Washington – Bowing to critics of its tough interrogation policies, the Pentagon has issued a new U.S. Army field manual that provides Geneva Convention protections for all detainees and eliminates a secret list of interrogation tactics.
The new manual, released Wednesday, also reverses an earlier decision to maintain two sets of interrogation standards – one for traditional prisoners of war and another for “unlawful combatants” captured during a conflict but not affiliated with a nation’s military force.
It will ban the use of such controversial interrogation methods as forcing prisoners to endure long periods of solitary confinement, using military dogs to threaten prisoners, putting hoods over inmates’ heads, and strapping detainees to boards and dunking them in water to simulate drowning, defense officials said.
The Pentagon’s decision to drop the objectionable provisions appears to mark a victory for advocates of closer U.S. adherence to the protections of the Geneva Conventions, a set of international agreements on the treatment of prisoners and others during wartime.
“If the new field manual embraces the Geneva Conventions, it is an important return to the rule of law,” said Jumana Musa, an advocacy director for Amnesty International. “It is an important public statement.”
The Army completed a version of the document over a year ago. But the new manual grew in importance when Congress approved an amendment to a defense budget bill that banned torture and established the guide as the standard for treatment of detainees in all U.S. military facilities.
The amendment was offered by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who was tortured while a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
Under the new guidelines, prisoners of war – defined as members of uniformed militaries captured on a battlefield – may receive certain extra considerations as mandated by the Geneva Conventions, such as being allowed to retain their personal effects and to refuse to answer detailed questions.
But ceding to congressional demands, the new manual establishes a single baseline standard of care and treatment for all detainees, regardless of their status.
The manual’s guidelines will apply to all prisoners held in Defense Department facilities and to all interrogators working there. Under the McCain amendment, the protections also will apply to CIA prisoners held in Defense Department prisons or bases.
