Washington Post - December 26, 2002
Stress and Duress Tactics used on Terrorism Suspects
Excerpt: ... Those who refuse to cooperate inside this secret CIA interrogation center are sometimes kept standing or kneeling for hours, in black hoods or spray-painted goggles, according to intelligence specialists familiar with CIA interrogation methods. At times they are held in awkward, painful positions and deprived of sleep with a 24-hour bombardment of lights -- subject to what are known as "stress and duress" techniques.
Those who cooperate are rewarded with creature comforts, interrogators whose methods include feigned friendship, respect, cultural sensitivity and, in some cases, money. Some who do not cooperate are turned over -- "rendered," in official parlance -- to foreign intelligence services whose practice of torture has been documented by the U.S. government and human rights organizations ...
Mexican officials promote prison labor to US companies
From the Tampa Tribune
Excerpt: Prison officials in northern Mexico say their inmates are manufacturing furniture bound for Texas - despite U.S. laws that ban the importation of goods made with prison labor. And they'd like to contract with more American companies to produce all kinds of goods. One official said prison shops would even label their products to hide their origin. Prison officials in Mexico's northern states are pointing to inmate workshops as a way to stem the loss of business as foreign-owned assembly plants abandon the border zone in search of cheaper labor in Asia...But prison labor is strongly criticized around the globe on the grounds it undercuts unions, steals jobs from law-abiding workers and poses risks of human rights abuses. Many countries, like the United States, bar imports of products made by prisoners.
Clint Hough of Austin, Texas, is the first foreign businessman to accept the state's offer of its inmates' services. Del Riego said Hough has been buying furniture made by prisoners for more than a year. Inmates at the Ciudad Victoria prison said Hough ordered chairs for a Texas restaurant chain as well as dining room furniture. Hough, interviewed at the prison, would not confirm that he takes the furniture across the border. "That I would really rather not discuss because I'm afraid U.S. Customs would ruin it," he said.
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