A senior French official recommended institutionalizing torture in 1955

Evidence

The water and electricity methods, provided they are carefully used, are said to produce a shock which is more psychological than physical and therefore do not constitute excessive cruelty…. According to certain medical opinion which I was given, the water-pipe method, if used as outlined above, involves no risk to the health of the victim. This is not the case with the electrical method which does involve some danger to anyone whose heart is in any way affected…. I am inclined to think that these procedures can be accepted and that, if used in the controlled manner described to me, they are no more brutal than deprivation of food, drink, and tobacco, which has always been accepted…. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 583 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

And this is what happened. Because of the numbers of suspects involved, the D.O.P. “experts” often had to rely on outside help; “in certain cases”, admits Massu, “each of the regimental interrogation teams of the 10th Paratroop Division was obliged to have recourse to violence”. It was at this point, one might say, that torture became institutionalised in the army in Algeria. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 592 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: A senior French official recommended institutionalizing torture methods as unexceptional — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 583; Torture became institutionalized in the French army during the Battle of Algiers — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 592

Related

• A senior French official recommended institutionalizing torture methods as unexceptional (similarity 0.95)
• Post-1959 torture in Algeria became a private, unsanctioned practice. (similarity 0.87)
• Torture became institutionalized in the French army during the Battle of Algiers (similarity 0.86)
• Army hierarchy institutionalized cover-up of torture and abuses (similarity 0.82)
• French governors repeatedly ordered torture prohibited before the Battle of Algiers (similarity 0.81)
• Massu admitted Algerian torture existed but denied it was institutionalized (similarity 0.81)
• Brutalizing war and fear of losing drove army torture institutionalization (similarity 0.80)
• The French Revolution abolished torture outright before Algeria reignited it (similarity 0.80)
• French governors repeatedly and publicly prohibited torture in Algeria despite its prevalence (similarity 0.78)
• Institutionalized torture corrupts every institution it touches (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• A senior French official recommended institutionalizing torture methods as unexceptional #corroborates (0.90) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 583
• Torture became institutionalized in the French army during the Battle of Algiers #expands (0.60) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 592