Ashwin Lewis
Sleep deprivation has been used as a form of torture throughout history. For example, during Apartheid, Black women in prison were subjected to sleep deprivation, as were civilians during Scotland's 16th-century witch hunts. The British military and the CIA have also used sleep deprivation as an interrogation technique, with the latter referring to it as an enhanced interrogation technique. Sleep deprivation is a prevalent method of psychological torture, and while it leaves no physical signs of harm, it is recognised as a form of torture by the United Nations.
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The CIA
Sleep deprivation has been used as a form of torture for centuries. While it leaves no physical signs of harm, the United Nations (UN) recognises it as a form of torture, defining torture as “physical or mental” pain or suffering. Sleep deprivation causes a disordering of thought, irrationality, huge drops in cognitive functions, hallucinations, and a total break with reality.
In 2009, documents were released describing two instances in 2007 in which the CIA kept prisoners awake for up to four days, exceeding the guidelines set by the Bush administration. In one case, the prisoner was forced to stand with his arms chained above heart level and was made to wear diapers so that he could be continuously chained without bathroom breaks. In another case, a prisoner was monitored by closed-circuit television, and if he started to fall asleep, the chains on his arms would jerk, waking him up.
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US Military
Sleep deprivation has been used as a form of torture throughout history, including by the US military. It is recognised by the United Nations (UN) as a form of torture, which it defines as "physical or mental" pain or suffering. The use of sleep deprivation as an interrogation technique is believed to enhance the extraction of information. However, some argue that it is an ineffective method as it diminishes the likelihood of gaining accurate and meaningful responses from the interrogated person.
The US military has been criticised by the UN for inflicting prolonged sleep deprivation on detainees, despite efforts by the Obama administration to ban such practices. This power is retained in an appendix of the Army Field Manual called Human Intelligence Collector Operations, which allows interrogators to practice "physical separation" to prevent detainees from sharing information and coordinating resistance. The appendix authorises keeping detainees awake for up to 20 hours a day for an initial period of 30 days, which can be renewed.
The UN's committee against torture has called on the US to abolish this provision immediately, considering it a form of "ill-treatment". The committee's review of the US human rights record also addressed other concerns, including indefinite detention without trial, force-feeding of Guantanamo prisoners, and the excessive use of force and brutality by police. These practices have been attributed to the failure of the US government to adequately address the legal framework surrounding torture in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
The prosecution of sleep deprivation as torture has faced challenges due to the lack of a specific threshold and variations in legal definitions. However, sleep is recognised as a human right, and its purposeful deprivation is considered a violation of that right. The cumulative effects of sleep deprivation can lead to a decline in various cognitive functions, including memory, speech, and social competence. Prolonged sleep deprivation can even result in hallucinations and a break from reality, causing severe mental distress.
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British Military
Sleep deprivation has been used as a form of torture and a means of interrogation throughout history. It is recognised as a violation of fundamental human rights and a form of mental pain or suffering by the United Nations (UN). The UN's 1975 declaration against torture was challenged in 1980 in the case of Ireland v United Kingdom, which involved the use of sleep deprivation by British security forces on Irish Republican Army (IRA) suspects.
The European Commission ruled that the use of sleep deprivation by the British military in this context amounted to torture, stating that the "systematic application of the techniques for this purpose resembled methods of systematic torture". However, the European Court of Human Rights disagreed with this assessment, acknowledging the techniques as inhuman treatment but not considering them torture.
Sleep deprivation was one of five illegal interrogation techniques used by the British military, alongside prolonged wall-standing, hooding, subjection to noise, and food and drink deprivation. It was employed during Operation Demetrius in August 1971, when almost 350 people were arrested on suspicion of involvement with the IRA. During their detention, prisoners reported being subjected to these torture methods to extract information.
The use of sleep deprivation as a form of torture has been reported to induce hallucinations, psychosis, schizophrenia, and a disorderly and irrational state in victims. It impairs cognitive functions such as accurate memory, coherent speech, and social competence. Beyond a certain point, a sleep-deprived individual can no longer communicate coherently or provide relevant information. Thus, while some have argued that torture may be justified if it helps save innocent lives, sleep deprivation is likely an ineffective method of interrogation, as it diminishes the likelihood of gaining actionable intelligence.
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Scottish Witch Hunts
Sleep deprivation has been used as a form of torture throughout history. One example of this is the Scottish Witch Hunts, which took place between the early 16th century and the mid-18th century. During this time, an estimated 4,000 to 6,000 people, mostly women from the Scottish Lowlands, were tried for witchcraft. The first major issue of trials was the North Berwick witch trials in 1590, in which King James VI played a significant role as both "'victim" and investigator.
James VI's interest in witchcraft may have been sparked by his visit to Denmark in 1589, where witch hunts were already widespread. He is known to have personally supervised the torture of women accused of witchcraft and even wrote a tract opposing the practice, called "Daemonologie," in 1597. The Witchcraft Act of 1563 made witchcraft and consulting with witches capital crimes, and the passing of this act led to a series of nationwide trials in Scotland.
Civilians participated in these witch hunts and needed confessions from the accused before conviction. This gave rise to the practice of "waking the witch," which involved depriving accused women of sleep for days until they began to hallucinate. The things these women said and did during their hallucinations were interpreted as confessions, and they were convicted of witchcraft. Today, we would likely describe such incidents as psychotic episodes.
The Scottish Witch Hunts resulted in the execution of an estimated 1,500 people, most of whom were strangled and then burned. The last recorded executions took place in 1706, and the last trial was in 1727. In recent years, there have been calls for pardons, apologies, and a national monument to the mainly female victims of these witch hunts.
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Apartheid South Africa
Sleep deprivation has been used as a form of torture throughout history, including during Apartheid in South Africa. Apartheid South Africa, which began in 1948 and was abolished in 1994, was marked by widespread and institutionalised torture, routinely carried out by apartheid security forces.
Sleep deprivation was one of the torture methods used during Apartheid interrogations. In the 1960s, psychotherapist John Schlapobersky was subjected to sleep deprivation for a week in South Africa. After two nights, he reported hallucinations, and after three, he described "having dreams while awake, which is a form of psychosis". He also experienced a feeling of distortion of people, places, and even the concept of time.
Black women in prison during Apartheid were subjected to torture in the forms of abuse, rape, and sleep deprivation. As hallucinations set in, the women had growing fears that men were attempting to enter their cells to grab them.
Sleep deprivation is a profound assault on the biological systems that underpin a person's mind and body. It causes a disordering of thought, bursts of irrationality, and, eventually, hallucinations and a total break with reality. Beyond a certain point, a sleep-deprived individual can no longer communicate coherently or provide accurate information. Thus, while it has been used as an interrogation technique, sleep deprivation is probably a relatively useless form of torture, as the likelihood of gaining "actionable intelligence" diminishes the longer a person is deprived of sleep.
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