Amnesty's Unsubscribe Me video reenacts CIA waterboarding torture

Cory Doctorow 8:08 pm Tue Apr 22, 2008

Oscar sez, "Amnesty International waterboarding ad, where they actually filmed someone really getting waterboarded. The ad will play in movie theaters starting on May 12th. This is part of their 'Unsubscribe Me' campaign. They had released another video a couple of months ago of a guy getting put into a stress position."

Amnesty's 90-second film, called Stuff of Life, opens in slow motion with stylish shots of crystal-clear water and an upbeat soundtrack in the style of a typical mineral-water TV ad.

However, after lulling viewers the ad transforms into an interrogation room where a man is strapped to a table being subjected to waterboarding. Waterboarding involves first tying detainees to a board face-up and tilted backwards, then pouring water over the face and into breathing passages to simulate drowning.

"For a few seconds our film-makers did this for real, they poured water up the nose and into the mouth of someone who was pinned down with his head tilted back," said Sara McNeice, campaign manager at Amnesty International UK.

"Even for those few seconds it is horrifying to watch. The reality, in a secret prison with no one to stop it, is much, much worse."

(Thanks, Oscar!)

See also: Amnesty's Unsubscribe Me video reenacts CIA stress-position torture

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