Treatment Of Detainees In U S Custody

Contents: The Origins of Aggressive Interrogation Techniques; The Authorization of Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape Techniques for Interrogations in Iraq; Witnesses: Richard Shiffrin, Former Dep. Gen. Counsel for Intell., DoD; Daniel Baumgartner, Jr., USAF (Ret.), Joint Personnel Recovery Agency (JPRA); Jerald Ogrisseg, USAF Survival School; Diane Beaver, USA (Ret.), Joint Task Force 170/JTF Guantanamo Bay; Jane Dalton, USN (Ret.), Former Legal Advisor to the Chmn., Joint Chiefs of Staff; Alberto Mora, Former Gen. Counsel, U.S. Navy; William Haynes, II, Former Gen. Counsel, DoD; John Moulton, II, USAF (Ret.), Former Commander, JPRA; Steven Kleinman, USAFR, Former Dir. of Intell., Personnel Recovery Acad., JPRA. Illus.

U.S. treatment of enemy combatants and terrorist suspects captured in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other locations has been a subject of debate, incl. whether such treatment complies with U.S. statutes and treaties. Congress approved additional guidelines concerning the treatment of detainees via the Detainee Treatment Act (DTA). Among other things, the DTA contains provisions that: (1) require DoD personnel to employ U.S. Army Field Manual guidelines while interrogating detainees; and (2) prohibit the ¿cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment of persons under the detention, custody, or control of the U.S. Gov¿t.¿ This report discusses provisions of the DTA concerning standards for the interrogation and treatment of detainees.

The collection of timely and accurate intelligence is critical to the safety of U.S. personnel deployed abroad and to the security of the American people here at home. The methods by which we elicit intelligence information from detainees in our custody affect not only the reliability of that information, but our broader efforts to win hearts and minds and attract allies to our side. AI Qaeda and Taliban terrorists are taught to expect Americans to abuse them. They are recruited based on false propaganda that says the United States is out to destroy Islam. Treating detainees harshly only reinforces that distorted view, increases resistance to cooperation, and creates new enemies. In fact, the April 2006 National Intelligence Estimate "Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States" cited "pervasive anti U.S. sentiment among most Muslims" as an underlying factor fueling the spread of the global jihadist movement. Former Navy General Counsel Alberto Mora testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee in June 2008 that "there are serving U.S. flag-rank officers who maintain that the first and second identifiable causes of U.S. combat deaths in Iraq -- as judged by their effectiveness in recruiting insurgent fighters into combat -- are, respectively the symbols of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo." The abuse of detainees in U.S. custody cannot simply be attributed to the actions of "a few bad apples" acting on their own. The fact is that senior officials in the United States government solicited information on how to use aggressive techniques, redefined the law to create the appearance of their legality, and authorized their use against detainees. Those efforts damaged our ability to collect accurate intelligence that could save lives, strengthened the hand of our enemies, and compromised our moral authority. This report is a product of the Committee's inquiry into how those unfortunate results came about

This book, based on a two-year study of former prisoners of the U.S. government’s detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, reveals in graphic detail the cumulative effect of the Bush administration’s “war on terror.” Scrupulously researched and devoid of rhetoric, the book deepens the story of post-9/11 America and the nation’s descent into the netherworld of prisoner abuse. Researchers interviewed more than sixty former Guantánamo detainees in nine countries, as well as key government officials, military experts, former guards, interrogators, lawyers for detainees, and other camp personnel. We hear directly from former detainees as they describe the events surrounding their capture, their years of incarceration, and the myriad difficulties preventing many from resuming a normal life upon returning home. Prepared jointly by researchers with the Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley, and the International Human Rights Law Clinic, University of California, Berkeley School of Law, in partnership with the Center for Constitutional Rights, The Guantánamo Effect contributes significantly to the debate surrounding the U.S.’s commitment to international law during war time.

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