12.12.08
Torture Report Issued by Senate Armed Services Committee
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Ranking Member John McCain (R-Ariz.) today released the executive summary and conclusions of the Committee’s report of its inquiry into the treatment of detainees in US custody. The remainder of the report remains classified.
The Committee concluded that the authorization of aggressive interrogation techniques by senior officials was both a direct cause of detainee abuse and conveyed the message that it was okay to mistreat and degrade detainees in US custody.
In the course of its more than 18-month long investigation, the Committee reviewed hundreds of thousands of documents and conducted extensive interviews with more than 70 individuals.
A joint statement released by Levin and McCain emphasized the abuses were directly the result of decisions and orders made at the highest levels of the Bush Administration. “Attempts by senior officials to pass the buck to low ranking soldiers while avoiding any responsibility for abuses are unconscionable. The message from top officials was clear; it was acceptable to use degrading and abusive techniques against detainees,” Sen. Levin said in the statement.
The report’s executive summary, the only part to be released publicly, lays blame squarely at the feet of President Bush, former Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, and top generals (including Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez and Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller) who reinforced the message personally to their commands.
“Interrogation techniques such as stripping detainees of their clothes, placing them in stress positions, and using military working dogs to intimidate them appeared in Iraq only after they had been approved for use in Afghanistan and at GTMO. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s December 2, 2002 authorization of aggressive interrogation techniques and subsequent interrogation policies and plans approved by senior military and civilian officials conveyed the message that physical pressures and degradation were appropriate treatment for detainees in U.S. military custody.”
Senate Armed Services Committee Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees in US Custody
- NY Times: “Report Blames Rumsfeld for Detainee Abuses” (Dec. 12, 2008)
- Final Report:Â Executive Summary and Conclusions
- Hearings:
- Part 1: The Origins of Aggressive Interrogation Techniques (June 17, 2008)
Transcript and witness info (transcript link at bottom)
Sen. Levin Opening Statement
Documents related to Levin’s opening statement - Part 2: The Authorization of SERE Techniques for Interrogations in Iraq (Sept. 25, 2008)
Transcript and witness info (transcript link at bottom)
Sen. Levin Opening Statement
Documents related to Levin’s opening statement
Related Links
- Spokane Spokesman-Review: “Report: Spokane psychologist key in expanding torture” (Dec. 12, 2008) — “Dr. Bruce Jessen, a senior military psychologist with offices in Spokane, had a key role in expanding the controversial use of torture against enemy combatants, according to a report released Thursday…” See also the paper’s previous coverage on Dr. Jesson and his role in interrogations.
- CENTCOM photos of Iraq “Prisoner Boxes” — obtained through FOIA.
- “Secret Law and the Threat to Democratic and Accountable Government”, A hearing by the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the Senate Judiciary committee (Apr. 30, 2008) — via FAS
- Military Legal Resources at the Library of Congress
