A senior French official recommended institutionalizing torture methods as unexceptional

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

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to how governments rationalize systematic brutality as routine procedure — parallels how the French army later justified mass arrests. — connects to: A senior French official recommended institutionalizing torture in 1955; Massu admitted Algerian torture existed but denied it was institutionalized — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 580; Torture became institutionalized in the French army during the Battle of Algiers — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 592 (+1 more)
• QUESTION: Whose ‘medical opinion’ certified the water method as harmless, and was it genuinely obtained or a fig leaf for the proposal?

Related

• A senior French official recommended institutionalizing torture in 1955 (similarity 0.95)
• Post-1959 torture in Algeria became a private, unsanctioned practice. (similarity 0.82)
• Massu admitted Algerian torture existed but denied it was institutionalized (similarity 0.81)
• Torture became institutionalized in the French army during the Battle of Algiers (similarity 0.80)
• Institutionalized torture corrupts every institution it touches (similarity 0.79)
• Army hierarchy institutionalized cover-up of torture and abuses (similarity 0.79)
• The French Revolution abolished torture outright before Algeria reignited it (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Torture became institutionalized in the French army during the Battle of Algiers #expands (0.70) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 592
• Army hierarchy institutionalized cover-up of torture and abuses #expands (0.60)