal with the many requests it received due to limited resources."
"In the ensuing discussion, speakers noted that the Special Rapporteur’s thematic report made an important contribution to a holistic understanding of
torture. They called upon all States to fully investigate all alleged cases of torture and to safeguard human rights for every individual. Torture could not be justified under any circumstance and
all States were bound to prohibit torture under customary international law."
"The issue of psychological torture was very complex, but speakers affirmed that there was no difference between the physical and psychological or mental
forms of torture. A definition of psychological torture should be incorporated within national legislation."
"It was noted that some countries already had psychological torture incorporated in their national anti-torture acts."
"Speakers noted that it was worthwhile exploring the impact of technological and communication advances and their impact on psychological torture as cyber
torture was an emerging area of concern, as well as thoroughly look at the use of torture to fight terrorism".
"Speakers noted that the report identified cyber torture as an emerging area of concern. It was worth exploring the impact of technological and communication advances
and their impact on psychological torture."
https://www.facebook.com/UNHRC/posts/2782751445111813
UN Special Rapporteur on torture explores cybertorture and refers to the need to address biomedical and neurotechnological advances including "human
enchancement" as well as cybernetics and AI
A/HRC/43/49 "Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment - Report of the Special Rapporteur"
In the present report, the Special Rapporteur: "Encourages the interpretation of the prohibition of torture in line with contemporary possibilities and challenges
arising from emerging technologies and explores, in a preliminary manner, the conceivability and basic contours of what could be described as “cybertorture”."
Cybertorture refers to [71] "the possible use of various forms of information and communication technology (“cybertechnology”) for the purposes of
torture."
"Although the promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the Internet has been repeatedly addressed by the Human Rights Council (see A/HRC/32/L.20; and
A/HRC/38/L.10/Rev.1), torture has been understood primarily as a tool used to obstruct the exercise of the right to freedom of expression on the Internet, and not as a violation of human rights that
could be committed through the use of cybertechnology."
Cybertorture can be mediated by the release or streaming of crime/abuse audiovisual content and "increasingly also through the remote control or manipulation of
stun* belts (A/72/178, para. 51), medical implants and, conceivably, nanotechnological or neurotechnological devices [55]".
*electroshock belts
"87. Challenges of new technologies. In order to ensure the adequate implementation of the prohibition of torture and related international legal obligations in
present and future circumstances, its interpretation should evolve in line with new challenges and capabilities arising in relation to emerging technologies not only in cyberspace, but also
in areas such as artificial intelligence, robotics, nanotechnology and neurotechnology, or pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences including so-called “human enhancement”.
The UN Rapporteur on Torture cites the "rapid advances in medical, pharmaceutical and neurotechnological science, as well as in cybernetics, robotics and
artificial intelligence" [§ 32].
Figure 1: Excerpts from the report by the UN Special Rapporteur on torture
Le Rapporteur Spécial des Nations Unies présente son rapport sur la torture psychologique au Conseil du Droits de l'Homme de
l'ONU (43ème séance)
Les individus ciblés de harcèlement et torture électromagnétique (torture cybernétique ou cybertorture) ont répondu aux appels
à communication du Rapporteur Spécial des Nations Unies sur la torture
Avec son rapport au lien https://undocs.org/fr/A/HRC/43/49, le
Rapporteur explore la cybertorture et évoque la nécessité d'aborder les progrès biomédicaux et neurotechnologiques, y compris "l'amélioration humaine" ainsi que la cybernétique et l'IA
Extraits:
"Encourage la prise en compte des possibilités et des difficultés actuelles liées aux technologies émergentes dans l’interprétation de
l’interdiction de la torture au regard et se livre à un examen préliminaire des principaux éléments décrivant ce que l’on pourrait appeler la « cybertorture »."
"71. L’utilisation possible de diverses formes de technologies de l’information et de la communication (« cybertechnologies ») à des
fins de torture est un sujet de préoccupation particulier qui ne semble pas avoir reçu une attention suffisante."
"Bien que la question de la promotion, la protection et l’exercice des droits de l’homme sur Internet ait été abordée à plusieurs
reprises par le Conseil des droits de l’homme (...), la torture a été vue avant tout comme un outil utilisé pour entraver l’exercice du droit à la liberté d’expression sur Internet, et non comme une
violation des droits de l’homme qui pourrait être commise au moyen des cybertechnologies."
"En pratique, les cybertechnologies facilitent déjà la commission d’actes de torture tant physique que psychologique" (...) "et
également de plus en plus parce qu’elles permettent de commander ou de manipuler à distance des ceintures électriques neutralisantes (A/72/178, par. 51), des implants médicaux et peut-être même des
dispositifs nanotechnologiques ou neurotechnologiques" [55].
"l’interprétation de la notion de torture devrait évoluer en fonction des nouveaux défis et capacités qui accompagnent le développement
des technologies émergentes, non seulement dans le cyberespace, mais aussi dans des domaines tels que l’intelligence artificielle, la robotique, les nanotechnologies et la neurotechnologie, ou les
sciences pharmaceutiques et biomédicales, y compris ce qu’on appelle « l’augmentation de l’être humain »."
"32. Compte tenu des progrès rapides des sciences médicales et pharmaceutiques, des neurotechnologies, de la cybernétique, de la
robotique et de l’intelligence artificielle, il est difficile de prévoir dans quelle mesure les techniques et les environnements futurs de la torture (...)"
UN Rapporter's call for submissions on psychosocial dynamics conducive to torture and ill-treatment ahead of his report to the UN General Assembly's 75th session
Call: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Torture/SRTorture/Pages/CallGA75.aspx
> Submissions from four NGOs against electromagnetic harassment/torture and from individuals
NGOs: VIACTEC (Spain), FFTI, PACTS-International, Targeted America.
VIACTEC (Spain) - Victimas de Acoso y Tortura Electronica https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Torture/Call/NGOs/VIACTEC.pdf
FFTI - Freedom for Targeted Individuals https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Torture/Call/NGOs/FFTI.pdf
PACTS International - People against Covert Torture and Surveillance https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Torture/Call/NGOs/PCTS.pdf
Targeted America (direct download) https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Torture/Call/NGOs/TA.docx
Featured submission from individuals:
Electromagnetic Torture
Report of the UN Special Rapporteur for the UN General Assembly: "Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment"
https://www.undocs.org/pdf?symbol=en/A/75/179
Version imprimable