US tortures political prisoners?

@vivify said
"Alone time" ends at your choosing. Solitary conferment doesn't. This isn't like being in bed all day with the TV on.

Solitary confinement can have terrible mental effects on people; this can start after only a few days; in some cases, people have been exposed to it for years. Torture doesn't have to always be physical pain.

Here's an article from the Guardian on the topic:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/27/what-is-solitary-confinement

Still it’ll be at the lower end of the torture scale though, if not there is a lot of torture going on.
Solitary usually includes periods of exercise outside your cell, I mean we are not talking about. ‘the count of monte cristo’ are we.
You have to be very careful not to use the term too loosely for fear of devaluing it.

@kevcvs57 said
Still it’ll be at the lower end of the torture scale though, if not there is a lot of torture going on.
Solitary usually includes periods of exercise outside your cell, I mean we are not talking about. ‘the count of monte cristo’ are we.
You have to be very careful not to use the term too loosely for fear of devaluing it.

According to the Guardian article, periods outside for exercise average about one - two hours a day before going back to solitary.

You are correct, you don't want to throw "torture" around too loosely. At the same time, be careful not to minimize the negative impacts of solitary confinement.

Solitary is comparable to waterboarding in that it doesn't sound like torture at first. When you hear the term "waterboarding" it seems like a mere annoyance...until you know what's actually involved and what a waterboarded person goes through. Likewise when most people hear "solitary confinement".

Don't get me wrong: there are times when limited confinement is necessary, like if an inmate is sick or if they are particularly violent or unruly in some way. But when used as a punitive measure, extended time in solitary can start to have bad psychological effects.

@vivify said
According to the Guardian article, periods outside for exercise average about one - two hours a day before going back to solitary.

You are correct, you don't want to throw "torture" around too loosely. At the same time, be careful not to minimize the negative impacts of solitary confinement.

Solitary is comparable to waterboarding in that it doesn't sound like to ...[text shortened]... n used as a punitive measure, extended time in solitary can start to have bad psychological effects.

Oh I don’t have any doubts about the terror and physical discomfort experienced by victims of water boarding.
The problem with solitary and especially the idea of being cooped up in your cell for extended periods is it is being used as a cost saving expediency rather than a punishment. There are prisons in the uk that have been found to have given prisoners the same period of exercise and communal time out of their cells simply because they do not have the staff to manage a free flowing prison wing.

@metal-brain said
Sen. Elizabeth Warren Condemns 'Cruel' Treatment of Capitol Protesters Locked In Solitary Confinement

http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=62174

Is Solitary Confinement torture?

Yes.

@kevcvs57 said
Still it’ll be at the lower end of the torture scale though, if not there is a lot of torture going on.
Solitary usually includes periods of exercise outside your cell, I mean we are not talking about. ‘the count of monte cristo’ are we.
You have to be very careful not to use the term too loosely for fear of devaluing it.

BS.

The vast majority of people can’t handle solitary confinement. After 2 days people start deteriorating mentally.

Even the UN classifies any solitary above 15 days as torture.

It’s especially harsh on people who already have underlying psychological problems (who often end up in prisons).