The detainee’s hood is then removed and the interrogator explains to the prisoner that he will do “whatever it takes to get important information” from him. If the detainee begins to resist he is immediately slapped across his cheek. If that doesn’t work, the prisoner is then slapped on his stomach.

Once it became clear to interrogators that a detainee was “lying, withholding information, or using other resistance techniques,” the interrogator would repeatedly slam the prisoner head first into a wall. Then the detainee would be placed in the center of the interrogation room – nude – diapered, and shackled and deprived of sleep. White noise not exceeding 79 decibels would then be played to as a tool to keep the detainee awake.

“This first interrogation session may last from 30 minutes to several hours based on the interrogators’ assessment of the HVD’s resistance posture,” the background paper said.

Another torture session follows and the time lapse could be as short as one hour or as long as a day. Between the first and second sessions, medical and psychological personnel observing the torture must advise “there are no contraindications to another interrogation session.”

The second round of torture follows the exact same pattern as the first; the detainee is placed in front of the “walling wall” and asked a series of questions and, depending on the answers, is slammed into the wall, slapped on his face and stomach. Except during this session, a detainee who fails to respond in a satisfactory manner is doused with water for several minutes. Stress positions and wall standing are also integrated.

Sleep deprivation and dietary manipulation and white noise are repeated again if a detainee does not provide information his interrogators believe he has. The detainee is nude at all times.
And then the process is repeated for a third time, with the methods and line of questioning becoming more intense. For example, slamming a detainee into a wall would be repeated multiple times. Or, if a detainee placed in a stress position fails to remain in that position, he would be slammed into the wall. The only way for a detainee to stop this brutal treatment, the background paper noted, is by “cooperating with interrogators.”

Interrogators can then decide, after the third round of torture ends, to put a detainee in either a large or small box if it will have “the appropriate effect.”

Sleep deprivation can then continue for five days straight “or possibly beyond for the hardest resisters,” but it cannot exceed 180 consecutive hours.

“Sleep deprivation will end sooner if the medical or psychologist observer finds it necessary,” the background paper noted. “On average, the actual use of interrogation techniques can vary upwards to fifteen days based on the resilience of the HVD.”

If interrogators need to exceed a 30-day preapproved period, the interrogation team would need to submit a new interrogation plan to CIA headquarters in Langley.

Jason Leopold is editor in chief of The Public Record, www.pubrecord.org.

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