The U.S. military official who ran Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison until 2004 told a Spanish paper she’d seen a document signed by outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld which authorized harsh treatment of detainees, Reuters reports. The memo doesn’t appear to have covered the most shocking forms of abuse that have been revealed — attack dogs, forced nudity, faked electrocutions:
Former U.S. Army Brigadier General Janis Karpinski told Spain’s El Pais newspaper she had seen a letter apparently signed by Rumsfeld which allowed civilian contractors to use techniques such as sleep deprivation during interrogation.
Karpinski, who ran the prison until early 2004, said she saw a memorandum signed by Rumsfeld detailing the use of harsh interrogation methods.
“The handwritten signature was above his printed name and in the same handwriting in the margin was written: “Make sure this is accomplished”,” she told Saturday’s El Pais.
“The methods consisted of making prisoners stand for long periods, sleep deprivation … playing music at full volume, having to sit in uncomfortably … Rumsfeld authorized these specific techniques.”
The Geneva Convention says prisoners of war should suffer “no physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion” to secure information.
