Pentagon confirms female interrogators used sexual tactics at Guantanamo

2/10/2005 10:00:00 PM GMT

A Pentagon classified report confirmed that female interrogators used sexual techniques on detainees at the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.

The findings of the Pentagon’s inquiry, led by Vice Admiral Albert Church III, haven't been released publicly.

The report reflects a military investigation of U.S. detention and interrogation practices worldwide.

The Post said that at least eight Guantanamo prisoners, in documents or through their lawyers, accused female interrogators of using sexually suggestive tactics, including rubbing their bodies against them and touching them provocatively.

The newspaper quoted a top Defense Department official, familiar with the new report, as saying that the investigation confirms the detainees' accusations that female interrogators repeatedly used sexual tactics to humiliate and break them down.

The defense official said on condition of anonymity that the investigation reported one case in which a female Army interrogator wore a tight T-shirt to make a Guantanamo detainee uncomfortable.

He also said that the report confirmed other cases in which interrogators touched detainees suggestively and walked scantily clad in front of them.

The official also said that interrogators smeared the detainees with a red dye that stimulates menstrual blood and noted that the fake blood was mainly used on Muslim men before prayers.

The Post cited Defense Department officials as saying that two female interrogators were reprimanded for such practices.

A Pentagon spokesman could not be reached for comment.

“Huge mountain of abuse”

Michael Ratner, head of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents several Guantanamo prisoners, said that "A huge mountain of abuse is just piling up."

"Abuse throughout Bagram, Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo -- the use of cruel, inhumane and degrading techniques has become routine,"

"The evidence is like a blood stain that keeps seeping out and which will cover this administration," he added.

Pentagon officials said that being scantily clad or touching and chatting with detainees in a provocative manner are definitely inappropriate interrogation tactics.

"I don't see that as being authorized by the secretary of defense's approved interrogation techniques for Guantanamo," said Colonel David McWilliams, a spokesman for the Miami-based U.S. Southern Command.

The Post cited the defense official as saying that the army wouldn’t condone "sexual activity" during interrogation but that good interrogators "take initiative and are a little creative."

"They are trying to find the key that will get someone to talk to them. Using things that are culturally repulsive is OK, as long as it doesn't extend to something prohibited by the Geneva Conventions." he said.