The ECU understood the caller was referring to the testimony of the “Hooded Men” and the interrogation techniques used on them by the police and Army during internment without trial in the early 1970s.  The BBC has covered this story on a number of occasions and the ECU noted the men’s account of having been thrown from helicopters a short distance off the ground, whilst being told that they were hundreds of feet in the air.  The Supreme Court ruled that the techniques used on these men in 1971 would amount to torture by today’s standards.  In the context of a phone-in, and in a fast-moving conversation that was substantively focussed on other (unrelated) issues, the ECU considered a claim of this type would not breach the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines on due accuracy. Listeners would have understood the point that the caller was making about the (widely reported) experiences of the Hooded Men and other events during the Troubles period.  It was also clear that he was expressing a personal opinion.  In the ECU’s view an explicit challenge from the presenter on each of these specifics was not necessary and would not have been expected by listeners in general.

Not Upheld