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Panorama featuring graphic torture reconstructions to be investigated Panorama featuring graphic torture reconstructions to be investigated
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A Panorama programme which featured graphic reconstructions of torture methods including waterboarding is being investigated by media regulator Ofcom.A Panorama programme which featured graphic reconstructions of torture methods including waterboarding is being investigated by media regulator Ofcom.
The edition of the BBC1 current affairs show, Fighting Terror with Torture, included examples of “enhanced interrogation condemned as torture”, two of them featuring the programme’s reporter, Hilary Andersson.The edition of the BBC1 current affairs show, Fighting Terror with Torture, included examples of “enhanced interrogation condemned as torture”, two of them featuring the programme’s reporter, Hilary Andersson.
An award-winning reporter who has been a correspondent on Panorama for nearly a decade, Andersson was shown locked inside a “blackout box” for 12 minutes while a recording of a screaming baby was played at high volume.An award-winning reporter who has been a correspondent on Panorama for nearly a decade, Andersson was shown locked inside a “blackout box” for 12 minutes while a recording of a screaming baby was played at high volume.
She was also shown repeatedly slammed into a flexible wall by three masked men as part of a procedure known as “walling”.She was also shown repeatedly slammed into a flexible wall by three masked men as part of a procedure known as “walling”.
Another reconstruction featured waterboarding, although not all of the scenes were shown and it did not involve Andersson, who said she “wasn’t prepared to undergo the ordeal”.Another reconstruction featured waterboarding, although not all of the scenes were shown and it did not involve Andersson, who said she “wasn’t prepared to undergo the ordeal”.
An Ofcom spokesperson said: “We’ve opened an investigation to determine whether scenes featuring graphic reconstructions of torture methods in this current affairs programme were suitable to be broadcast pre-watershed.”
The programme was broadcast on BBC1 on 3 August. It asked: “How far should we go in the fight against terrorism? Panorama hears from those who approved, ran and suffered waterboarding in secret CIA prisons around the world.”
Ofcom said it had received one complaint about the broadcast.Ofcom said it had received one complaint about the broadcast.
A spokesperson for the regulator said: “We’ve opened an investigation to determine whether scenes featuring graphic reconstructions of torture methods in this current affairs programme were suitable to be broadcast pre-watershed.”
The programme was broadcast on BBC1 on 3 August. It asked: “How far should we go in the fight against terrorism? Panorama hears from those who approved, ran and suffered waterboarding in secret CIA prisons around the world.”
The BBC said the programme made it clear that the reconstructions featured in it were carried out under strictly controlled conditions with medical back-up on standby.
A pre-programme announcement warned that the film would feature “disturbing details of CIA methods condemned as torture.”