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From: "Walter Lippmann"
<walterlx@earthlink.net><br><br>
<br>
FBI Letter Details Guantanamo Prisoner Abuses<br>
Mon Dec 6, 2004 07:04 PM ET<br>
By Will Dunham<br><br>
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - FBI agents saw military<br>
interrogators use abusive tactics on prisoners at the naval<br>
base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, including a woman<br>
interrogator who grabbed a detainee's genitals, officials<br>
said on Monday.<br><br>
The account of incidents in 2002 involving foreign<br>
terrorism suspects held at the base was contained in a July<br>
letter from FBI counterterrorism official Thomas<br>
Harrington, to Maj. Gen. Donald Ryder, the Army's provost<br>
marshal, and was confirmed by Pentagon and Justice<br>
Department officials.<br><br>
Harrington, who headed a group of investigators which<br>
visited the base, detailed incidents including one in which<br>
a female Army interrogator grabbed a male prisoner's<br>
genitals and bent his thumbs backward. Two other incidents<br>
he described included a prisoner who was menaced by a dog<br>
and placed into isolation and another detainee whose mouth<br>
was covered with duct tape.<br><br>
In his letter, Harrington referred to the incidents as<br>
examples of "highly aggressive interrogation techniques"<br>
and asked Ryder, the Army's senior criminal investigator,<br>
to take "appropriate action." Harrington wrote that the
FBI<br>
told Pentagon lawyers in January 2003 about the abusive<br>
treatment, but the matter had not been addressed.<br><br>
"We take all allegations seriously and investigate each one<br>
fully," Army Brig. Gen. Jay Hood, commander of the<br>
Guantanamo prison, said in a statement provided by the U.S.<br>
military.<br><br>
"The appropriate actions were taken, and some allegations<br>
are still under investigation. Immediate and appropriate<br>
action is always taken upon all verified allegations. Once<br>
investigations are completed, we report them immediately up<br>
the chain of command," Hood added.<br><br>
Lt. Col. Gerard Healy, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon,<br>
declined to identify the woman interrogator but said the<br>
allegations about her conduct were being examined by Army<br>
criminal investigators.<br><br>
The Pentagon has denied that detainees have been tortured<br>
at Guantanamo.<br><br>
The U.S. military holds about 550 non-U.S. citizens at the<br>
Guantanamo base, nearly all without charges or access to<br>
lawyers. Most were caught in Afghanistan and many have been<br>
held at the base for nearly three years.<br><br>
Some men who have been released from the prison have stated<br>
they were tortured there. The International Committee of<br>
the Red Cross has accused the United States of using<br>
tactics "tantamount to torture" on Guantanamo prisoners.<br>
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