- FROM THE JUSTICE CAMPAIGN -
Why Torture Techniques Were Used
Many Guantanamo interrogators (including psychologists and
psychiatrists) were trained by Survival-Evasion-Resistance-Escape (SERE)
instructors, or had experience in the Joint Personnel Recovery Agency
(JPRA), which oversaw SERE training. SERE was a program designed to
train military personnel who had been caught as Prisoners Of War to
withstand torture during interrogation if they were to be caught by a
‘dishonourable enemy’. Military personnel went through a program of
beatings, starvation, stress positions, being stripped naked and thrown
into small cages for days. The SERE program was established after years
of experimentation by the CIA and the other four branches of the U.S.
military. Jane Mayer points out that the SERE program was a strange way
to try and obtain the ‘truth’ from detainees because it was founded
during the Cold War when 36 US air men gave false confessions during the
Korean War. Ideas for interrogation also came from the television
series ‘24’, which depicted a fictional character torturing detainees to
get information about a terrorist plot.
The Senate Armed Services Committee Report outlines how the harsh interrogation techniques came about. See,
‘Senate Armed Services Committee Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees in US Custody’; and, Jane Mayer,
‘The Dark Side’, Scribe Publications, Victoria, 2008, p.158; Philippe Sands,
‘Torture Team’, Penguin Books, London, 2008, p.73; and
former
soldier put through SERE training, David J. Morris, Empires of the
Mind: ‘SERE, Guantánamo, and the Legacies of Torture’, Virginia Quarterly Review, Winter 2009.
List of Torture Techniques
1. Sexual Assault/Humiliation Techniques
Detainees in US custody in Abu Ghraib, Kandahar and Bagram (where
many were taken to before Guantanamo) have reported being sodomised with
broomsticks, a ‘chemical light’ or rifles. Other forms of sexual
humiliation reported have been; parading men naked in front of female
soldiers, forcing them to wear women’s underwear and dance with other
men, forcing them to undress in front of female interrogators and
guards, touching their genitals or provoking them in a ‘humiliating’ way
and forcing them to watch pornography. Most detainees in U.S. custody
have alleged that they were either raped, threatened with rape, or
anally probed. Sexual violence is a war crime. Sexual humiliation is
used to induce feelings of humiliation and fear.
See
Army Major General Anonio M. Taguba, interview with Seymour Hersh, ‘The General’s Report: How Antonio Taguba, who investigated the Abu Ghraib scandal, became one of its casualties.’, 25th June, 2007; and Joseph Margulies,
‘Guantanamo and the Abuse of Presidential Power’, Simon & Schuster, New York, p.87. For more information about proven cases of sexual assault, see
‘Broken Laws, Broken Lives: Medical Evidence of Torture by U.S. Personnel and its Impact’; and
Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR), ‘Torture and Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment of Prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba’, July, 2006.
2. Sleep Deprivation
Sleep deprivation is used by torturers because it makes a person more
suggestible, reduces psychological resistance and it reduces the body’s
capacity to resist pain. Sleep deprivation is a very effective torture
technique. The Committee against Torture (CAT) has noted that sleep
deprivation used for prolonged periods constitutes a breach of the CAT,
and is primarily used to break down the will of the detainee. Sleep
deprivation can cause impaired memory and cognitive functioning,
decreased short term memory, speech impairment, hallucinations,
psychosis, lowered immunity, headaches, high blood pressure,
cardiovascular disease, stress, anxiety and depression. For more
information, see Gretchen Borchelt, JD & Christian Pross, MD
‘Systematic Use of Psychological Torture by US Forces’,
Torture, vol.15(1), 2005; and
‘Broken Laws, Broken Lives: Medical Evidence of Torture by U.S. Personnel and its Impact’.
Sleep deprivation was authorised under the 2002 Department of Defense
Memo in the form of 20 hour interrogations. The U.S. military
authorised sleep deprivation for its prisoners for up to seventy two
hours. See,
Human Rights First & Physicians for Human Rights, ‘Leave no Marks: Enhanced Interrogation Techniques and the Risk of Criminality’, August 2007,p.22. The Schmidt report found that, ‘military interrogators improperly used sleep deprivation against Detainees’.
Operation Sandman is also known as the ‘Frequent Flyer Program’.
Salim Hamdan was subjected to fifty days of Operation Sandman (See
Glaberson,
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/us/15gitmo.html?_r=1). Mohammad Jawad was moved 112 times from cell to cell over a fourteen day period. See
ACLU, ‘Major David J.R. Frakt’s Closing Argument in Favour of Dismissal of the Case Against Mohammad Jawad’, 19th June, 2008.
3. Sensory Deprivation
Sensory deprivation is used to instil a sense of fear, disorientation
and cause dependency on their captor. In the 1950s the CIA funded a
study into human behaviour and mind control in response to the Cold War.
Dr Hebb of McGill University conducted studies on people to induce a
state akin to psychosis by placing students in air-conditioned cubicles
with earmuffs, gloves and goggles. Within 24 hours they began to
experience hallucinations, and by 48 hours complete breakdown and
disintegration of personality. Sensory deprivation has also been
attributed to increased pain sensitivity and increased psychological
stress. According to the Kubark manual, sensory deprivation makes the
detainee more susceptible to the interrogator. See, Professor McCoy,
‘Hicks ‘Severely Damaged’, says CIA expert’, ABC Lateline, 13
th June, 2006; and, John Zubeck, ‘Sensory and Perceptual Motor Process’, in Zubeck (ed.), ‘
Sensory Deprivation: Fifteen Years of Research’, Meredith, New York, 1969, p.232; and Physicians for Human rights,
‘Broken Laws, Broken Lives: Medical Evidence of Torture by U.S. Personnel and its Impact’.
4. Solitary Confinement/Isolation
Solitary confinement is strictly prohibited under international law.
It is a cruel practice which causes permanent psychological damage. The
impacts can range from hallucinations, emotional damage, delusions and
impaired cognitive functioning to anxiety and depression. Solitary
confinement is outlawed under the Convention Against Torture, ICCPR and
the Geneva Conventions. Camp 5, 6, and Echo are also considered solitary
under international law; in other words, David spent the majority of
his time in solitary confinement. See, Human Rights Watch,
Locked Up Alone: Detention Conditions and Mental Health at Guantanamo, June 9, 2008; and
The Istanbul Statement on the Use and Effects of Solitary Confinement, Adopted 9th December, 2007 at the International Psychological Trauma Symposium.
5. Mock Executions
It is contrary to international law to allow a prisoner to think that
he is going to be executed. The ICRC complained to the military
officials saying that ‘The detainees think they are being taken to be
shot’. Apparently military officials debated whether to tell the
detainees the truth, but decided to wait until after the first round of
interrogations. See, Joseph Margulies,
‘Guantanamo and the Abuse of Presidential Power’, Simon & Schuster, New York, 2006, p.65; and David Rose,
‘Guantanamo: America’s War on Human Rights’, Faber & Faber Ltd., London, 2004, p. 51-53.
6. Forced Medication
Medical experimentation was outlawed under international law since
its use in Nazi concentration camps. The history of U.S. medical
experimentation, for interrogation purposes, began with the MKULTRA
program which was enacted by the CIA in response to the Cold War. A
number of biological agents and drugs were tested on people, including
prisoners and prostitutes, to find substances that led to mind control
and behaviour modification. Recently the US military has confirmed that
they used high doses of Larium that caused neuropsychiatric effects-
including suicidal thoughts and behaviours, and psyhcosis. See,
Jason
Leopold & Jeffrey Kaye, ‘Controversial Drug Given to All Guantanamo
Detainees Akin to “Pharmacologic Waterboarding’, Truthout, 9th May 2011; and
Dani Veracity, ‘Human Medical Experimentation in the United States: The Shocking True History of Modern Medicine and Psychiatry (1833-1965)’, 6th March, 2006; and
Amnesty International Australia, ‘Human Experimentation in Guantanamo Bay’, 28th September 2009; and
Physicians for Human Rights, ‘Health Professionals’ Ethics and Human Rights Violations Revealed in the May 2004 CIA’s Inspector General’s Report’, August, 2009. Documentation of reports of detainees being given injections or other medications without consent can be found in
Physicians for Human Rights, Physicians for Human Rights 2008 report, ‘Broken Laws, Broken Lives: Medical Evidence of Torture by U.S. Personnel and its Impact’, p.8.
7. The Use of Dogs to Scare Detainees
The use of dogs to threaten and intimidate detainees can be traced
back to the France, Belgium and the concentration camps during Nazi
Germany (See, Darius Rejali, Torture and Democracy). In a 2002 memo,
Defense Department lawyer, Jim Haynes wrote a memo authorising the use
of sleep deprivation, stress positions, nudity and dogs. An
investigation into FBI allegations of detainee abuse (The Schmidt
Report) found that ‘military interrogators improperly used military
working dogs during interrogation sessions to threaten detainees…’
The Schmidt Report, Investigation into FBI Allegations of Detainee Abuse at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba Detention Facility, 1 Apr 05 (Amended 9 Jun 05).
The use of dogs to intimidate at Guantanamo was such an effective
technique it was transported to Abu Ghraib, Afghanistan and Iraq in an
approved plan to ‘scare-up’ prisoners.
‘I still see the dogs in my dreams- that they are coming for me and
are going to bite me.’ Detainee describing the fear the dogs created for
him upon arrival at Guantanamo. See,
‘Hadyar’s testimony’ in, Physicians for Human Rights 2008 report, ‘Broken Laws, Broken Lives: Medical Evidence of Torture by U.S. Personnel and its Impact’, p.47.
8. Temperature Extremes
Using temperature extremes as a form of torture has been used for
many years by many different countries. It was the Brazilian’s who
switched from heat to cold cells in 1966. The ‘cold cell’, which was
used in Guantanamo was authorised in 2005 as part of the CIA’s ‘enhanced
interrogation techniques’, however, they were using it before long
before. The Haynes 2002 memo, signed off by Donald Rumsfeld, authorised
this technique. See, Philippe Sands,
‘Torture Team’, Penguin Books, London, 2008, p.4-6; and, Darius Rejali,
‘Torture and Democracy’, Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 2007, pp.351-353.
Leaving people in ‘Sweatboxes’ has been used for centuries. In
Vietnam, shipping containers left over by American forces were used to
torture people in the intense heat of the tropical climate. The same
technique has been applied in Guantanamo. An investigation into improper
interrogations noted this technique noting; ‘That military
interrogators improperly used extremes of heat and cold during their
interrogation of detainees.’ See,
‘The Schmidt Report’, Investigation into FBI Allegations of Detainee Abuse at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba Detention Facility, 1 Apr 05 (Amended 9 Jun 05); and Darius Rejali,
‘Torture and Democracy’, Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 2007, p.351-353.
9. Sensory Bombardment (Noise)
Noise has been used by torturers to either mask sounds of others
being tortured, such as when children’s music was played by the Gestapo
when beating Walter Bauer, or when they are trying to disrupt sleep,
terrorise or create emotions within the prisoners. In 2004, a U.S.
military official admitted that ‘uncooperative prisoners strip to their
underwear, having them sit in a chair with shackled hand and foot to a
bolt in the floor, and forcing them to endure strobe lights and
screaming loud rock and rap music played through two close loudspeakers,
while the air conditioning was turned up to maximum levels.’ See, Neil
A. Lewis, ‘Broad Use of Harsh Interrogation Techniques is Described at
Cuba’,
New York Times, October 17
th 2004; and Darius Rejali,
‘Torture and Democracy’,
Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 2007, p.360-366. Australian
officials attributed the noise over the years to ‘construction and
equipment noise’, after David submitted a complaint about not being able
to sleep to Australian embassy officials. Letter to David Mcleod from
Simeon Gelding, Assistant Secretary Consular Branch, 23
rd March, 2006.
10. Watching Others Being Tortured
Witnessing torture and violence can have the same psychological
effects of actually experiencing the violence. Scientists have found
that psychological manipulation techniques, such as deprivation,
humiliation and forced stress positions cause as much mental stress as
physical pain. See,
JAMA and Archives Journals, ‘Psychological And Physical Torture Have Similar Mental Effects’, ScienceDaily, 6th March 2007.
11. Psychological Techniques
Psychologically abusive techniques were used to disrupt sleep and
disorient detainees. The CIA’s KUBARK manual suggests that
interrogations aided by the use of temperature extremes, noise
bombardment and sleep deprivation are able to induce ‘regression,
psychic disintegration, and feelings of helplessness that lower
prisoners’ defences.’ This of course, leads to signed confessions and
more malleable prisoners. For more information see,
Physicians for Human Rights 2008 report, ‘Broken Laws, Broken Lives: Medical Evidence of Torture by U.S. Personnel and its Impact’; and
Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR), ‘Torture and Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment of Prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba’, July, 2006.
During interrogations, intelligence branches and BSCT teams
(psychologists and psychiatrists) sat behind double sided glass to watch
detainees being interrogated. Their job was to provide information on
the detainee’s mental health, weaknesses and vulnerabilities. The Kiley
Report confirms that medical personnel were utilised during
interrogations. The ICRC called this ‘a flagrant violation of medical
ethics.’ See,
The Centre for the Study of Human rights in the America’s, ‘ICRC:Analysis’; and
The Kiley Report, Kevin C. Kiley, ‘Assessment of Detainee Medical Operations for OEF, GTMO, and OIF, Office of the Surgeon General Army, 13th April, 2005; and
‘Steven Miles, Medical Ethics and the Interrogation of Guantanamo 063’,The American Journal of Bioethics, 7(4):5.
Seemingly menial techniques were also employed, such as forcing
detainees to read children’s books. News organisations reported that an
interrogator read a Harry Potter book to a detainee for hours in order
to ‘wear down the detainee’. Keeping detainees in a ‘childlike’ state
was considered advantageous to the interrogators because they were more
suggestible and malleable. See,
AP, ‘Pols: Gitmo Conditions Have Improved’, 27th June, 2005.
‘Enhanced’ Interrogation Techniques
Although these techniques were used before 2002, the military
responded to General Miller’s request by seeking legal approval for
‘harsher’ interrogation methods. They split the methods into three
categories, the third category being the most brutal. The methods
authorised included: stress positions, mock executions, solitary
confinement, hooding and other forms of sensory deprivation, removal of
‘comfort items’, forced nudity, forced grooming, taking advantage of the
detainees fears (dogs), exposure to cold weather or water and allowing
an interrogator to use ‘a wet towel and dripping water to induce the
misperception of suffocation.’ See, Joseph Margulies,
‘Guantanamo and the Abuse of Presidential Power’, Simon & Schuster, New York, 2006, p.97.
Abu Ghraib- The Connection to Guantanamo
The techniques used at Abu Ghraib were first used at Guantanamo.
General Geoffrey Miller was sent to Abu Ghraib to ‘gitmo-ise’ it. The
Taguba report found the intentional abuse of detainees by; forcing
groups of males to masturbate, forcing male and female detainees into
sexually explicit poses for photographing, punching, slapping and
kicking detainees, arranging naked male detainees in a pile, a male
guard raping a female detainee, writing ‘i am a rapest’ (sic) on the leg
of a detainee alleged to have raped a 15 year old fellow detainee then
photographing him naked and positioning a naked detainee on an MRE box
with a sandbag on his head and attaching wires to his fingers, penis and
toes to simulate electric shock, and taking photographs of dead Iraqi
detainees. See, The Taguba report, ‘Article 15-6 Investigation of the
800
th Military Police Brigade’, 2004. Redacted version available from
http://www.npr.org/iraq/2004/prison_abuse_report.pdf; and, Seymour Hersh,
‘Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib’, HarperCollins, New York, 2004; and, David Rose,
‘Guantanamo: America’s War on Human Rights’, Faber & Faber Ltd., London, 2004, p. 82.
The Torture Memos
The memos authorised interrogation techniques that included Attention
Grasp, Walling, Facial Hold, Facial Slap (Insult Slap), Cramped
Confinement, Wall Standing, Stress Positions, Sleep Deprivation, Insects
Placed in Confinement Box; and Waterboarding. These techniques were
discussed in the recently leaked International Committee of the Red
Cross report which outlined the treatment of 14 ‘high value detainees’.
In one of the memos Steven Bradbury explores the psychological tool
of ‘learned helplessness’ and how it is employed to condition detainees
through techniques such as ‘nudity’, ‘dietary manipulation’ and ‘sleep
deprivation’. This results in a total reliance on their captors for
meeting basic human needs. Bradbury noted that sleep deprivation could
consist of shackling the prisoner naked and in a ‘diaper’, as long as
the diaper is ‘checked regularly’ and that this would not cause “severe
physical suffering”.
Read the memos here (46 pages)
http://stream.luxmedia501.com/?file=clients/aclu/olc_05102005_bradbury46pg.pdf&method, here (20 pages)
http://stream.luxmedia501.com/?file=clients/aclu/olc_05102005_bradbury_20pg.pdf&, and here (40 pages)
http://stream.luxmedia501.com/?file=clients/aclu/olc_05302005_bradbury.pdf&method
For a good summary of the memos, see Amnesty International, The ‘Torture Memos’, 4
th May, 2009. Available at
http://www.amnesty.org.au/hrs/comments/20923/. The ‘ICRC report on the treatment of fourteen ‘high value detainees in CIA custody’ is available at,
http://www.nybooks.com/icrc-report.pdf; also see Mark Danner, ‘US Torture: Voices From the Black Sites,
New York Review of Books, 9
th April, 2009. Available at,
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/22530. The CIA Inspector General’s Report is available at,
http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/documents/cia_oig_report.pdf; or a summary is available here,
http://www.amnesty.org.au/hrs/comments/21585/.
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