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| Photo credit: Wikipedia |
George Floyd was tortured to death. This is not how his death is usually described, but it meets the clear definition of torture in international law: it was severe pain and suffering inflicted by a state agent for a deliberate purpose, in this instance racial animus or discrimination. CENDEP’s Lisa Handley and I directed a multi-country study to determine which were the most effective measures to deter torture, published as Does Torture Prevention Work? (Liverpool University Press 2016). Some of our findings have a direct relevance to the problem of police violence against African-Americans.
The most important measures to prevent torture are safeguards in the hours and days after arrest, including detention being recorded, notification of a family member or friend, and prompt access to a lawyer and medical examination. George Floyd was in police custody – defined as being unable to leave freely – and was informed that he was under arrest. The justification for the use of force was that Floyd was resisting arrest, although the videos taken by bystanders show that this was not so.
