Blindfolding

Warning! This post is very old and may contain information or opinions that are no longer valid or embarrassing.

Blindfolding is commonly used by security forces that physically torture people. It works by making the victim disoriented and fearful. A person will lose his orientation to place and the sense of direction first. Then, if applied long enough for more than a day, it can make some experience visual hallucinations. It makes a blow, a kick or an electric shock unpredictable and thus far more distressful.

These were some of the effects on the victim and they were quite straightforward. But what about the effects on the perpetrator?

Here is what a former Israeli military commander said in an interview to the BBC:

''Maybe [the kid is] blindfolded for him not to see the base and how we're working... But I believe maybe we put the blindfold because we don't want to see his eyes. You don't want him to look at us - you know, beg us to stop, or cry in front of us. It's a lot easier if we don't see his eyes.

''When the kid is sitting there in the base, I didn't do it, but nobody is thinking of him as a kid, you know - if there is someone blindfolded and handcuffed, he's probably done something really bad. It's OK to slap him, it's OK to spit on him, it's OK to kick him sometimes. It doesn't really matter.''

Torture is an interaction between two people. We often forget that the perpetrator is a human who needs psychological aids, like the blindfold, to express his darker side. To overcome innate desire to help children. Probably perpetrators lose insight about what they do. We, in exchange, dehumanize the perpetrator to comprehend it. But in reality it is coming from a human who is not much different than the rest and that makes it more difficult.

We have to learn from both parties, if we want to understand its results more and perhaps stop people from inflicting it.

Comments

  • Ahmad Awadalla

    Posted on - 🔗

    Interesting post ya Mostafa. I reminded me of a film in which a victim fell for his perpetrator. It was twisted and dark, but I can't remember its name. Thanks for the thought-provoking post anyway.