Introduction
Dilawar, a taxi driver and an Afghan citizen, was considered as a kind and honest man by the villagers. As such, when the U.S. military detained him, after he had picked up three customers, denizens could not understand why. Picking the innocent taxi driver and hold him in prison without trial remained questionable. Five days after his arrest, his mysterious death in Bagram prison cell followed. Death of Dilawar came just a week after another mysterious death of an Afghan at Bagram. The documentary indicated that, the taxi driver and the other detainee died from injuries sustained at the prison. Injuries inflicted by the U.S soldiers.
The documentary Taxi to the Dark Side illustrates the path to Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay while still assertive the brutal treatment of prisoners was not the work of few crooked officials as pentagon claimed. In keeping with the documentary, water-boarding, sexual humiliation, among other well documented practices, were methods that were authorized from the leading commandants. Arguably, these methods were intended to induce physical discomfort and to breakdown psychological defenses. How these approaches could work only behavioral scientists and professional interrogators can elaborate.
Evident from the documentary, the torture in the prison at Bagram occurred in 2002, this was before the violent incident at Abu Ghraib. In this case, President Bush administration was well aware of the atrocious treatment of detainees, many of whom were guiltless, but were endorsed as a technique of getting information. In the documentary, soldiers who are interviewed expressed regret over inhumane treatment and torturing detainees. However, they all asserted that it was the top commanders which mandated the appalling practice. In addition, soldiers were pressured to attaining intelligence information that compelled them to arrest and detain many people and torture them to get information.
The documentary also expounds on psychological torture which is as destructive as physical torture. Such torture first practiced by Soviet Union, and later adopted by CIA as an effective way of getting information by leaving the detainee uninhabited so that they can release subconscious or psychoanalytical thoughts. Other forms of torture included forced standing and deprivation of sleep. Arguably, the treatment of the detainees makes it clear why Guantanamo Bay is in Cuba and not U.S. Notably, Cuban law can not apply neither can U.S law. This is a clear indication of the intention to torture prior establishment of Guantanamo prison. The film, torture of any kind, whether psychological or physical is not an effective way of interrogating people. Arguably, when confronted with dogs or abuse, the instinct of a subject can blunt out any claim regardless of it certainty.
The dark side to the documentary is its successive use of naked images of tortured detainees, performing lewd among other degrading behaviors demanded by soldiers. Such disturbing clips that last for approximately one minute serve to enforce the documentary message of United States endorsement and practice of torture and inhumanity. Impartially, torture against men is exclusively illustrated throughout the film although it has no representation on how women were treated. It is most likely; fewer men compared to women were detained. Nonetheless, Taxi to the Dark Side what has been shown in the film suggests that this film invites transformative reflection on the essence of human right and the true purpose of the forces in the wake of War on Terror.
-Work Cited-
Documentary. Taxi to the Dark Side director Alex Gibney. April 28, 2007
Scott O. Taxi to the Dark Side - Review Summery. Cited from. New York Times. Monday, February 17, 2014
