12. After completing
a eighteen month investigation, that included the review of hundreds of
thousands of documents and extensive interviews of 70 individuals associated
with the alleged allegation of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay,
concluded that the Bush administration and former Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld were crucial participants in the of the abuses committed by American
troops in interrogations. The report also rebuffed prior claims, made by
Rumsfeld, that Department of Defense policies had no factor in the
manifestation of abuse on prisoners, by military personnel, at Abu Ghraib and
other detention facilities. The report further indicated that Rumsfeld and
other top officials ascribed that “that physical pressures and degradation were
appropriate treatment for detainees.” A principal focus was placed on the use
of Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape (SERE) training techniques used by
American military personnel to counter interrogations by enemy forces that are
reluctant to follow international law and the Geneva Convention. The
committee’s investigation revealed that senior officials concluded the use of
these training techniques could be used against detainees based on a loss
interpretation of American and International law. The techniques utilized during
SERE training were never intended to be used on American detainees and the
authorized use by senior officials damaged American world standing and
security.
http://www.levin.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/supporting/2008/Detainees.121108.pdf
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