The US military has abandoned several interrogation techniques
in Iraq, including sleep deprivation and placing prisoners in
stressful positions, the Pentagon said on Friday.
The decision was made Thursday by Ricardo Sanchez, the top US
commander in Iraq, on the same day of Rumsfeld's surprise visit to
Iraq, US defense officials told reporters on condition of
anonymity.
These techniques, which included "dietary manipulation," sensory
deprivation, placing a prisoner in stressful body positions for
longer than 45 minutes, and threatening a detainee with guard dogs,
will be banned completely, said the officials.
Interrogation techniques used by US military personnel in Iraq
have come under scrutiny following the revelation of the abuse of
Iraqi prisoners by American troops at the Abu Ghraib
prison.?
(Xinhua News Agency May 15, 2004)