Definition:
Hooding is the practice of fully covering the head of an arrestee or detainee. The practice has been much publicized as a standard practice in the apprehension and interrogation of suspects at Guantanamo Bay and in Iraq, most notably at the Abu Ghraib prison
The effects of hooding were detailed in 2004, in a report issued by the Red Cross on the treatment of those captured and arrested by Coalition Forces in Iraq:
Hooding [was] used to prevent people from seeing and to disorient them, and also to prevent them from breathing freely. One or sometimes two bags, sometimes with an elastic blindfold over the eyes which, when slipped down, further impeded proper breathing. Hooding was sometimes used in conjunction with beatings thus increasing anxiety as to when blows would came. The practice of hooding also allowed the interrogators to remain anonymous and thus to act with impunity. Hooding could last for periods from a few hours to up to 2 to 4 consecutive days, during which hoods were lifted only far drinking, eating or going to the toilets.
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