The ACLU got its hands on a bunch of previously withheld documents from the State Department, DoJ, and military officials regarding the treatment of detainees. Of note are a summary (.pdf) of investigations into four detainee deaths (including one where an interrogator bashed in a detainee’s head with a stove) and a detailed memorandum (.pdf) from Brittain Mallow, the head of Gitmo’s Criminal Investigation Task Force, that spells out in minute detail exactly which interrogation techniques are legal—something the Bush Administration has generally found itself unable to do. According to Mallow, acceptable methods include prolonged interviews, interrupted sleep (as opposed to deprivation), deception, incentives, and props (think photos, not stoves). Unacceptable methods include threats, promises that cannot be kept, unnecessary discomfort, and sensory deprivation.
There’s still some gray area—although the prohibition on “discomfort” includes “any form of physical contact designed to cause physical discomfort,” it’s not clear whether it extends to physical abuse. Nonetheless, Mallow’s specificity is a welcome respite from the legal bobbing and weaving we’ve come to expect from administration lackeys.
(h/t Glenn Greenwald)
—Casey Miner
