Rumsfeld Approved of Torture Says Former US General
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Rumsfeld Approved of Torture Says Former US General
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Rumsfeld Approved of Torture Says Former US General
Reuters
Saturday 25 November 2006
Madrid - Outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld authorized the
mistreatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, the prison's
former U.S. commander said in an interview on Saturday.
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.
"Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened,
insulted, or exposed to any unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of
any kind," the document states.
A spokesman for the Pentagon declined to comment on Karpinski's
accusations, while U.S. army in Iraq could not immediately be reached
for comment.
Karpinski was withdrawn from Iraq in early 2004, shortly after
photographs showing American troops abusing detainees at the prison
were flashed around the world. She was subsequently removed from active
duty and then demoted to the rank of colonel on unrelated charges.
Karpinski insists she knew nothing about the abuse of prisoners
until she saw the photos, as interrogation was carried out in a prison
wing run by U.S. military intelligence.
Rumsfeld also authorized the army to break the Geneva Conventions
by not registering all prisoners, Karpinski said, explaining how she
raised the case of one unregistered inmate with an aide to former U.S.
commander Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez.
"We received a message from the Pentagon, from the Defense
Secretary, ordering us to hold the prisoner without registering him. I
now know this happened on various occasions."
Karpinski said last week she was ready to testify against Rumsfeld,
if a suit filed by civil rights groups in Germany over Abu Ghraib led
to a full investigation.
President Bush announced Rumsfeld's resignation after Democrats
wrested power from the Republicans in midterm elections earlier this
month, partly due to public criticism over the Iraq war.
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Additional reporting by Diane Bartz in Washington