6

THIS WAS THE experience of the detainees. One by one:

They were sworn in.

They were asked questions.

They were encouraged to recall the details of those events three years before.

They were given no assistance.

They were expected to remember.

They were questioned by the prosecution.

They were cross-examined by the rank of defence lawyers.

They were the players in a ritual developed over centuries, a ritual they had never experienced before.

They had already given statements to the Royal Military Police, several times over in some cases, telling and retelling what they had experienced.

They couldn’t speak out of turn.

They couldn’t relate their account by referring to any notes.

They couldn’t make speeches.

They couldn’t protest.

They couldn’t lament.

They couldn’t make claims.

They couldn’t argue.

They couldn’t digress.

They had to perform like actors on a stage, but with more conviction.

One could say they were abused afresh.