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June 18, 2010

Ex-Chicago Police Commander Denies Overseeing Torture of African Americans at Trial
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A former police commander accused of overseeing the torture of more than
100 African American men has taken the stand at his trial in Chicago.
Former Lieutenant Jon Burge is accused of lying when he denied in a
civil lawsuit that he and other detectives had tortured anyone. For
nearly two decades beginning in 1971, Burge was at the epicenter of
what’s been described as the systematic torture of dozens of black men
to coerce confessions. The victims suffered alleged abuses including
having guns forced into their mouths, suffocation with bags placed over
their heads, and electric shocks inflicted on their genitals. On
Thursday, Burge denied on the witness stand ever abusing anyone into
giving confessions. His testimony at the trial follows that of five
witnesses who say Burge and his subordinate officers tortured them to
elicit confessions to crimes, including murder.



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