The ACLU has posted new FOIA documents dealing with prisoners being abused at Guantanamo. For the full documents see
http://action.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/072605/
Below the fold, you find the ACLU Summary, and several key items that the ACLU seems to have missed.
We are discussing a prisoner being interrogated. Some witnesses say that he went to his knees voluntarily each time he was told to drop and was helped to his feet. Other witnesses say that the prisoner was forced to the floor so hard that his face hit the floor.
The process was not a single up and down. The interrogator specified that
he stopped because "the MPs were tired" and More Below Fold
"use of the technique did not produce the desired results".
The Investigator says "I found that the action involved in this commander's inquiry was a single incident." The documents say that General Miller gave specific orders to discontinue use of "the Fear Up Harsh interrogation technique".
However, careful reading of the documents paints a different picture. In particular, the technique had a name: "Fear Up Harsh". The investigator found that all concerned 'believed the technique...was common practice among the teams.' If the process was only used once, why had it been named? The technique must have been in common use.
The investigator further notes: "Tensions, hard feelings, and mistrust between the contractors and military personnel became evident during the interviews."
The important part of the above sentence is that it establishes that there were civilian contractors who were involved in questioning prisoners. The use of civilians is noteworthy because civilians are not covered by the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) and the direct legal constraints on their conduct are far weaker than are the constraints on military personnel. Some readers will recall that among the civilians at Guantanamo are known to be several members of the NYPD New York Police Department.
The ACLU Summary reads (numbers in parentheses are page numbers on the PDF):
Summarizes interviews relating to April 22, 2003 incident of detainee abuse at Guantanamo Bay. According to the interrogator who witnessed the abuse, "they [MPs] pushed in the back of the detainee's knees with their knees, taking the detainee to his knees. Then holding the detainee by his upper arms they slammed his upper body to the floor." (1318) "This procedure was repeated 25-30 times" and "the floor was shaking with such force that [redacted] as well as the next booth over were shaking [redacted] stated that as the detainee was forced to the floor, he turned his head so the side of his face was hitting the floor. He further stated that the force being used on the detainee caused REDACTED great concern for the detainee's safety." (1318) A female witness "further stated that she witnessed [redacted] and laughing while this activity was taking place." According to one of interrogators who participated in the interview, "the technique was appropriate, approved, applied properly, and was common practice." (1319). The MPs denied that the detainee's head was allowed to hit the floor (1320). The use of MPs in interrogation was apparently approved by a "previous JIG commander." (1320) "Military police stated that they have [standard operating procedures] for Camp Delta but no guidelines for the interrogation areas. They stated that they do not know what the limitations [are] and whether they should participate in any aspect of the interrogation process. (1321).
On pages 1314-1315 one finds a " Memorandum for Commander, United States Southern Command from General Geoffrey D. Miller re: Commander's Inquiry, Allegation of Inhumane Treatment of REDACTED. 5/3/2003"
The ACLU summarizes this as
Memorandum from General Miller, dated May 3, 2003, noting that he had on May 2, 2003 directed the Director of the Joint Intelligence Group, to "immediately cease the use of the Fear Up Harsh" interrogation technique, that MPs should no longer participate in interrogations, and only DOD personnel may review and approve interrogation plans. (1314). The memo states that "I found that the action involved in this commander's inquiry was a single incident. A thorough review of our current procedures has not uncovered a systematic problem." (1314).
In the document, I find (short quotes from long document), on pp. 1319-1321
Memorandum item for Major General Geoffrey Miller CO JTF Guantanamo, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from an unnamed investigator:
(c) ."..was the 'guest interrogator on April 22, 2003, and was brought in strictly to use Fear Up Harsh techniques in an effort to collect intelligence information from ..." .(The MPs were used to cause the detainee to kneel and stand)... "...stated that he stopped because the MPs were tired and use of the technique did not produce the desired results...All concerned believed that the technique was appropriate, approved, applied properly and was common practice among the teams."
To summarize a long document, the MPs claim that the detainee voluntarily dropped to his knees, and that they assisted him to his feet.
but to quote the memo item "Tensions, hard feelings, and mistrust between the contractors and military personnel became evident during the interviews."
