"The guards are required to check on PFC Manning every five minutes by asking him if he is okay. PFC Manning is required to respond in some affirmative manner."
If true, this is terrible.
If true, this is terrible.
Some people can work with the radio on, others only when it doesn't contain commercials, others can't work with any music. I can sleep virtually anywhere, while others, in the same room, can't stand a certain buzz, regularly recurring electromechanical noises or other sounds. However, with prolonged exposure, I think anyone would start to be able to work and sleep in environments with intruding noises.
You see, a former co-worker of mine spent about a month (spread out over many weekends!) in the infamous "Tent City" jail in Phoenix, AZ after a DUI conviction. He said that the guards would come through the room several times a night to perform ID checks on every bunk, basically assuring that you couldn't get a reasonable night's sleep. The 100F+ temperatures didn't help either.
He also said that the leaders of each ethnic group/gang (whites, blacks, Latinos) had access to contraband mobile phones, and had made deals with the prison wardens to keep them. Apparently they also had their own food supply.
If PFC Manning is being treated in exactly the manner described in the article, then he's in better shape than many prisoners in America, where it seems torture is practiced every day.
(I'm not condoning the practices of either).
Anyway, if your definition of torture involves reading a book or a magazine while someone asks you every five minutes whether you're okay, you have (a) a pretty low bar for torture and (b) obviously no children.
Here's an idea: please post your phone number. I will set up a Twilio account that will dial it every 5 minutes, from 6AM to 9PM, and ask you if you're OK. If it doesn't get a satisfactory response, it may alert the emergency services that something has happened to you. We'll do this for 6 months, and see if you still think it's torture or not.