guardian.co.uk
Amnesty ad condemns waterboarding
April 22 2008

Amnesty International is launching a new ad featuring a hard-hitting torture scene showing simulated "waterboarding" in a campaign to outlaw the controversial interrogation practice.



The ad, created by advertising agency Drugstore, is set to run in cinemas nationwide from May 9 and is being released online this week.

Amnesty's 90-second film, called Stuff of Life, opens in slow motion with stylish shots of crystal-clear water and an upbeat soundtrack in the style of a typical mineral-water TV ad.

However, after lulling viewers the ad transforms into an interrogation room where a man is strapped to a table being subjected to waterboarding. Waterboarding involves first tying detainees to a board face-up and tilted backwards, then pouring water over the face and into breathing passages to simulate drowning.

"For a few seconds our film-makers did this for real, they poured water up the nose and into the mouth of someone who was pinned down with his head tilted back," said Sara McNeice, campaign manager at Amnesty International UK.

"Even for those few seconds it is horrifying to watch. The reality, in a secret prison with no one to stop it, is much, much worse."

The launch of the ad, which Amnesty International has dubbed "the film the CIA doesn't want you to see", follows the publishing of a book called Torture Team, which claims to shed light on interrogation techniques used in places such as Guantanamo Bay.

Author Philippe Sands, a professor of law at University College London, alleges that interrogation techniques developed at Guantánamo were inspired by the extreme exploits of Jack Bauer, played by actor Kiefer Sutherland, in the American TV series 24.

The campaign is part of Amnesty International UK's "unsubscribe" initiative launched in October last year that aims to gather support for human rights in the era of the "war on terror".

Amnesty's ad has been created in conjunction with post-production company DarkFibre Films and visual effects company Prime Focus London.

The cinema campaign will break in 50 Picturehouse cinema screens nationwide from May 9.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/200...ing.humanrights

Wow that'd be intense. Well done video.

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That is horrifying. I know all torture is, but drowning is one of my worst fears.

I KNOW I have seen something similar on a Japanese game show. Contestants were buried in the sand with their heads facing the ocean while wearing nasal strips. Then the field of hundreds of contestants was narrowed down to dozens as the tide rose and waves of salt water were breaking over their open nasal passages.

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I like the background music.

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I was reading up water boarding recently because it was a topic discussed with the US Presidential candidate debates. Anyways the CIA doesn't believe in physical torture anymore because it's no effective, with enough physical torture anyone would admit to anything they want you to say, so they practice on psychological torture now. Also, a bunch of CIA agents voluntarily chose to get waterboarded to see how long they would last.. the average time was 14 seconds. When they performed the water boarding torture on one of the Al Queda (sp?) leaders he lasted for almost two minutes I think.

It's a VERY VERY effective torture method.

Oh yeah like this is really gonna stop anybody from continuing to do this. What, is North Korea or the CIA suddenly going allow Amnesty International inspectors into their interrogation rooms?

What a waste

quote:

Originally posted by VERTiG0 Oh yeah like this is really gonna stop anybody from continuing to do this. What, is North Korea or the CIA suddenly going allow Amnesty International inspectors into their interrogation rooms? What a waste

totally agree

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quote:

Originally posted by VERTiG0 Oh yeah like this is really gonna stop anybody from continuing to do this. What, is North Korea or the CIA suddenly going allow Amnesty International inspectors into their interrogation rooms? What a waste

Nah man, North Korea and the CIA totally care about the public's opinion of them (especially North Korea).

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quote:

Originally posted by VERTiG0 Oh yeah like this is really gonna stop anybody from continuing to do this. What, is North Korea or the CIA suddenly going allow Amnesty International inspectors into their interrogation rooms? What a waste

Damn Straight.

At first, I thought the thread was about banning wakeboarding...

Oops on the misread.

Our Jordanian friends are some of the world's best (torturers). Many Western countries send their agents to Jordan to learn "interrogation" techniques. This is not meant as a slam against Jordan - they truly are a great country and wonderful friends of freedom (but they're also smart enough to realize that freedom requires a decision). Jordan is one of our greatest allies and King Hussein is a great man.

Funny how this video only focuses on the CIA. There are much worse places for torture than a Guantanamo Bay.

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quote:

Originally posted by VERTiG0 Oh yeah like this is really gonna stop anybody from continuing to do this. What, is North Korea or the CIA suddenly going allow Amnesty International inspectors into their interrogation rooms? What a waste

Why do some people on this site feel that everything is so simply cause and effect?

The video is a tool. It provides information about waterboarding to those who may not have heard of it, incites debate on the subject of torture and human rights and shows people what it is they've heard so much about and why it is so terrible. It may even change a few minds.


This is just like the whole 'as if turning off our lights for an hour is going to reduce global warming' nonsense.

Think 'big picture'.

And why you're at it, check out amnesty international's website.

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quote:

Originally posted by Dr. DAS Why do some people on this site feel that everything is so simply cause and effect? The video is a tool. It provides information about waterboarding to those who may not have heard of it, incites debate on the subject of torture and human rights and shows people what it is they've heard so much about and why it is so terrible. It may even change a few minds. This is just like the whole 'as if turning off our lights for an hour is going to reduce global warming' nonsense. Think 'big picture'. Think 'awareness'. And why you're at it, check out amnesty international's website.

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If you can't be good, be careful.

"Hey look, I can make a heart-shape with my hands!!!" So Fucking what? Stop it. You're a douche.

When life gives you lemons, squirt the juice in the eyes of your enemies.