In 1972, under the guidance of management staff from a Scarfolk pickle factory, imprisoned terrorists saw their holidays reduced to 25 days per annum, lunch breaks reduced to 30 minutes, and per diem expenses decreased from 5 pounds to 3 pounds. They had to participate in regular trust and team-building exercises, such as group games, sing-a-longs, waterboarding, sensory deprivation and, as the book indicates, mock execution - all the techniques that had made British business profitable, at home and abroad.
But when interrogations were further reduced to 3 days per week and some detainees were even made redundant, many terrorists said enough was enough and went out on strike. They refused to engage in any interrogations until a full 5-day week, as well as tea breaks and afternoon naps were reinstated.
Another brilliant HB Allen treatise all but forgotten in today's corporate clime; American business could learn a lot from this strategy, though unless the mock executions are convincing to both victim and executioners, there's no cathartic bonding or transfiguration, and in America, even the real thing seems fake...
ReplyDeleteWe're still arguing if mock executions are a violation of basic mock civil rights.
DeleteI remember that pickle factory for the hell-hole it was. The owner took great delight in exacting cruel and unusual punishments on his workforce. In much of Scarfolk the name 'Lord Richard Branston' is synonymous with Satan.
ReplyDelete