U.K. Reality TV To Test 'Torture' techniques - Sleep deprivation, Extreme Temperatures
By Sanjay Sharma, Section News
Posted on Sat Feb 12, 2005 at 02:42:36 AM EST
LONDON - A British TV channel is preparing “Guantanamo Guidebook,” a show that will test the effectiveness of interrogation techniques like sleep deprivation which freed inmates say were used by the U.S. military at its camp in Cuba.
- The techniques are based on information from declassified U.S. government documents, and will be carried out by expert interrogators from the United States, a Channel Four spokesman said, declining to provide additional details.
- The United Nations criticized the United States last week for holding Guantanamo detainees for nearly three years without legal advice or information about how long they were likely to remain incarcerated.
Channel Four, which brought the world reality TV hit “Big Brother,” will film seven British volunteers as they are subjected to extreme temperatures and mild physical contact while being kept awake for long periods. The program, due to air in mid-March, will examine the effects of the interrogation techniques over 48 hours in a London warehouse. It is part of a four-part series on torture hosted by news presenter Jon Snow.
It could be a useful way of showing viewers that seemingly innocuous techniques like sleep deprivation can have a devastating effect, said Steve Crawshaw, director of Human Rights Watch’s London office.
