Frequent flyer program (Guantanamo)
The frequent flyer program represents a disputed approach employed by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detainment camps located in Cuba. This practice involved guards repeatedly relocating detainees between cells several times each day over prolonged intervals, resulting in sleep deprivation.
The primary objective of this strategy was to psychologically weaken detainees ahead of interrogations. Although officially halted in March 2004, reports indicate that its application persisted later that same year.
Major David Frakt, USAF, who served as defense attorney for detainee Mohamed Jawad, commented on the practice:
In August 2008, officers from the US Army acknowledged the existence of the frequent flyer program during the military commission trial of Jawad at Guantanamo. It is documented that a minimum of 17 detainees experienced this procedure.
By May 2012, attorney Ramzi Kassem conveyed claims from detainee Shaker Aamer asserting that the program continued to be employed as a disciplinary measure within the isolation section known as Camp Five Echo. According to Kassem's notes, Aamer was confined in solitary from July through December 2011 in this punishment block designated for "non-compliant" detainees, where he endured constant confinement and sleep disruption tactics by the guards.