|
|
Rumsfeld
gave the nod to such tough interrogation techniques at Guantanamo
(AFP)
|
WASHINGTON,
June 23 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – US Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld approved the use of aggressive interrogation
techniques, such as the use of stress positions, forced nudity and
dogs in the infamous detention prison in Guantanamo Bay, de-classified
White House documents unveiled.
The
techniques were detailed in a series of memos released by the White
House on Tuesday, June 22, that tracked exchanges between commanders,
Rumsfeld and the Pentagon's general counsel over interrogation
techniques to be used on detainees held at Guantanamo, Agence
France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Among
the techniques requested and subsequently approved by Rumsfeld in
December 2002 were the use of stress positions (like standing) for a
maximum of four hours, the use of isolation facility for up to 30 days
and "deprivation of light and sensory stimuli."
In
signing off on the request, the defense secretary scribbled a note in
his own hand initialed DR: "However, I stand for 8-10 hours a
day. Why is standing limited to four hours.
The
use of 20-hour interrogations, removal of clothing, "using
detainees' individual phobias (such as the fear of dogs) to induce
stress" were also okayed by Rumsfeld, said the declassified
memos.
He
also gave the nod to the "use of mild, non injurious physical
contact such as grabbing, poling in the chest with the finger and
light pushing."
The
question of how far interrogators could go came up in October 2002
when commanders at Guantanamo asked for permission to use more
aggressive techniques on a detainee who was alleged to be the 20th
hijacker in the 9/11 attacks.
A
review ordered by Rumsfeld concluded in April 2003 that the Pentagon
had even broader leeway to conduct interrogations than contained in
army field manuals and recommended a list of 35 techniques, including
those initially approved by the defense secretary.
But
in issuing a new authorization to commanders in Guantanamo on April 16
after the review, Rumsfeld approved a softer set of 24 techniques,
dropping the harsher techniques that had been initially approved.
The
interrogation techniques, which Rumsfeld rescinded the following month
after complaints from military officers, were eerily reminiscent of
some of the abuse,
including sexual humiliation, of Iraqi detainees that surfaced earlier
this year at Abu Ghraib.
American
press reports have indicated the torture was
okayed by senior Pentagon officials, including Rumsfeld.
The
Washington Post also veiled earlier in June that the Justice
Department had advised the Pentagon that torturing detainees outside
the US "may
be justified."
A
US soldier making her presence in most of the Iraqi abuse photos had
said she was "instructed"
by her commanders to pose for photographs with naked Iraqi detainees.
Suicide
Attempts
The
de-classified documents came as military records have shown at least
14 suicide attempts by Guantanamo detainees in the five months after a
get-tough general took command.
Those
cases amounted to almost half the 31 suicide attempts at the prison
since it was opened in January 2002.
Human
rights groups say the suicide attempts at Guantanamo might be evidence
that conditions there
amounted to torture.
"Our
concern is that the totality of the conditions at Guantanamo may have
contributed to an atmosphere that pushed people to attempt
suicide," said Alistair Hodgett of the human rights watchdog
Amnesty International.
Amnesty
representatives said they had found a "worrisome
deterioration" in prisoners' mental health.
Also,
contrary to the repeated assertions of senior administration
officials, none of the detainees at the US naval base ranked as
leaders or senior operatives of Al-Qaeda, the New York Times reported
Tuesday, citing interviews with high-level military, intelligence and
law-enforcement officials in the United States, Europe and the Middle
East.
The
newspaper said only a relative handful of the 600 detainees at
Guantanamo were sworn Al-Qaeda members or other militants able to
elucidate the organization's inner workings.
The
Los Angeles Times quoted military sources in December 2002 as saying
the US is holding dozens of prisoners at Guantanamo although they have
no meaningful connection to Al-Qaeda or Taliban.
Routinely
In
a related development, the Guardian said Wednesday, June 23, that
detainees in Afghanistan "have been routinely tortured and
humiliated as part of the interrogation process" by American
forces.
A
Guardian investigation has found that five detainees have died in
custody, three of them in suspicious circumstances, citing first-hand
testimonies of "beatings, strippings, hoodings and sleep
deprivation."
The
British daily said the nature of the abuse indicates that what
happened at Abu Ghraib was part of a pattern of interrogation that has
been common practice since the US invasion of Afghanistan.
Senator
Patrick Leahy, the Democratic member of the Senate subcommittee on
foreign operations, told the Guardian that prisoners in Afghanistan
"were subjected to cruel and degrading treatment, and some died
from it".
He
described the abuses as "part of a wider pattern stemming from a
White House attitude that 'anything goes' in the war against
terrorism, even if it crosses the line of illegality."
