HOW TO RESPOND TO WITNESSING ONE'S COUNTRYMEN (OR WOMEN) ENGAGED IN GOVERNMENT-SANCTIONED TORTURE?

Henri Alleg, The Question, with a preface by Jean-Paul Sartre, translated  from the French by John Calder (London: John Calder, 1958) (From Jean-Paul Sartre's "Preface":"Appalled, the French are discovering this terrible truth: that if nothing can protect a nation against itself, neither its traditions nor its laws, and if fifteen years are enough to transform victims into executioners, then its behavior is not more than a matter of opportunity and occasion. Anybody, at any time, may equally find himself victim or executioner." "Happy are those who died without ever having had to ask themselves: 'If they tear out my fingernails, will I talk?' But even happier are others, barely out of their childhood, who have not had task themselves that other question: 'If my friends, fellow soldiers, and leaders tear out an enemy's fingernails in my presence, what will I do?'" Id. at 12. Written during the Algerian War, but still relevant . . . even to us Americans.).