Interrogator versus political prisoner: silences, secrets and the unsaid : a question of power
This personal reflection explores the question of power between interrogator/torturer and prisoner/victim. Are there times during interrogation that the prisoner/victim has power? At which moment might the victim/survivor succumb to the demands of the interrogator/torturer? How do interrogators see...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2016
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| In: |
International journal of transitional justice
Year: 2016, Volume: 10, Issue: 1, Pages: 189-198 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Keywords: |
| Summary: | This personal reflection explores the question of power between interrogator/torturer and prisoner/victim. Are there times during interrogation that the prisoner/victim has power? At which moment might the victim/survivor succumb to the demands of the interrogator/torturer? How do interrogators see their power? I frame these questions within events in Cape Town, South Africa, during the states of emergency in the 1980s. In 1988, i was detained under the Internal Security Act and held in solitary confinement. The only human interaction i had was with white Afrikaner male interrogators. In this essay i explore how these gender, language, class, race, ideological and patriarchal power polarities played themselves out. I also look at the extent to which aspects of reparations, rehabilitation and the restoration of dignity and healing have been achieved. Finally, i consider the power dynamics between the victim/survivor and interrogator after the events, especially during a new dispensation. |
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| ISSN: | 1752-7724 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/ijtj/ijv039 |