Sara MacNiece, Campaign Manager, Terrorism, Security and Human Rights




We wanted to make "Waiting for the Guards" to show everyone that the techniques that are used to interrogate prisoners in the so called "war on terrror" amount to serious ill treatment and torture. If you are surprised to hear that what you see in this film is legal then you would not be alone. We know that the US and other countries are using increasingly severe interrogation methods and justifying them by telling us that needs must, that these prisoners are "bad men", that getting people to talk might save lives.

Amnesty is totally opposed to terrorism, anyone guilty of involvment in acts of terrorism must be tried and brought to justice but whether governments like it or not, they must be dealt with fairly. The US has said it does not allow torture, yet we know that what you see in this film is only part of the real picture. If you think this is bad how about being interrogated whilst you are naked and the temperature is the room is dropped so low it could induce hypothermia or what about if you are told that your family are in the next room and that they too are being subjected to this type of treatment and worse.

You would talk too. The point is torture is wrong, it is illegal and it must never be allowed. In fact, experts say that the information extracted by torture cannot be relied upon. No-one is saying that suspects should not be questionned but they must never be subjected to this type of abuse. We need to expose this and we need to insist it stops. Let's call interrogations that cause severe physical pain and mental suffering by their proper name - torture.