CNN: 3 Techniques Removed From List of Interrogation Methods

Three techniques removed from list of interrogation methods approved for use by U.S. troops in Iraq, sources tell CNN. Details soon.

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Any guesses on the 3 techniques that were removed?

 

Officials: Interrogation techniques may be banned
Sanchez finishes review of methods for questioning detainees
Friday, May 14, 2004 Posted: 4:19 PM EDT (2019 GMT)


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Several interrogation techniques approved for use by the U.S. military may be banned because they do not meet the rules of the Geneva Conventions, two senior defense officials told CNN.

The techniques such as sleep management for 72 hours, sensory deprivation for 72 hours and stress positions for 45 minutes have not been used in the past, defense officials said, but have now been recommended for removal from the list of approved methods.

Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, completed the review of approved interrogation techniques for detainees in Iraq this week.

The review came in the wake of concern and criticism that the techniques violate the principles of protecting prisoners of war.

On Capitol Hill on Thursday, top officials acknowledged some of the techniques under review could violate the Geneva Conventions.

Those techniques are not the criminal abuses shown in photographs from Abu Ghraib prison that have been publicized in recent weeks.

Prisoners released
U.S. authorities released 293 prisoners Friday from the prison near Baghdad, the first mass prisoner release since images of abuse at the hands of the U.S. military surfaced several weeks ago.

Earlier, officials had said 315 prisoners were freed, but Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said the release of 22 prisoners was delayed.

Kimmitt told reporters Friday that the next prisoner release will be next Friday.

"We anticipate 475 prisoners to be released. Twenty-two prisoners delayed today are expected to be released on May 21st," he said.

Hundreds of Iraqis gathered around the prison after hearing about the imminent prisoner release. The first bus, with about 70 released prisoners, left Abu Ghraib around 9:20 a.m. (1:20 a.m. ET) heading toward Baghdad. The other four buses emerged hours later -- one headed to Fallujah and the other three to Ba'qubah, coalition officials said.

About a week ago, there were about 3,800 prisoners at Abu Ghraib. The new U.S. commander of detention operations in Iraq, Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, said he plans to reduce that number to somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000.

Miller took over for Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, who was relieved of duty on January 17, a day after the coalition military announced an investigation into abuse in the prison.

Seven soldiers face criminal charges in the abuse case, and four of them have been formally referred for court-martial. (Full story)

Photos of the abuse have prompted outrage -- particularly in the Arab world -- and led to days of hearings on Capitol Hill.

The Army has been investigating the treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib since January, but the case erupted last month when CBS broadcast graphic photographs of American troops posing for photographs with naked, hooded prisoners.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has been criticized for not alerting the president and Congress sooner about the pictures.

Lawmakers are focusing on how high up the chain of command culpability for the abuse goes.

While Rumsfeld and other Pentagon officials have described the abuse as an aberration, some lawmakers have suggested in their questions that the military police -- who acted as guards for the prisoners -- may have been taking their cues from military intelligence.

The author of a military report on Abu Ghraib, Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, has also questioned the role of military intelligence at the prison. But he told a Senate panel Tuesday that there were no "direct orders" or written policies that sanctioned the abuse of prisoners.

Pentagon officials removed from 'loop'
Two Pentagon officials have been asked to stay away from the details of the detainee-abuse scandal in an effort to have unbiased officials review future legal decisions.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz has been told to stay out of the scandal issue and focus on issues such as troop rotation and the June 30 handover.

Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been taken out of the day-to-day Pentagon management of the scandal, according to several Pentagon sources.

Sources close to Pace say taking him "out of the loop" on the abuse scandal is necessary because Myers has deliberately talked publicly about the matter, in part to openly address the crisis with the American public and with U.S. military troops.

Wolfowitz and Pace appeared Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee in a hearing on the administration's request for an additional $25 billion to pay for military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. But senators also used the time to press the two about interrogation techniques -- an issue at the heart of the Abu Ghraib scandal.

The two Pentagon officials appeared to express doubts about interrogation rules applied to military prisoners in Iraq. (Full story)

Also on Thursday, President Bush invited a group of House Republicans to the White House as part of a newly aggressive effort to consult with Congress on Iraq policy and to try to quiet concerns raised by the abuse scandal. (Full story)

CNN's Ed Henry, Joe Johns, Ted Barrett