The distaste for torture and abuse of prisoners or detainees has never been shared by everyone in this country, though on the whole we’re better than those in many other countries. We have our own sadists who somehow end up in charge of others as well as those who, under pressure to provide results, overstep the mark. Document: Recruiting the Reich on Radio Four this week (Monday) uncovered some examples from the post-war period which, needless to say, were covered up. Using the Freedom of Information Act, the presenter Mike Thomson examined documents alleging abuse and even torture committed by Intelligence officers after the war, and he wondered if it had been widespread and systematic. I suspect neither but one can’t be sure.
It was certainly an interesting investigation. One Dutch soldier, a member of the Waffen SS, claimed to have been hit and kicked and forced to swallow nails and screws while being held at the wartime interrogation centre, Latchmere House in Surrey, then run by MI5 and an open prison today.
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