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WorldOfIslam.info - US And UK Forces Taught Torture Methods - Iraq
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US And UK Forces Taught
Torture Methods
The sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison was not an
invention of maverick guards, but part of a system of ill-treatment and
degradation used by special forces soldiers that is now being disseminated
among ordinary troops and contractors who do not know what they are doing,
according to British military sources.
The techniques devised in the system,
called R2I - resistance to interrogation - match the crude exploitation and
abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib jail in Baghdad.
One former British special forces officer
who returned last week from Iraq, said: "It was clear from discussions with
US private contractors in Iraq that the prison guards were using R2I
techniques, but they didn't know what they were doing."
He said British and US military
intelligence soldiers were trained in these techniques, which were taught at
the joint services interrogation centre in Ashford, Kent, now transferred to
the former US base at Chicksands.
"There is a reservoir of knowledge about
these interrogation techniques which is retained by former special forces
soldiers who are being rehired as private contractors in Iraq. Contractors
are bringing in their old friends".
Using sexual jibes and degradation, along
with stripping naked, is one of the methods taught on both sides of the
Atlantic under the slogan "prolong the shock of capture", he said.
Female guards were used to taunt male
prisoners sexually and at British training sessions when female candidates
were undergoing resistance training they would be subject to lesbian jibes.
"Most people just laugh that off during
mock training exercises, but the whole experience is horrible. Two of my
colleagues couldn't cope with the training at the time. One walked out
saying 'I've had enough', and the other had a breakdown. It's exceedingly
disturbing," said the former Special Boat Squadron officer, who asked that
his identity be withheld for security reasons.
Many British and US special forces
soldiers learn about the degradation techniques because they are subjected
to them to help them resist if captured. They include soldiers from the SAS,
SBS, most air pilots, paratroopers and members of pathfinder platoons.
A number of commercial firms which have
been supplying interrogators to the US army in Iraq boast of hiring former
US special forces soldiers, such as Navy Seals.
"The crucial difference from Iraq is that
frontline soldiers who are made to experience R2I techniques themselves
develop empathy. They realise the suffering they are causing. But people who
haven't undergone this don't realise what they are doing to people. It's a
shambles in Iraq".
The British former officer said the
dissemination of R2I techniques inside Iraq was all the more dangerous
because of the general mood among American troops.
"The feeling among US soldiers I've spoken
to in the last week is also that 'the gloves are off'. Many of them still
think they are dealing with people responsible for 9/11".
When the interrogation techniques are used
on British soldiers for training purposes, they are subject to a strict
48-hour time limit, and a supervisor and a psychologist are always present.
It is recognised that in inexperienced hands, prisoners can be plunged into
psychosis.
The spectrum of R2I techniques also
includes keeping prisoners naked most of the time. This is what the Abu
Ghraib photographs show, along with inmates being forced to crawl on a
leash; forced to masturbate in front of a female soldier; mimic oral sex
with other male prisoners; and form piles of naked, hooded men.
The full battery of methods includes
hooding, sleep deprivation, time disorientation and depriving prisoners not
only of dignity, but of fundamental human needs, such as warmth, water and
food.
The US commander in charge of military
jails in Iraq, Major General Geoffrey Miller, has confirmed that a battery
of 50-odd special "coercive techniques"
can be used against enemy detainees.
The general, who previously ran the prison camp at Guant·namo Bay, said his
main role was to extract as much intelligence as possible.
Interrogation experts at Abu Ghraib prison
were there to help make the prison staff "more able to garner intelligence
as rapidly as possible".
Sleep deprivation and stripping naked were
techniques that could now only be authorised at general officer level, he
said.
Source: The Guardian, David Leigh - 8 May, 2004 |
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The
Holy Quran Quotes
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“Never think of those slain in the way of God to be dead; rather they are alive and are provided in the Presence of their Lord.”
(Al ‘Imran, 3:169)
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