ABSTRACT
A few months after the first International Conference on Police Interviewing was held in Quebec, Canada in February 2004, pictures of the ill-treatment of prisoners detained by the American military at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq were circulated around the world. More recently photographs of the ill-treatment of prisoners by British soldiers have also been widely circulated. In both cases courts martial have been held and some of those directly involved have been punished. Amongst the lessons to be learnt from these cases, two seem to have a particular relevance for this book. First, it is difficult to separate the treatment received by the detainees from the broader challenge to human rights currently taking place that is supported at the highest political levels in some democracies.
