4 2.3 Sensory over-stimulation Sensory stimulation is frequently used as a method of torture by perpetrators, but it does not seem to be so common in community settings. The aim behind sensory stimulation, which is often erroneously termed "brain washing", is to attack the person in another way. Psychological studies of sensory deprivation have clearly demonstrated the damaging effects of such abuse. For example, people subjected to constant "white noise" rapidly show signs of stress and can even begin to hallucinate if it goes on long enough. All of these can be used deliberately, or can be part of the background to detentions. For example, many people have been tortured in settings where they can hear the sounds of others being tortured too, and will talk about how terrible it was to hear the screams and voices of their comrades. This could have been a deliberate policy on the part of the torturers, but is frequently due to their indifference to whether others can hear or not. 2.4 Psychological methods of torture It is very rare to find physical torture unaccompanied by psychological torture, and psychological torture is probably the most common form of torture used. Psychological torture is also frequently applied on its own, and can be very successful in causing both short-term and long-term damage to a person. Psychological torture is not to be seen as a lesser form of ill treatment, because its consequences can very powerful and very long lasting. 2.5 High War Zone Stress & Witnessing violence Some earlier workers in the field of traumatic stress argued that civilian populations were little affected by war. However, there was little direct investigation of trauma in civilian populations until the last decade, and, following the invention of PTSD, there has been the continual demonstration of psychological disorder in populations in situations of war and civil conflict. These situations are usefully described by the term "High War Zone Stress". The term was originally applied in a military context, to differentiate soldiers in combat settings from those in non-combat zones. It was defined by reference to frequent experience of military fighting, proximity to people being killed, and fears about oneself being killed. This situation is, of course, not unique to military personnel, and describes the daily life of many non-combatants and ordinary people. It is particularly relevant to situations of guerrilla war, and obviously to Southern Africa. As originally propounded, High War Zone Stress refers to the situation that soldiers can find themselves in, whether they are professional soldiers or conscripts, and here we are referring to men generally who receive training. However, the term can also be applied to civilians, and it is worth remembering that up to 80% of the casualties of modern wars are civilians. Modern wars are distinguished by the strategic involvement of civilians, and especially where there are civil war situations and guerrilla warfare. So it is very common for ordinary civilians to find themselves in situations of high war stress, and to have the frequent experience of witnessing violence and death. Deliberate massacres and executions are frequently forced upon ordinary people by military and paramilitary forces in an attempt to remove support for guerrillas or political parties. Civilians are deliberately terrorized, threatened, and abused in order to destroy the support for one force or political party. This frequently leads to both sides terrorizing civilians in order to prevent support for the other side. For example, during the Liberation War in Zimbabwe it was common for the government security forces to attack villages and to kill or assault villagers in order to destroy support for the guerrillas, and it was also common for the guerrillas to undertake punitive actions against suspected supporters of the government. This creates a situation of sustained fear and stress for the ordinary person. 2.6 Disappearances One very sinister form of deliberately inducing a situation of High War Zone Stress is the use of forced disappearances. This refers to the abduction of individuals, who may be kept in secret detention for long periods, but are often executed in secret. This is a strategy that has been growing in recent decades, and some of the most tragic examples can be found in Latin America. AMANI TRUST: Beating your opposition. Torture during the 2002 Presidential campaign in Zimbabwe.