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Heart and Soul: Faith, terrorists and mercy at Guantanamo Bay

Faith, terrorists and mercy at Guantanamo Bay

15/09/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - Heart and Soul, Faith, terrorists and mercy at Guantanamo Bay

Former Guantanamo Bay interrogator Dr Jennifer Bryson on torture, faith and mercy

Former Guantanamo Bay interrogator Dr Jennifer Bryson on torture, faith and mercy.

Dr Jennifer Bryson interrogated suspected Al-Qaeda terrorists at the infamous Guantanamo Bay. She worked at the detention centre in Cuba for two years and says that some of the inmates bragged openly about helping to organise the terrorist attacks of 9/11 that killed 3,000 people. Bryson was the first woman to take up the role of lead interrogator at Guantanamo, and the first who was not a member of the military. She would carry out interrogations herself but was also responsible for signing off methods and techniques used by other interrogators. After some time, she started to feel uneasy about some of the 'enhanced interrogation' methods she was asked to approve, such as playing extremely loud music to inmates for prolonged periods, exposing them to strobe lighting, etc. In her gut, she felt something was not right. She says it was her faith-formed conscience that led her to deny her colleagues’ requests to use such interrogation techniques. 

What are the moral challenges of this work for a person of faith?  Are 'enhanced interrogation techniques' ever justified?  What if these methods help to prevent more deaths in the future?  In this edition of Heart & Soul for the BBC World Service, Colm Flynn explores these questions with Dr Jennifer Bryson.  He discovers how her faith guided her through what she regards as the most radical time of her life.

Producer/ Presenter: Colm Flynn
Series Producer: Rajeev Gupta
Production Coordinator: Mica Nepomuceno
Editor: Helen Grady

(Photo Credit: Carmen Mayrhofer, Fotografico)

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