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<h1><b>Note that this is from 1997, and still apt!<br><br>
TORTURE</b> WAS TAUGHT BY CIA<br><br>
</h1><h3><b>Declassified manual details the methods used in
Honduras<br>
</b>Agency denials refuted</h3><hr>
<font size=3><b>The Baltimore Sun</b> <br><br>
Monday, January 27, 1997 <br><br>
<b>WASHINGTON -- </b>A newly declassified CIA training manual details
<b>torture</b> methods used against suspected subversives in Central
America during the 1980s, refuting claims by the agency that no such
methods were taught there. <br><br>
"Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual -- 1983" was
released Friday in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
request filed by The <b>Sun</b> on May 26, 1994. <br><br>
The CIA also declassified a Vietnam-era training manual called
"KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation -- July 1963," which
also taught <b>torture</b> and is believed by intelligence sources to
have been a basis for the 1983 manual. <br><br>
<b>Torture</b> methods taught in the 1983 manual include stripping
suspects naked and keeping them blindfolded. Interrogation rooms should
be windowless, dark and soundproof, with no toilet. <br><br>
"The `questioning' room is the battlefield upon which the
`questioner' and the subject meet," the 1983 manual states.
"However, the `questioner' has the advantage in that he has total
control over the subject and his environment." <br><br>
The 1983 manual was altered between 1984 and early 1985 to discourage
<b>torture</b> after a furor was raised in Congress and the press about
CIA training techniques being used in Central America. <br><br>
Those alterations and new instructions appear in the documents obtained
by The <b>Sun</b>, support the conclusion that methods taught in the
earlier version were illegal. <br><br>
A cover sheet placed in the manual in March 1985 cautions: "The use
of force, mental <b>torture</b>, threats, insults or exposure to inhumane
treatment of any kind as an aid to interrogation is prohibited by law,
both international and domestic; it is neither authorized nor
condoned." <br><br>
The <b>Sun's</b> 1994 request for the manuals was made in connection with
the newspaper's investigation of kidnapping, <b>torture</b> and murder
committed by a CIA-trained Honduran military unit during the 1980s. The
CIA turned over the documents -- with passages deleted -- only after The
<b>Sun</b> threatened to sue the agency to obtain the documents.
<br><br>
Human rights abuses by the Honduran unit known as Battalion 316 were most
intense in the early 1980s at the height of the Reagan administration's
war against communism in Central America. They were documented by The
<b>Sun</b> in a four-part series published from June 11 to 18, 1995.
<br><br>
<br><br>
<br>
</font><h3><b>UNMISTAKABLE SIMILARITIES</b></h3><font size=3>The methods
taught in the 1983 manual and those used by Battalion 316 in the early
1980s show unmistakable similarities. <br><br>
The manual advises an interrogator to "manipulate the subject's
environment, to create unpleasant or intolerable situations."
<br><br>
In The <b>Sun's</b> series, Florencio Caballero, a former member of
Battalion 316, said CIA instructors taught him to discover what his
prisoners loved and what they hated. <br><br>
"If a person did not like cockroaches, then that person might be
more cooperative if there were cockroaches running around the room,"
Caballero said. <br><br>
In 1983, Caballero attended a CIA "human resources exploitation or
interrogation course," according to declassified testimony by
Richard Stolz, then-deputy director for operations, before the Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence in June 1988. <br><br>
The "Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual -- 1983"
suggests that the interrogator show the prisoner letters from home to
convey the impression that the prisoner's relatives are suffering or in
danger. <br><br>
In The <b>Sun's</b> series, Jose Barrera, a former member of Battalion
316 who said he was taught interrogation methods by U.S. instructors in
1983, recalled using the technique: <br><br>
"The first thing we would say is that we know your mother, your
younger brother. And better you cooperate, because if you don't, we're
going to bring them in and rape them and <b>torture</b> them and kill
them," Barrera said. <br><br>
The manual suggests that prisoners be deprived of food and sleep, and
made to maintain rigid positions, such as standing at attention for long
periods. <br><br>
Ines Consuelo Murillo, who spent 78 days in Battalion 316's secret jails
in 1983, told The <b>Sun</b> that she was given no food or water for
days, and that to keep her from sleeping, one of her captors entered her
room every 10 minutes and poured water over her head. <br><br>
Mark Mansfield, a CIA spokesman, declined to comment on the manuals.
However, asked about agency policy on the use of force and
<b>torture</b>, he referred to Stolz's 1988 testimony before the Senate
intelligence committee. <br><br>
In testimony declassified at The <b>Sun's</b> request, Stolz confirmed
that the CIA trained Hondurans. <br><br>
"The course consisted of three weeks of classroom instruction
followed by two weeks of practical exercises, which included the
questioning of actual prisoners by the students. <br><br>
"Physical abuse or other degrading treatment was rejected, not only
because it is wrong, but because it has historically proven to be
ineffective," he said. <br><br>
Beyond that reference, Mansfield said only: "There are still aspects
of the review process that need to be completed. For that reason, it
would not be appropriate to comment." <br><br>
He was referring to an internal CIA investigation ordered in 1995, after
publication of The <b>Sun</b> series on Battalion 316, to determine
whether CIA officials acted improperly in <b>Honduras</b> during the
1980s. <br><br>
The Clinton administration promised more than a year ago that CIA, State
Department and Defense Department documents relevant to the time of
Battalion 316's abuses would be turned over to Honduran government human
rights investigators. To date, no CIA documents have been sent to the
Hondurans. <br><br>
<br><br>
<br>
</font><h3><b>A TRUTH CONFIRMED</b></h3><font size=3>The Honduran judge
overseeing his country's human rights investigation welcomed the release
of the CIA training manuals. <br><br>
"These manuals confirm a truth we in <b>Honduras</b> have known for
a long time: that the United States was involved in encouraging the
abuses of the Honduran military," said Judge Roy Medina. "They
were trying to stop communism. But the methods they used are not
acceptable in civilized societies." <br><br>
In releasing the training manuals, the CIA declined to say whether either
document was used in <b>Honduras</b>. However, a declassified 1989 report
prepared for the Senate intelligence committee, obtained earlier by The
<b>Sun</b>, says the 1983 manual was developed from notes of a CIA
interrogation course in <b>Honduras</b>. <br><br>
The most graphic part of the 1983 manual is a chapter dealing with
"coercive techniques." <br><br>
The manual discourages physical <b>torture</b>, advising interrogators to
use more subtle methods to threaten and frighten the suspect. <br><br>
"While we do not stress the use of coercive techniques, we do want
to make you aware of them and the proper way to use them," the
manual's introduction states. The manual says such methods are justified
when subjects have been trained to resist noncoercive measures.
<br><br>
Forms of coercion explained in the interrogation manual include:
Inflicting pain or the threat of pain: "The threat to inflict pain
may trigger fears more damaging than the immediate sensation of pain. In
fact, most people underestimate their capacity to withstand pain."
<br><br>
A later section states: "The pain which is being inflicted upon him
from outside himself may actually intensify his will to resist. On the
other hand, pain which he feels he is inflicting upon himself is more
likely to sap his resistance. <br><br>
"For example, if he is required to maintain rigid positions such as
standing at attention or sitting on a stool for long periods of time, the
immediate source of pain is not the `questioner' but the subject
himself." <br><br>
"After a period of time the subject is likely to exhaust his
internal motivational strength." <br><br>
Inducing dread: The manual says a breakdown in the prisoner's will can be
induced by strong fear, but cautions that if this dread is unduly
prolonged, "the subject may sink into a defensive apathy from which
it is hard to arouse him." <br><br>
It adds: "It is advisable to have a psychologist available whenever
regression is induced." <br><br>
Getting a confession: Once a confession is obtained, "the pressures
are lifted enough so that the subject can provide information as
accurately as possible." The subject should be told that
"friendly handling will continue as long as he cooperates."
<br><br>
Solitary confinement and other types of sensory deprivation: Depriving a
subject of sensory stimulation induces stress and anxiety, the manual
says. "The more complete the deprivation, the more rapidly and
deeply the subject is affected." <br><br>
It cites the results of experiments conducted on volunteers who allowed
themselves to be suspended in water while wearing blackout masks. They
were allowed to hear only their own breathing and faint sounds from the
pipes. "The stress and anxiety become almost unbearable for most
subjects," the manual says. <br><br>
Hypnosis and drugs: The 1983 manual suggests creating "hypnotic
situations," using concealed machinery, and offers ways of
convincing a subject that he has been drugged. Giving him a placebo
"may make him want to believe that he has been drugged and that no
one could blame him for telling his story now," the manual says.
<br><br>
Arrest: The most effective way to make an arrest is to use the element of
surprise, achieving "the maximum amount of mental discomfort."
<br><br>
"The ideal time at which to make an arrest is in the early hours of
the morning. When arrested at this time, most subjects experience intense
feelings of shock, insecurity and psychological stress and for the most
part have difficulty adjusting to the situation." <br><br>
Cells: Prisoners' cells should have doors of heavy steel. "The
slamming of a heavy door impresses upon the subject that he is cut off
from the rest of the world." <br><br>
The manual says "the idea is to prevent the subject from relaxing
and recovering from shock." <br><br>
The 1983 manual suggests that prisoners be blindfolded, stripped and
given a thorough medical examination, "including all body
cavities." <br><br>
<br><br>
<br>
</font><h3><b>SUBSTANTIAL REVISIONS</b></h3><font size=3>Between 1984 and
1985, after congressional committees began questioning training
techniques being used by the CIA in Latin America, "Human Resource
Exploitation Training Manual -- 1983" underwent substantial
revision. <br><br>
Passages were crossed out and written over by hand to warn that the
methods they described were forbidden. However, in the copy obtained by
The <b>Sun</b>, the original wording remained clearly visible beneath the
handwritten changes. <br><br>
Among the changes was this sentence in the section on coercion: "The
use of most coercive techniques is improper and violates policy."
<br><br>
In another, the editor crossed out descriptions of solitary confinement
experiments and wrote: "To use prolonged solitary confinement for
the purpose of extracting information in questioning violates
policy." <br><br>
A third notation says that inducing unbearable stress "is a form of
<b>torture</b>. Its use constitutes a serious impropriety and violates
policy." And in place of a sentence that says "coercive
techniques always require prior [headquarters] approval," an editor
has written that they "constitute an impropriety and violate
policy." <br><br>
To an instruction that "heat, air and light" in an
interrogation cell should be externally controlled is added "but not
to the point of <b>torture</b>." <br><br>
<br><br>
<br>
</font><h3><b>DISTURBING QUESTIONS</b></h3><font size=3>The 1983
interrogation manual was discussed at a closed hearing of the Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence in June 1988. Then-Sen. William S. Cohen
said that the interrogation manual raised disturbing questions, even with
the revisions. Cohen is now the secretary of defense. <br><br>
"No. 1, I am not sure why, in 1983, it became necessary to have such
a manual," Cohen said, according to a transcript declassified at The
<b>Sun's</b> request. "But, No. 2, upon its discovery, why we only
sought to revise it in a fashion which says, `These are some of the
techniques we think are abhorrent. We just want you to be aware of them
so you'll avoid them.' <br><br>
"There's a lot in this that troubles me in terms of whether you are
sending subliminal signals that say, `This is improper, but, by the way,
you ought to be aware of it.' " <br><br>
<br><br>
<br>
</font><h3><b>KUBARK MANUAL</b></h3><font size=3>A second document
obtained by The <b>Sun</b>, the 1963 KUBARK manual, shows that, at least
during the 1960s, agents were free to use coercion during interrogation,
provided they obtained approval in advance. <br><br>
It offers a list of interrogation techniques, including threats, fear,
"debility, pain, heightened suggestibility and hypnosis, narcosis
[use of drugs] and induced regression." <br><br>
Like the 1983 manual, the KUBARK manual describes the effectiveness of
arresting suspects early in the morning, keeping prisoners blindfolded
and taking away their clothes. <br><br>
"Usually his own clothes are taken away," the manual explains,
"because familiar clothing reinforces identity and thus the capacity
for resistance." <br><br>
The KUBARK manual also cautions against making empty threats, and advises
interrogators against directly inflicting pain. <br><br>
It contains one direct and one oblique reference to electrical shocks.
<br><br>
The introduction warns that approval from headquarters is required if the
interrogation is to include bodily harm or "if medical, chemical or
electrical methods or materials are to be used to induce
acquiescence." <br><br>
A passage on preparing for an interrogation contains this advice:
"If a new safehouse is to be used as the interrogation site, it
should be studied carefully to be sure that the total environment can be
manipulated as desired. For example, the electric current should be known
in advance, so that transformers or other modifying devices will be on
hand if needed." <br><br>
An intelligence source told The <b>Sun</b>: "The CIA has
acknowledged privately and informally in the past that this referred to
the application of electric shocks to interrogation suspects."
<br><br>
While it remains unclear whether the KUBARK manual was used in Central
America, the 1963 manual and the 1983 manual are similar in organization
and descriptions of certain interrogation techniques and purposes.
<br><br>
The KUBARK manual is mentioned in a 1989 memorandum prepared by the staff
of the Senate intelligence committee on the CIA's role in
<b>Honduras</b>, and some members of the intelligence community during
that period believe it was used in training the Hondurans. One said that
some of the lessons from the manual were recorded almost verbatim in
notes by CIA agents who sat in on the classes. <br><br>
</font><font size=2><i>Originally Published on 1/27/97 Copyright 1997 The
<b>Baltimore Sun</i></b></font><font size=3> <br><br>
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