Sunday, June 12, 2005
Proof Rumsfeld approved of torture at Gitmo
From Time, Inside the Wire at Gitmo:
These techniques include, but not limited to,
Let me re-iterate: "additional interrogation techniques were approved by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld". Are we clear? Ok, al-Qahtani is most likely a bad man. But if this country is to be about anything worthwhile, then we must show we believe in the rule of law and the value of humanity by acting that way, not just talking about it.
See also, via Time, Extracts from an Interrogation Log.
Posted Sunday, Jun. 12, 2005
New York – TIME has obtained the first documented look inside the highly classified realm of military interrogations since the Gitmo Camp at Guantanamo Bay opened. The document is a secret 84-page interrogation log that details the interrogation of ‘Detainee 063’ at Guantanamo Bay. It is a remarkable look into the range of techniques and methods used for the interrogation of Mohammed al Qahtani, who is widely believed to be the so-called 20th hijacker, a compatriot of Osama bin Laden and a man who had tried to enter the U.S. in August 2001 to take part in the Sept. 11 attacks. TIME’s report, by Adam Zagorin and Michael Duffy, appears in this week’s issue (on newsstands Monday)...
A Pentagon official who has seen the log describes it as the “kind of document that was never meant to leave Gitmo.”...
Winter 2002-03 – Additional Techniques Approved:...It spans 50 days in the winter of 2002-03, from November to early January, a critical period at Gitmo, during which 16 additional interrogation techniques were approved by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for use on a select few detainees, including al-Qahtani, TIME reports.
These techniques include, but not limited to,
standing for prolonged periodsAnd so on...
isolation for as long as 30 days
removal of clothing
forced shaving of facial hair
playing on “individual phobias” (such as dogs)
“mild, non-injurious physical contact such as grabbing, poking in the chest with the finger and light pushing.”
Invasion of Space by Female
...medical corpsman reports that al-Qahtani is becoming seriously dehydrated, the result of his refusal to take water regularly. He is given an IV drip, and a doctor is summoned. An unprecedented 24-hour time out is called, but even as al-Qahtani is put under a doctor’s care, music is played to “prevent detainee from sleeping.”
Let me re-iterate: "additional interrogation techniques were approved by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld". Are we clear? Ok, al-Qahtani is most likely a bad man. But if this country is to be about anything worthwhile, then we must show we believe in the rule of law and the value of humanity by acting that way, not just talking about it.
See also, via Time, Extracts from an Interrogation Log.
