The English Method: UK taught modern torture to Brazil's
dictators     The UK was apparently seen as having effective
practices as it had faced a serious insurgency in Malaya up
until 1960 and had latterly honed its techniques in Northern
Ireland.  The method, using sensory deprivation coupled with
high stress, has come to be known as the "Five Techniques".
These were:  * standing against a wall for hours  * hooding  *
subjection to noise  * sleep deprivation  * very little food and
drink.  Many argue the techniques amounted to torture and they
were officially banned by Prime Minister Edward Heath in 1972,
after a furore over their use on IRA prisoners.  But in Brazil,
these psychological interrogation methods fulfilled the
military's need. The regime's dismal human rights record was
beginning to attract adverse publicity around the world and the
old physical forms of torture were killing too many victims. A
method that would leave no marks and was still effective to
extract information from prisoners was exa