Prison commander says Rumsfeld authorized torture

November 25th, 2006

Washington, D.C. - Fired Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld authorized the torture and mistreatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, the prison's former commander said in an interview with Spain's El Pais newspaper on Saturday.

Former U.S. Army Brigadier General Janis Karpinski said she saw a letter signed by Rumsfeld which allowed civilian contractors to violate the Geneva Conventions in a memorandum detailing the use of harsh interrogation methods such as sleep deprivation during interrogation.

"The handwritten signature was above his printed name and in the same handwriting in the margin was written: "Make sure this is accomplished"," she told the El Pais.

"The methods consisted of making prisoners stand for long periods, sleep deprivation ... playing music at full volume, having to sit in uncomfortably ... Rumsfeld authorized these specific techniques."

The Geneva Convention states that prisoners of war should suffer "no physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion" to secure information.

"Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to any unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind," the document states.

Rumsfeld also authorized the army to break the Geneva Conventions by not registering all prisoners, Karpinski said, explaining how she raised the case of one unregistered inmate with an aide to former U.S. commander Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez.

"We received a message from the Pentagon, from the Defense Secretary, ordering us to hold the prisoner without registering him. I now know this happened on various occasions."

Karpinski said last week she was ready to testify against Rumsfeld, if a suit filed by civil rights groups in Germany over Abu Ghraib led to a full investigation.

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