Throughout the history of war the belligerents had viewed captive soldiers as a valuable resource. Secrets of War s1e48: Prisoners of War Part II: Battle for the Mind
Throughout the War Stalag Luft 3 remained the chief camp for British and American air force pilots … In April of 1943 the POWs in Stalag Luft 3 began to dig 3 tunnels known to insiders as Tom, Dick and Harry … On March 25th 1944, only 6 weeks before the planned invasion of Normandy, 76 men at Stalag Luft 3 made it through the tunnel called Harry and emerged beyond the barbed wire of the camp. ibid.
No Japanese scientists were ever brought to trial. ibid.
January 1991: In the desert outside Baghdad Western POWs were used as human shields to deter the bombing of an Iraqi military instillation. For centuries POWs have been used by warring nations to enhance their chances of victory. Secrets of War Part III: Code of Conduct
Back at home a conflict arose over how to deal with the POW issue: members of the US state department advocated using diplomatic measures to obtain the release of the POWs. ibid.
At the Geneva Conventions in 1929 and 1949 diplomats signed into law treaties stating that POWs must receive adequate food and medical care, and must be given opportunity to communicate with their families. ibid.
Americans incarcerated in North Vietnamese prisons were routinely subjected to torture. ibid.
Service men needed to be prepared to handle psychological manipulation; today instructors at the air force survival training school draw heavily from the lessons learned during the Korean War. ibid.
National Defense Authorization Act: Americans could now be subject to indefinite detention and even murder without the benefit of due process. Counter-Intelligence s1e5: Drone Nation, 2013
During American involvement in the Vietnam war 57,000 men lost their lives. Over 100,000 wounded were rescued … What happened to our servicemen who went down behind enemy lines, men who were known to be alive on the ground? Could new evidence mean that Americans are still alive in the jungles of Indo-China? In Search of … s6e4: MIAs, SkyFi 1981
Home to some of Britain’s most dangerous men. Some have thrived there while others have suffered. This is the story of Broadmoor and five of its most notorious patients told by those who worked with patients there. Broadmoor: Serial Killers & High Security, Channel 5 2021
Broadmoor: It looks like a prison but is in fact a secure mental hospital. For over 150 years it has been home to those judged too dangerous to live in the outside world. And since 2019 it has been even more secure with a new custom-built hospital complex. There is only one way in and out. ibid.
Long-term patient Peter Sutcliffe was allowed four visitors per week, and they were often pen-pals who he had persuaded to meet him in person … ‘Sutcliffe always had with him a couple of young women, different women every time, always holding his hands and stroking his hands; it was very very strange.’ ibid. Fred Dinenage
Michael Peterson began what should have been a seven year prison sentence in 1974, but his crime on the outside would pale in comparison to the wave of violent assaults he would unleash behind bars … Bronson would turn his rage on Broadmoor itself. ibid.
As a candidate he promised to fix the immigration system. As president, Obama cracked down hard. Frontline: Lost in Detention, PBS 2011
Critics say the ‘program’ has swept up thousands of immigrants with no criminal record. ibid.
Tonight: How the politics of immigration are lost in detention. ibid.
Less than 20% of those deported from Illinois had been convicted of a serious crime. ibid.
This aggressive enforcement by ICE has been driven, according to insiders, by the Agency’s need to hit a target number of deportations, now 400,000 a year. ibid.
A vast network of 250 detention centres. ibid.
Immigration detainees don’t have a guaranteed right to an attorney. ibid.
During her three months at Willacy, Mary said she endured repeated sexual assaults by a guard. ibid.
Over 1,500 POW detention centres had been created across the country, at their peak housing over 500,000 German and Italian troops. Rob Bell, The Buildings that Fought Hitler VI: Keep the Home Fires Burning, Yesterday 2020