The Troubles: Ireland's Ordeal 1966–1995 and the Search for Peace

by Tim Pat Coogan

But even the finding concerning the techniques not constituting a practice of torture did not satisfy Sir Gerald Fitzmaurice, the one judge who opposed. His findings have abided with me through the years. He had this to say: According to my idea of the correct handling of languages and concepts to call the treatment involved by the use of the five techniques ‘inhuman’ is excessive and distorting, unless the term is being employed loosely and merely figuratively… He then went on to give examples of figurative speech: One hears it said, ‘I call that inhuman’, the reference being to the fact that there is no dining-car on the train. ‘It’s degrading for the poor man’, one hears with reference to an employee who is being given all the unpleasant jobs. ‘It’s absolute torture to me’ and what the speaker means is having to sit through a boring lecture or sermon. There is a lesson to be learned here on the potential danger of hyperbole.78 Unfortunately Patrick Shivers and some of the other ‘hooded men’ on whose behalf the torture case was begun did not have very much time to study Sir Gerald’s warnings on the dangers of hyperbole. As indicated earlier, they began dying shortly afterwards as a result of their experiences.