Torturing Democracy
| Industry | Media production |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2008 |
| Products | Documentary films |
Torturing Democracy is a 2008 documentary film created by Washington Media Associates. It examines the implementation of torture practices during the "War on Terror" under the Bush administration.
Overview
Narrated by Peter Coyote and produced by journalist Sherry Jones, Torturing Democracy investigates the development of interrogation and detention policies enacted by the Bush administration.
The documentary utilizes interviews and original documents to depict the government's reaction following 9/11, focusing on the establishment of legal opinions known as the "torture memos." These memos authorized enhanced detention and interrogation procedures, including the controversial "enhanced interrogation techniques" employed by both the CIA and Bush administration.
Several of these enhanced methods, notably waterboarding, were derived from the military's Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) training program. This program was initially designed to help US military personnel withstand torture tactics inspired by those used during the Korean War.
Included in the film are interviews with officials from the US State Department and military, such as former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, alongside former detainees at Guantanamo Bay like Shafiq Rasul.
Critical materials—such as torture memos, interrogation records, and official reports—were accessed through Freedom of Information Act requests and litigation pursued by organizations including the ACLU, Associated Press, and Center for Constitutional Rights.
Release
While PBS did not originally schedule the documentary for broadcast on its main channel, it was shown on networks affiliated with PBS. The initially proposed airdate of January 21, 2009—immediately following President Bush’s departure from office—was cited as a possible reason for PBS's hesitation; however, PBS claimed this timing was coincidental. Producer Sherry Jones rejected PBS’s offer due to concerns that airing it so late would diminish its impact, stressing the importance of releasing the film while events were still unfolding in public discourse.
Awards
- 2009 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award - Domestic TV
See also
External links
- Articles with short description
- American documentary films
- Documentary films about American politics
- Documentary films about war
- 2008 films
- Extrajudicial prisoners of the United States
- Torture in the United States
- War on terror
- Presidency of George W. Bush
- Documentary films about human rights
- 2000s English-language films
- 2000s American films
- English-language documentary films