Published on Double X (http://www.doublex.com)
What, No Waterboarding?
How can the Catholic Church allow the perpetrators of decades of abuse of Irish orphans in its care—abuse that makes Guantanamo sound like Club Med—get away with it? (Click on the headline to read more.)
By: Emily Yoffe
Posted: May 21, 2009 at 12:14 PM
How can the Catholic Church allow the perpetrators of decades of abuse of Irish orphans in its care—abuse that makes Guantanamo sound like Club Med—get away with it? (Click on the headline to read more.)
The Irish government has released a report [1]detailing the vicious beatings, rape, and emotional abuse inflicted on tens of thousands children entrusted to the care of Catholic orphanages for 60 years, until the 1990s. The Times pulls out this description [2]: “Punching, flogging, assault and bodily attacks ... burning, scalding, stabbing, severe beatings with or without clothes, being made to kneel and stand in fixed positions for lengthy periods ... beaten while hanging from hooks on the wall, being set upon by dogs ..." Not to mention relentless sexual assault. In response to the report, the Vatican is silent, and the government names none of the abusers—a result of Church pressure and lawsuits. An apology and some cash is what is being offered to the victims. But how is it the perpetrators get to decide they will not be prosecuted? And how can this chapter be closed until every rapist and sadist still alive is tracked down and tried?
Links:
[1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/20/AR2009052003809.html
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/21/world/europe/21ireland.html?_r=1&scp=7&sq=ireland&st=cse