Is it possible to die from waterboarding

Waterboarding could also cause hypoxia, a condition in which the body is not getting enough oxygen, either because the victim is holding his or her breath or inhaling water—and inadequate oxygen supplies can lead to deadly organ failure, Keller adds. Since it mimics the terrifying sensation of drowning , it triggers the release of stress hormones called catecholamines that can cause heart rate and blood pressure to soar, potentially setting the stage for heart attack in a person with underlying heart disease, he says.

But even healthy people can die from sheer terror, as Martin A. The sudden outpouring of stress hormones can cause the heart to beat abnormally, hampering its ability to deliver blood to the body. The rats often died, and when Richter examined their hearts, he found damage suggesting stress hormones caused heart muscle cells to contract uncontrollably, Samuels explains.

The views expressed are those of the author s and are not necessarily those of Scientific American. Already a subscriber? Sign in. Thanks for reading Scientific American. Or you may try to hold your breath as long as possible, only to find their now next breath awaiting. In other forms of waterboarding torture, one may have plastic material or cellophane placed over their nose and mouth with water being poured over these areas.

In either case, the material is often lifted away from the face in a matter of seconds to allow the subject to take a few breathes before continuing with the process over and over. While to some reading this, it may sound rather easy to survive moment to moment. However, I argue that there is a sharp contrast between reading how this process takes place to actually going through it yourself in an exercise to then actually being a victim of this act.

He stated that on his first exposure, he lasted only a few seconds. In an exercise, you know you escape. But in real-world situations, escape is rarely possible. Waterboarding torture has different effects on different people. Two of the most famous accounts, discussed publicly, involve two known terrorists: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Abu Zubaydah.

In less than 40 seconds of waterboarding, Zubaydah reportedly caved in and gave up information, despite weeks of prior non-waterboarding that resulted in no information. However, in comparison, Mohammed reportedly lasted much longer through numerous occasions, but eventually he too gave up information. Physically, one can die from a heart attack. Similarly, prolonged lack of oxygen can bring about organ damage. And unless the captors allow you to breath and clear the water from your nose and throat, you will die in a matter of minutes.

Having practiced some form of waterboarding on yourself will help, but only to some degree. The U. They go through the entire process, including restraints. However, each of these trainees knows that they are relatively safe. Professionals handle the process in an environment that will not allow them to actually die.

But all that is different for the person in an unknown location and among strangers. Therefore any preparation you have gone through is still and truly limited. Waterboarding has been around for ages. There is not an exact or perfect way to perform, or attempt to survive. At the end, your captors want information. Preparing your mind well ahead of time is the best possible way to be ready for such a situation.

Those I know that have gone through the training have all had that training done in the safety of others. And even in this safe environment, even the most hardened of us likely give in within moments. Viscera specimens the brain, lungs, liver, kidneys , biological fluids femoral and cardiac blood, bile, urine, and gastric content , hair, and nasal swabs were sampled for subsequent toxicological analyses.

Samples of the brain, heart, lungs, stomach, liver, spleen, and kidneys were also collected for histopathologic examination. A specimen of psoas muscle was also sampled for forensic genetic analysis. All the analyses were authorized by the prosecutor. Toxicological analyses were performed in accordance with the protocols adopted in the Milan Institute of Legal Medicine.

Alcohol concentrations were analyzed by gas chromatography GC in specimens of femoral blood, gastric content, and the brain: all of them resulted to be negative. Specimens of urine and cardiac blood, tested by ELISA immunoassay, were analyzed for illicit psychotropic drugs, which were negative. In addition, no medicinal drugs and non-volatile toxic substances were found in urine, cardiac blood, or bile, which were analyzed by GC and liquid chromatography LC.

Finally, no drugs were detected in hair sample and nasal swabs. Samples of the brain, heart, lungs, stomach, liver, spleen, and kidneys underwent standard post-fixative histopathologic examination. Histologic slides of the brain, stomach, and kidneys showed post-mortem autolytic changes.

Slides of the heart revealed wavy myocardial fibers, with a moderate fibrosis of the interstitium space. The spleen showed hyperemia, while the liver showed microvesicular steatosis.

The pulmonary parenchyma showed a massive edema, with some areas of acute emphysema and hemorrhagic foci Fig. This latter morphological pattern can be defined as emphysema aquosum , since the edema fluid in the bronchi blocks the passive collapse that normally occurs at death, holding the lungs in the inspiratory position.

The other organs did not show any abnormalities. Histopathologic slides of the lungs. Finally, the cause of death was identified as an asphyxiation by drowning in combination with direct suffocation caused by the soaked canvas bag, in the context of waterboarding practice. Toxic substances and natural diseases were not documented. To the best of our knowledge, waterboarding has never been used to commit suicides or homicides, but only for torturing prisoners.

Therefore, waterboarding has been practiced for centuries. As a method of torture, waterboarding became illegal under the law of war with the adoption of the third Geneva Convention of , which required that war prisoners had to be treated humanely, and the third and fourth Geneva Conventions of , which explicitly prohibited the torture and cruel treatments of war prisoners and civilians [ 8 ].

In the case presented, the possibility of a waterboarding fatality occurred in the bathtub was based on several data. In particular, the victim was found completely naked in the bathtub, and the hands were firmly tied with two nylon ropes and bound with a padlock. The head was covered by a soaked canvas bag, held around the neck by a nylon rope, and reached by the water jet coming from the showerhead, which was specifically inclined to the head.

The external examination did not show any injuries. In particular, signs related to blunt force injuries were not documented. Furthermore, defensive cut wounds typically involving the upper limbs [ 5 , 6 ] were not observed. On a closer examination, the neck, the thorax, and the abdomen were free from any injuries as well as his head and his back, which are frequently involved in the event of an assault [ 7 , 11 ].

At autopsy, the neck structures were also completely undamaged, without any hemorrhagic infiltration of the muscles. Signs related to struggle or attempted immobilization were therefore ruled out. Schmidt and Madea [ 12 ] reported indeed that homicides committed in the bathtub or a mere deposition of the victim of a homicide in the bath is very rare events.

Thus, they documented 11 homicides among bathtub fatalities, in a retrospective study. In particular, 5 victims were strangulated, 4 were stabbed, and 2 showed pathological findings of asphyxiation by drowning in combination with severe miscellaneous blunt force violence, such as contusions of the skull, and hemorrhages in the soft tissues of the back and the arms.

Ten victims were female, while the only male victim showed abrasions, contusions, and lacerations of the skull, with 98 stab wounds. The ages of the deceased ranged 13—63 years, and the age group 20—40 years accounted for most of the fatalities. In the case presented, toxicological analyses were all negative in reference to drugs and illicit substances.

Toxicological investigations help forensic pathologists to establish whether the victim had taken medications, alcohol, or illicit drugs, which may alter the psycho-physical abilities of a healthy man, facilitating direct physical violence [ 13 , 14 ] and mechanical asphyxiation [ 15 ] e. Dozens of drugs including ethanol can be used in DFSA. In this concern, the analysis of multiple matrices is advisable to obtain complementary information, differentiating endogenous production from exogenous administration [ 17 , 18 ].

In addition, the police examined the security camera footage recorded in the apartment building where the victim lived. No suspicious activities were reported in the time period included within the estimation of the time of death. These findings were therefore highly suggestive of a suicidal WB fatality.

The police also tried to reproduce the complex binding system of the victim. According to the police, the victim may have tied his wrists and his hands with the nylon ropes. Then, he may have put the canvas bag on his head; after that, he probably has fastened the canvas bag with the nylon rope. Finally, he might have bound with a padlock the two ropes, which were previously fastened all-around each hand, and opened the mixer tap of the shower with a knee or a foot.

According to the medicolegal literature [ 19 , 20 , 21 ], self-tying of the hands by using very complex bindings in suicidal deaths may be possible, also a way to prevent a change of heart during the procedure, especially if the manner of death turns out to be excessively painful or agonizing. Suicidal waterboarding is therefore definable as a primary and planned complex suicide [ 22 , 23 ] since two different independent and lethal methods are applied simultaneously [ 24 ]. On one hand, the soaked canvas bag provokes a direct physical obstruction of the mouth and the nostrils which is augmented by the respiratory activity.

On the other hand, water gradually enters the lungs and causes asphyxiation by drowning. In our opinion, the victim died quickly since his body was not in the Trendelenburg position used during torturing purposes , which avoids water to rapidly flood the airways. Furthermore, waterboarding may have been chosen by the young victim as a self-killing method, after watching movies or tv series related to this torture technique. The authors presented the first case of suicidal waterboarding, although a clear and specific differential diagnosis with a homicide is not possible beyond any doubt.

In forensic practice, this aspect is still challenging for the forensic pathologists. However, a multidisciplinary approach based on a thorough on-site investigation, autopsy examination, and laboratory analyses is highly advisable in such complex cases.

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