Rumsfeld Personally Approved Extreme Gitmo Procedures

Rumsfeld OK's All Extreme Interrogations

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld must personally review the use of four types of interrogation methods before they can be used on foreign terrorism suspects at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a senior Army general said on Thursday.

Gen. James Hill, who as head of U.S. Southern Command is responsible for Guantanamo Bay, pointedly refused to reveal the nature of these four methods, although he denied guard dogs were used in interrogations or that prisoners were given chemicals or injections of any kind.

Human rights activists have accused the United States of using torture at Guantanamo, where prisoners are held indefinitely and most without being charged.

U.S. policy is that the prisoners are not covered by the Geneva Conventions establishing rights for prisoners.

Hill declined to answer when asked whether U.S. forces subjected Guantanamo prisoners to interrogation techniques including sensory deprivation, sleep deprivation, isolation for longer than 30 days, dietary manipulation and placing inmates in body "stress positions."

Hill said four techniques that deviate from the military's traditional interrogation methods require him to notify Rumsfeld in advance. Rumsfeld then has seven days to either reject the request or allow the technique to be used, Hill said.