Friends--- I have received the following note and request---please respond directly to Patrice if you can be of help ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 19:25:11 +0200 From: Patrice Lorton <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Subject: French TV Hello Rick, please find below some details concerning our request: My name is Patrick Lorton, and I work for France 2 as a journalist. France 2 is a public-owned TV channel, the second largest in audience within the country, and the first one abroad. Through satellite, it is the biggest French-speaking media in Africa, in the Middle-East and in Asia. =AB Envoy=E9 Sp=E9cial =BB is the oldest and most popular news progra= m in France. It is sometimes referred as a French version of the famous CBS =AB 60 minutes =BB. It is seen each week by 8 millions viewers in prime time on France 2 TV. We are currently preparing a 52' documentary that will focuse on the American correctional system. Some observers consider that the issue of torture has to be debated widely. They say that some of the recently revealed-abuses in Abu Ghraib can be seen in regular American prisons as well. That is what we would like to investigate. Some elements suggest a connection beween American-run prisons in Irak and the domestic correctional world. Two of the 7 soldiers indicted so far do work as guards in the United States. One of them, M.Graner, has poor professional records. Some other people involved in the prison's industry in the States seem to have been involved in Irak. M.Mac Cotter, from MTTC in Utah, restarted the Abu Ghraib facility just after Baghdad fell. We would appreciate any tips concerning this gentleman, as well as his fellow M. Deland. We have so far asked for an authorization of filming in Pennsylvania, Illinois and Virginia. DOC of PA said no. We are waiting for the other answers. What would be the easiest places to be given official access to ? We are mainly interested in 1) death rows 2) rural facilities. For different reasons, it seems that bad treatments are reported in these two different kinds of facilities. The question for us is: where to go ? The best scenario would be: a) being able to film inside a facility b) meet former inmates outside, who can testify of what they experienced or witnessed c) meet guards, either whistle blowers or suspected ones. We know that some video material comes out of prisons, thanks to lawsuits filed against the administration (smuggling I guess is impossible). We would like to collect a maximum of it. Going to business, we probaly will attend the next ACA's congress in Chicago in july. We are trying to gather informations about electric devices. What are the companies producing these items: stun belts, stun guns, but also sprays and maybe some other products we haven't heard of ? Find out the supplier of these brown hoods put on the head of Iraki prisoners would be also of great interest. I hope these details may give some ideas to some. I thank you in advance anyone who can help us. Best regards, Patrick Lorton Office (33) 1 56 22 40 46Mobile (33) 6 86 26 71 76France 2 / French TV7, esplanade Henri de France75907 Paris cedex 15France
