Matthew Happold, a lecturer in Law at the University of Nottingham, writes in the Guardian today that it is illegal to hood Iraqi prisoners. While most of his comments are directed to Great Britain, he provides authority for extending the proposition to the U.S.:

There are no good reasons to hood detainees. It does not provide any extra protection to the detaining troops once the suspect is bound, nor is there any need for British troops to hide their identify from their captives. Hooding is a form of sensory deprivation. It is disorientating, frightening and possibly dangerous for those subject to it (particularly when their hands are also tied). Hooding also serves to dehumanise the person subjected to it, possibly leading to rougher treatment at the hands of his captors. Indeed, television footage of British troops escorting hooded suspects did not show them acting with much solicitude. Hooding has often been used as a "softening up" technique prior to interrogation. The fact that it is being practised by British troops does not give one confidence as to their behaviour once the cameras stop rolling and interrogation starts.

The last time British security forces hooded suspects was as one of the so-called "five techniques" used in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s. The four other techniques were wall-standing, subjection to white noise, and deprivation of sleep and of food and drink. These "five techniques" were found by the European court of human rights to constitute inhuman treatment, in breach of the UK's obligations under the European convention on human rights. British forces' present conduct similarly risks being in breach of our international obligations.

....The hooding of prisoners is one American habit we should not adopt. Their treatment of detainees - at Bagram air base, Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere - has been heavily criticised. The concern must be that having adopting one American practice, the UK will adopt others as well. The British army has a reputation for discipline and for treating prisoners well. The ministry of defence should order the end of the practice of hooding prisoners immediately."

Read the whole thing. Link via Paper Chase.