Warden Plans to Reduce Size of Iraqi Prison

[maddezmom]

By DEXTER FILKINS

Published: May 4, 2004


AGHDAD, Iraq, May 4 — The American commander in charge of military jails in Iraq said today that he had decided to dramatically reduce the size of the Abu Ghraib prison, the site of the suspected abuse of Iraqi prisoners, and to end some of the more coercive practices used against Iraqi detainees.

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Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, chief of detentions and interrogations in Iraq, said he planned to reduce the number of prisoners held at Abu Ghraib by about half its current level, from 3,800 to less than 2,000. The overcrowding at Abu Ghraib, where the population has sometimes swelled well past 6,000, was cited by American investigators as having contributed to the chaotic and sometimes abusive atmosphere that prevailed there.

In a wide-ranging interview in Baghdad, General Miller said he had banned the practice of hooding Iraqi prisoners while they are moved from one jail to another, largely because it was humiliating to Iraqi prisoners.

But practices like hooding, depriving prisoners of sleep and forcing them into "stressful positions" were legitimate means of interrogation, the general said, and among the 50-odd coercive techniques sometimes used by American soldiers against enemy detainees.

~snip~

more: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/04/international/middleeast/04CND-WARD.html

The Gitmo Warden to the rescue... :eyes:

[0007]

1. Hmmmm I wonder what the 50 odd Coercive techniques are?

" and among the 50-odd coercive techniques sometimes used by American soldiers against enemy detainees."

[maddezmom]

2. but looks like 5 witnesses for each interrogation

<<In the 50-minute interview at the Baghdad Convention Center, Miller offered details of the rarely discussed interrogation procedures used to rattle, persuade or intimidate detainees to divulge information about their methods and organizations.

Each interrogation at Abu Ghraib is conducted by a "tiger team," consisting of one or two interrogators, a translator and a linguist, he said. The analyst -- typically an older or more experienced interrogator -- observes the questioning from a separate viewing room.

"Every interrogation must have an interrogation plan that lays out the techniques that will be used to be able to garner the information that is laid out in that interrogation plan," he said. "And so the interrogation team submits this up to their interrogation supervisor who lays that out. That's one of the safeguards and checks that we use to ensure that our interrogation teams are following our guidance."

Miller said that use of "physical contact" and threats against detainees is prohibited. Last week, he banned the use of hoods to cover the heads of detainees in transport. Instead, military officers have been directed to use "pressure bandages" or goggles to cover the eyes of detainees when transporting them.>>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A707-2004May4.html

[maddezmom]

3. link to DU dupe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=529546&mesg_id=531618&page=