British troops are told: Give in to torture
No more ‘name, rank and number’
IT is a classic scene from many a war film: plucky British PoWs giving interrogators the minimum information – name, rank and number.
But keeping co-operation under torture to the bare details is apparently being replaced unofficially by some commanders.
They have instead adopted a ‘traffic light’ approach, with troops trained to slowly release more details to their captors to avoid brutal questioning, it has been claimed.
Captives of terror groups such as Islamic State or alQaeda should first offer ‘green’ information, the least sensitive, then if necessary ‘amber’ details and finally ‘red’, the most classified secrets, The Sunday Times reported.
The Ministry of Defence says official policy has not changed but Major Charles Heyman said the drip-feed tactic was ‘sensible,’ adding: ‘You hold out for as long as you can but you know full well in the end that you are going to say something.’ The author of the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom handbook added last night it was widely ‘accepted’ that if a combatant is captured they can resist divulging useful details only for ‘an hour or two’.
Major Heyman, who served in the Army for more than 20 years, said: ‘I was taught as well that you should try desperately, no matter how much you’re tortured, to give away no really important information for about 48 hours.
‘If you’re going to be tortured you must never tell a lie, because if they find you out on a lie they may just kill you straight away.’
He said that although the policy was not included in official Army handbooks, it was well-known unofficially. ‘I never saw that published anywhere or written down anywhere but it was certainly taught,’ he added. ‘I was taught on an escape and evasion course.’
Training on resisting interrogation is reportedly given to special forces, pilots and other servicemen most likely to be captured. Green-level intelligence can be released early in the questioning but amber and red secrets should be stalled for as long as possible, troops are told.
The Geneva Convention says: ‘No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information. Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened.’
But a source told the newspaper: ‘We are fighting people who don’t care about the Geneva Convention. Torture will often be their first weapon of choice in an interrogation.’
The MoD said: ‘Personnel are required to give their number, rank, full names and date of birth and do not have to give further information.’
‘In the end you will talk’