RECKONING WITH TORTURE
Memos and Testimonies from the “War on Terror”
Instructions and Tips for Shooting Your Scene
Equipment
1. Use an MP4 video camera that can record using a resolution of 720p or 1080p. (Many inexpensive point and shoot cameras and smartphones have this option.)
2. Choose a frame size of 16:9.
3. Use audio file formats of 48K, MP3 or AAC.
4. Each video should be single digital file (ex. a QuickTime or WMV file with video and audiotogether.)
5. Use a tripod to steady the camera. (You can purchase a tripod for as little as $15.)
6. Do not edit your video footage in any way. Send the raw footage and leave the editing to us.
7. Please do not add any titles or graphics.Doing so will prevent us from using it.
Location
1. Choose a location, outdoors or indoors, that has some significance to you.
2. Make sure your location is well lit.
3. Make sure your location is reasonably quiet.
4. Try to stay away from places with excessive background noise and avoid high traffic areas with lots of moving cars.
5. Use a clean, simple backdrop, such as a wall, bookcase, the side of a building, or trees.
6. Place the camera and/or tripod 3 to 4 feet away from your subject.
7. Make sure to frame your subject beforehand.
Reading
1. Please introduce yourself and your subjects using the prompts contained in each script.
2. Please answer the conclusion questions also contained in your script. Make sure that each person involved in your scene has the chance to answer.
3. A note about the redactions: Some of the readings denote where and what information, within each document, has been censored by the government. Make sure to read [REDACTION], [CENSORED] and [BLANK] as they are written.
READINGS
1. a Soldier in Afghanistan Witnesses Torture (1 reader)
The sworn statement of an interpreter at the Kandahar detention facility in Afghanistan, February 13, 2002.
2. the CIA’s Blueprint for Rendition and Interrogation (1 reader)
A classified CIA memo describing its Rendition, Detention, and Interrogation program, December 30, 2004.
3. in Theory and in Practice (2 readers)
The August 1, 2001 legal memo from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel approving the use of 10 “enhanced interrogation techniques” on Abu Zubaydah, read side-by-side with Zubaydah’s first-hand account of his interrogation in a secret CIA prison.
4. President Bush Denounces Torture(1 reader)
A statement from George W. Bush commemorating the U.N.’s International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, June 26, 2004.
5. Mistakenly Rendered to Torture (1 reader)
The account by Khaled el-Masri, an innocent victim of the CIA’s “extraordinary rendition” program, December 18, 2005.
6. the FBI Protests (2 readers)
FBI emails reporting abuses by military interrogators at Guantánamo Bay between October 2002 and July 2004.
7. Guantanamo’s “Special Project” (2 readers)
The minute-by-minute log of the interrogation of Mohammed al-Qahtani at Camp X-Ray, Guantánamo Bay, November 2002 to January 2003.
8. George Tenet on 60 Minutes: We Don’t Torture (2 readers)
The transcript of former CIA Director George Tenet’s interview with 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley, April 29, 2007.
9. Manner of Death: Homicide (3 readers)
Excerpts from autopsy reports of detainees held in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan, December 2002 to November 2004.
10. Guantanamo Justice: a Detainee’s Hearing (3 readers)
The Combatant Status Review Tribunal of Guantánamo detainee Mustafa Ait Idr, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, October 11, 2004.
11. the Repentant Prosecutor (1 reader)
The declaration of Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld, former lead prosecutor in the military commission case of teenaged detainee Mohammed Jawad, January 12, 2009.
1. a Soldier in Afghanistan Witnesses Torture (1 reader)
The sworn statement of an interpreter at the Kandahar detention facility in Afghanistan, February 13, 2002.
Please read the script exactly as it is written. Begin by introducing yourself. Make sure to include your name, occupation and location when prompted below. Read the words BLANK and XXXX whenever they appear in the script. When you are finished, take a minute to answer the concluding questions. Thank you.
INTRODUCTION:
Hi, my name is [NAME] and I am a [OCCUPATION] living in [LOCATION]. I am reading from the sworn statement made by an interpreter at the Kandahar detention facility in Afghanistan. The document is dated February 13, 2002.
*
INTERPRETER: I am writing this in response to events that I witnessed while performing my duties as an interrogator with the Task Force 202 JIF.
Specialist BLANK and I were conducting an interrogation of military prisoner number XXXX on 3 January, 2002. BLANK and I took a break to regroup and check our notes. While we were out of the booth, several Special Forces members entered. At the time I did not think anything of it, and thought they were just observing him. This was a different Special Forces people I hadn’t seen before. BLANK and I finished the break and went back. When we entered the booth, we found the Special Forces members all crouched around the prisoner. They were blowing cigarette smoke in his face. The prisoner was extremely upset. It took a long time to calm him down and find out what had happened. The prisoner was visibly shaking and crying. BLANK immediately told them to get out and not to come back anywhere near anyone that we were talking to. I could tell something was wrong. The prisoner was extremely upset. He said that they had hit him, told him that he was going to die, blew smoke in his face, and had shocked him some kind of device. He used the term “electricity.”
I immediately notified our Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge.
I was very upset that such a thing could happen. I take my job and responsibilities as an interrogator and as a human being very seriously. I understand the importance of the Geneva Convention and what it represents. If I don’t honor it, what right do I have to expect any other military to do so?
*
CONCLUDING QUESTIONS:
Who are you?
Where are you?
Tell us about your location and why you chose it.
Tell us why you think it is important to reckon with torture.
2. the CIA’s Blueprint for Rendition and Interrogation(1 reader)
A classified CIA memo describing its Rendition, Detention, and Interrogation program, December 30, 2004.
Please read the script exactly as it is written. Begin by introducing yourself. Make sure to include your name, occupation and location when prompted below. Read the lines SEVERAL WORDS ARE REDACTED, ONE LINE IS REDACTED, etc. whenever they appear in the script. When you are finished, take a minute to answer the concluding questions. Thank you.
INTRODUCTION:
Hi, my name is [NAME] and I am a [OCCUPATION] living in [LOCATION]. I am reading from a classified memo regarding the use of Enhanced Interrogation Techniques that was prepared by the CIA and sent to the Department of Justice on December 30, 2004.
The cover letter of the memo reads, “Dan, a generic description of the process. Thank you.”
*
READER: Effective interrogation is based on the concept of using both physical and psychological pressures in a comprehensive, systematic, and cumulative manner to influence HVD behavior, to overcome a detainee’s resistance posture. The goal of interrogation is to create a state of learned helplessness and dependence conducive to the collection of intelligence in a predictable, reliable, and sustainable manner. For the purpose of this paper, the interrogation process can be broken into three separate phases: Initial Conditions; Transition to Interrogation; and Interrogation.
- Initial Conditions. Capture. SEVERAL WORDS ARE REDACTED. Contribute to the physical and psychological condition of the HVD prior to the start of interrogation. Of these, “capture shock” and detainee reactions are factors that may vary significantly between detainees.
Regardless of their previous environment and experiences, once an HVD is turned over to CIA a predictable set of events occur:
1) Rendition.
a. The HVD is flown to a Black Site. During the flight, the detainee is securely shackled and is deprived of sight and sound through the use of blindfolds, earmuffs, and hoods. ONE LINE IS REDACTED. There is no interaction with the HVD during this rendition movement except for periodic, discreet assessments by the on-board medical officer.
b. Upon arrival at the destination airfield, the HVD is moved to the Black Site under the same conditions.
2) Reception at Black Site. The HVD is subjected to administrative procedures and medical assessment upon arrival at the Black Site.
FIVE LINES ARE REDACTED.
The HVD finds himself in the complete control of Americans;
SIX LINES ARE REDACTED.
The procedures he is subjected to are precise, quiet, and almost clinical; and no one is mistreating him. While each HVD is different, the rendition and reception process generally creates significant apprehension in the HVD because of the enormity and suddenness of the change in environment, the uncertainty about what will happen next, and the potential dread an HVD might have of US custody. Reception procedures include:
a. The HVD’s head and face are shaved.
b. A series of photographs are taken of the HVD while nude to document the physical condition of the HVD upon arrival.
c. A Medical Officer interviews the HVD and a medical evaluation is conducted to assess the physical condition of the HVD. The medical officer also determines if there are any contraindications to the use of interrogation techniques.
d. A Psychologist interviews the HVD to assess his mental state. The psychologist also determines if there are any contraindications to the use of interrogation techniques.
- Transitioning to Interrogation — The Initial Interview. Interrogators use the Initial Interview to assess the initial resistance posture of the HVD and to determine—in a relatively benign environment—if the HVD intends to willingly participate with CIA interrogators. The standard on participation is set very high during the Initial Interview. The HVD would have to willingly provide information on actionable threats and location information on High-Value Targets at large—not lower level information—for interrogators to continue with the neutral approach. THE REST OF THE PAGE IS REDACTED.
*
CONCLUDING QUESTIONS:
Who are you?
Where are you?
Tell us about your location and why you chose it.
Tell us why you think it is important to reckon with torture.
3. the Lawyer and his Victim (2 readers)
A legal memo of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel’s approval of the use of 10 “enhanced interrogation techniques” on Abu Zubaydah, August 1, 2001, read side-by-side with Zubaydah’s first-hand account of his interrogation in a secret CIA prison.
Please read the script exactly as it is written. Begin by introducing yourself. Make sure to include your name, occupation and location when prompted below. When you are finished, take a minute to answer the concluding questions. Thank you.
INTRODUCTION:
Hi, my name is [NAME] and I am a [OCCUPATION] living in [LOCATION]. I am reading from a legal memo written by John Yoo and signed by Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee. The August 1st, 2002 memo addresses the proposed interrogation of a detainee named Abu Zubaydah.
Hi, my name is [NAME] and I am a [OCCUPATION] living in [LOCATION]. I am reading from Abu Zubaydah’s first-hand account of his interrogation in a secret CIA prison. He gave this testimony to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
*
BYBEE/YOO: You have asked for this Office’s views on whether certain proposed conduct would violate the prohibition against torture found at Section 2340A of title 18 of the United States Code. You have asked for this advice in the course of conducting interrogations of Abu Zubaydah. In light of the information you believe Zubaydah has and the high level of threat you believe now exists, you wish to move the interrogations into what you have described as an “increased pressure phase.” This phase will likely last no more than several days but could last up to thirty days.
ZUBAYDAH: About two and a half or three months after I arrived in this place, the interrogation began again, but with more intensity than before. Then the real torturing started.
BYBEE/YOO: In this phase, you would like to employ ten techniques that you believe will dislocate his expectations regarding the treatment he believes he will receive and encourage him to disclose the crucial information mentioned above. These ten techniques are: (1) attention grasp, (2) walling, (3) facial hold, (4) facial slap (insult slap), (5) cramped confinement, (6) wall standing, (7) stress positions, (8)sleep deprivation, (9) insects placed in a confinement box, and (10) the waterboard. You have informed us that you expect these techniques to be used in some sort of escalating fashion, culminating with the waterboard, though not necessarily ending with this technique.
ZUBAYDAH: Two black wooden boxes were brought into the room outside my cell. One was tall, slightly higher than me and narrow, measuring perhaps 1 meter by three-quarters of a meter and 2 meters in height. The other was shorter, perhaps only 1 meter in height. I was taken out of my cell and one of the interrogators wrapped a towel around my neck, they then used it to swing me around and smash me repeatedly against the hard walls of the room. I was also repeatedly slapped in the face. As I was still shackled, the pushing and pulling around meant that the shackles pulled painfully on my ankles.
BYBEE/YOO: Cramped confinement involves the placement of the individual in a confined space, the dimensions of which restrict the individual’s movement. The confined space is usually dark. The duration of confinement varies based on the size of the container. For the larger confined space, the individual can stand up or sit down; the smaller space is large enough for the subject to sit down. Confinement in the larger space can last up to eighteen hours; for the smaller space, confinement lasts for no more than two hours.
ZUBAYDAH: I was then put into the tall box for what I think was about one and a half to two hours. The box was totally black on the inside as well as the outside. It had a bucket inside to use as a toilet and had water to drink provided in a bottle. They put a cloth cover over the outside of the box to cut out the light and restrict my air supply. It was difficult to breathe.
BYBEE/YOO: For walling, a flexible false wall will be constructed. The individual is placed with his heels touching the wall. The interrogator pulls the individual forward and then quickly and firmly pushes the individual into the wall. It is the individual’s shoulder blades that hit the wall. During this motion, the head and neck are supported with a rolled hood or towel that provides a C-collar effect to help prevent whiplash. To further reduce the probability of injury, the individual is allowed to rebound from the flexible wall. You have orally informed us that the false wall is in part constructed to create a loud sound when the individual hits it, which will further shock or surprise the individual.
ZUBAYDAH: When I was let out of the box I saw that one of the walls of the room had been covered with plywood sheeting. From now on it was against this wall that I was then smashed with the towel around my neck. I think that the plywood was there to provide some absorption of the impact of my body. The interrogators realized that smashing me against the hard wall would probably quickly result in physical injury. During these torture sessions many guards were present, plus two interrogators who did the actual beating still asking questions, which the main interrogator left to return when the beating was over. After the beating I was then placed in the small box. They placed a cloth or cover over the box to cut out all light and restrict my air supply. As it was not high enough even to sit upright, I had to crouch down. It was very difficult because of my wounds. The wound on my leg began to open and started to bleed. I don’t know how long I remained in the small box, I think I may have slept or maybe fainted.
BYBEE/YOO: Finally, you would like to use a technique called the “waterboard.” In this procedure, the individual is bound securely to an inclined bench, which is approximately four feet by seven feet. The individual’s feet are generally elevated. A cloth is placed over the forehead and eyes. Water is then applied to the cloth in a controlled manner. As this is done, the cloth is lowered until it covers the nose and mouth. Once the cloth is saturated and completely covers the mouth and nose, air flow is slightly restricted for 20 to 40 seconds due to the presence of the cloth. This causes an increase in carbon dioxide level in the individual’s blood. This increase in the carbon dioxide level stimulates increased effort to breathe.
ZUBAYDAH: I was then dragged from the small box, unable to walk properly and put on what looked like a hospital bed, and strapped down very tightly with belts. A black cloth was then placed over my face and the interrogators used a mineral water bottle to pour water on the cloth so that I could not breathe. After a few minutes the cloth was removed and the bed was rotated into an upright position. The pressure of the straps on my wounds was very painful. I vomited.