OVER fifty years ago, 14 men were interned without trial in the North of Ireland and subjected to what the UK authorities described as “deep interrogation”.
This form of interrogation which has sometimes been called ‘Five Techniques’ – involved white noise; wall-standing; deprivation of food and sleep; and hooding. Those affected became known as ‘The Hooded Men’.
In 1976 the European Commission on Human Rights determined that the Five Techniques were torture.
On Monday January 23 a documentary, The Hooded Men, will be broadcast on BBC1 (10.40pm).
Since 1971 the men have campaigned for the UK authorities to acknowledge the truth of what happened to them and to apologise for it.
The film makes use of intimate, first-hand testimony from some of the surviving Hooded Men, interviews with retired senior members of the 'security services' and declassified government documents. It includes access to the 2021 legal case that was made to the UK’s Supreme Court and explores its wider implications and relevance.
