The same day Bowman raised concerns with Haynes, Haynes advised Rumsfeld to approve of the "enhanced interrogation" methods, according to comments Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) made during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last year that focused on the contents of the FBI report.
"According to Mr. Bowman, Haynes claimed he didn't know anything about the coercive interrogation techniques that were occurring at Guantanamo, despite the fact that he recommended on November 27, 2002, that Secretary Rumsfeld formally approve the very techniques that were being used at Guantanamo" and during al-Qahtani's interrogation, Feinstein said.
Rumsfeld, FBI Inspector General Glenn Fine told the committee, ignored FBI agents' warnings and on December 2, 2002, signed an action memorandum approving the use of "enhanced techniques" against prisoners at Guantanamo, concluding that the tactics stopped short of torture.
On December 11, 2002, interrogators began to apply what they called the "pride and ego down approach," subjecting al-Qahtani to religious and sexual humiliation, making him bark like a dog and calling him "a pig" as he was made to pick up piles of trash with his hands cuffed. According to a December 13, 2002, entry contained in the al-Qahtani's "torture log," the interrogators sought to "escalate the detainee's emotions."
"A mask was made from an MRE [meals ready to eat] box with a smiley face on it and placed on the detainee's head for a few moments. A latex glove was inflated and labeled the 'sissy slap' glove. This glove was touched to the detainee's face periodically after explaining the terminology to him.
"The mask was placed back on the detainee's head. While wearing the mask, the team began dance instruction with the detainee. The detainee became agitated and began shouting. The mask was removed and detainee was allowed to sit. Detainee shouted and addressed lead [interrogator] as 'the oldest Christian here' and wanted to know why lead allowed the detainee to be treated this way."
The log contains numerous entries describing al-Qahtani's reaction to the interrogations, as he cried, shook, moaned, yelled, prayed, cried out for Allah, trembled uncontrollably and asserted his innocence.
According to a report by CCR attorneys, "on one occasion described in the interrogation log, Mr. al-Qahtani was rushed to a military base hospital when his heart rate fell dangerously low during a period of extreme sleep deprivation, physical stress and psychological trauma.
"The military flew in a radiologist from the US Naval Station in Puerto Rico to evaluate the computed tomography ('CT' or 'CAT') scan. After being permitted to sleep a full night, medical personnel cleared Mr. al-Qahtani for further interrogation the next day. During his transportation from the hospital, Mr. al-Qahtani was interrogated in the ambulance."
Rumsfeld's December 2, 2002, action memo was criticized by Alberto Mora, the former general counsel of the Navy.
"The interrogation techniques approved by the Secretary [of Defense] should not have been authorized because some (but not all) of them, whether applied singly or in combination, could produce effects reaching the level of torture, a degree of mistreatment not otherwise proscribed by the memo because it did not articulate any bright-line standard for prohibited detainee treatment, a necessary element in any such document," Mora wrote in a 14-page letter to the Navy's inspector general.
A December 20, 2005, Army inspector general report relating to the capture and interrogation of al-Qahtani included a sworn statement by Lt. Gen. Randall M. Schmidt, who said Secretary Rumsfeld was "personally involved" in the interrogation of al-Qahtani and spoke "weekly" with Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, the commander at Guantanamo, about the status of the interrogations between late 2002 and early 2003.
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