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Excellence in Television AwardHuman Rights First created this award to honor a TV program that self-consciously uses the medium to raise awareness about a human rights problem. This year, we are giving the award to a TV show that depicts torture and interrogation in a nuanced, realistic fashion. Too often on TV torture is presented as effective and even patriotic. On programs like 24 and Sleeper Cell, torture is routinely employed by heroes and the problems associated with this practice are rarely explored. A handful of shows have resisted this formulaic depiction. They offer their viewers – and notably, young people considering a career in the armed services - a more complete view of what can happen in the interrogation booth at a time when these issues are being hotly debated in the United States and overseas. In giving this award, we recognize the awesome power of TV to not only entertain, but also to educate and inspire.
LOST, “Enter 77”
In this episode,” Sayid – a former Iraqi Republican Guard interrogator – has a decision to make. Should he torture a man that has been captured to find out information that could save lives? The episode is built around a series of flashbacks to a time when Sayid encountered a woman he had tortured in the past. It explores issues not often explored on TV – namely, what happens to the torturer and the tortured after the moment of violence? And it points out a fact about torture: in situations where leadership is poor or absent, even good people will use torture to try to obtain information.
Source: Human Rights First