FM 34-52 Intelligence Interrogation
Encyclopedia
The US Army Field Manual on Interrogation, sometimes known by the military nomenclature FM 34-52, is a 177-page manual describing to military interrogators how to conduct effective interrogations while conforming with US and international law. It has been replaced by FM 2-22.3 Human Intelligence Collector Operations
.
During the American war on terror the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
issued "enhanced interrogation techniques
" that went farther than those authorized in the Army Field Manual. The extended techniques stimulated debate, both within the Bush administration, and outside it. Various revisions of the extended techniques were issued.
Rumsfeld intended the extended techniques to be used only on the captives the United States classified as "illegal combatants." But extended interrogation techniques were adopted in Iraq
, even though captives there were entitled to protection under the Geneva Conventions
. General Geoffrey Miller, who was then the director of interrogation of detainees held in Guantanamo Bay
, and some of his staff were sent to Iraq to help transfer their interrogation experience. Military Intelligence troops had been using extended techniques in Afghanistan
, notably Captain Carolyn Wood
. General Ricardo Sanchez
, the CO of American forces in Iraq, after input from Miller and his team, and from Captain Wood, issued his own set of extended techniques.
, who took office shortly after the famous Nuremberg Trials
that prosecuted prominent German officials for alleged war crimes committed in World War II involving treatment of detainees and prisoners of war, U.S. military forces have been trained to follow a General Order known as the Code of the U.S. Fighting Force. It provides in relevant part:
As a General Order, violation of the Code is a prosecutable offense under various provisions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice
. Although intended to the duties of captured members of the U.S. military, the Code provides U.S. combatants with an understood definition of the rights of prisoners under the Geneva Convention. It is therefore understandable that members of the military, who are themselves subject to the occupational hazard of being taken prisoner, might resist political pressure to depart from the Geneva Convention's ethic of reciprocity
regarding warring powers' treatment of those captured on the battlefield.
— a POW and torture victim during the Vietnam War — submitted an amendment to a military spending bill, intended to restrict all US government interrogators from using interrogation techniques not authorized in the Army Field Manual.
On October 20, 2005 Vice President Dick Cheney
met with McCain to try to convince him to agree that his amendment should only apply to military interrogators. Cheney wanted to continue to allow civilian interrogators, working for US intelligence agencies, to use more extended interrogation techniques. McCain did not agree.
McCain's amendment passed, and is now called the Detainee Treatment Act
.
On December 14, 2005, the New York Times reported that the Army Field Manual had been rewritten by the Pentagon. Previously, the manual's interrogation techniques section could be read freely on the internet. But the new edition includes 10 classified pages in the interrogation technique section, leaving the public no indication about what the government considers not to be torture.
On June 5, 2006 the Los Angeles Times
reported that the Pentagon's revisions will remove the proscription against "humiliating and degrading treatment", and other proscriptions from article 3 of the third Geneva Convention
.
The LA Times reports that the State Department has argued against the revisions because of the effect it will have on the world's opinion of the United States.
In 2006 there was an ongoing debate over whether the interrogation section should be classified. The New York Times reported that the Pentagon was considering making the interrogation section public once again, but the Pentagon made no formal announcement of its intentions.
On September 6, 2006, the U.S. Army announced the publication of Field Manual (FM) 2-22.3, "Human Intelligence Collector Operations." The Army's news release stated that Field Manual 2-22.3 replaces Field Manual 34-52 (published in 1992). The new manual specifically prohibits many of the controversial enhanced interrogation techniques (including "waterboarding
") which brought the matter to public attention, and also stipulates that the list is not all-inclusive of prohibited actions.
FM 2-22.3 Human Intelligence Collector Operations
Army Field Manual 2 22.3, or FM 2-22.3, Human Intelligence Collector Operations, was issued by the Department of the Army on September 6, 2006. The manual gives instructions on a range of issues, such as the structure, planning and management of human intelligence operations, the debriefing of...
.
Interrogations during the 'global war on terror'
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...
issued "enhanced interrogation techniques
Enhanced interrogation techniques
Enhanced interrogation techniques or alternative set of procedures are terms adopted by the George W. Bush administration in the United States to describe certain severe interrogation methods, often described as torture...
" that went farther than those authorized in the Army Field Manual. The extended techniques stimulated debate, both within the Bush administration, and outside it. Various revisions of the extended techniques were issued.
Rumsfeld intended the extended techniques to be used only on the captives the United States classified as "illegal combatants." But extended interrogation techniques were adopted in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, even though captives there were entitled to protection under the Geneva Conventions
Geneva Conventions
The Geneva Conventions comprise four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish the standards of international law for the humanitarian treatment of the victims of war...
. General Geoffrey Miller, who was then the director of interrogation of detainees held in Guantanamo Bay
Guantanamo Bay detainment camp
The Guantanamo Bay detention camp is a detainment and interrogation facility of the United States located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. The facility was established in 2002 by the Bush Administration to hold detainees from the war in Afghanistan and later Iraq...
, and some of his staff were sent to Iraq to help transfer their interrogation experience. Military Intelligence troops had been using extended techniques in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, notably Captain Carolyn Wood
Carolyn Wood
Carolyn Wood, United States Army captain, is a military intelligence officer who served in both Afghanistan and Iraq. She was implicated by the Fay Report to have "failed" in several aspects of her command regarding her oversight of interrogators at Abu Ghraib...
. General Ricardo Sanchez
Ricardo Sanchez
Ricardo Sanchez is a retired United States Army Lieutenant General and a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination for the Senate election in 2012 for the seat of retiring Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison.-Early life and education:...
, the CO of American forces in Iraq, after input from Miller and his team, and from Captain Wood, issued his own set of extended techniques.
Tension with U.S. military tradition and training
Since it was issued by President Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
, who took office shortly after the famous Nuremberg Trials
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
that prosecuted prominent German officials for alleged war crimes committed in World War II involving treatment of detainees and prisoners of war, U.S. military forces have been trained to follow a General Order known as the Code of the U.S. Fighting Force. It provides in relevant part:
a. When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am required to give name, rank, service number, and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies or harmful to their cause.
b. When questioned, a prisoner of war is required by the Geneva Convention and this code to give name, rank, service number (Social Security number) and date of birth. The prisoner should make every effort to avoid giving the captor any additional information. The prisoner may communicate with captors on matters of health and welfare and additionally may write letters home and fill out a Geneva Convention "capture card."
c. It is a violation of the Geneva Convention to place a prisoner under physical or mental duress, torture or any other form of coercion in an effort to secure information.
As a General Order, violation of the Code is a prosecutable offense under various provisions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice
Uniform Code of Military Justice
The Uniform Code of Military Justice , is the foundation of military law in the United States. It is was established by the United States Congress in accordance with the authority given by the United States Constitution in Article I, Section 8, which provides that "The Congress shall have Power . ....
. Although intended to the duties of captured members of the U.S. military, the Code provides U.S. combatants with an understood definition of the rights of prisoners under the Geneva Convention. It is therefore understandable that members of the military, who are themselves subject to the occupational hazard of being taken prisoner, might resist political pressure to depart from the Geneva Convention's ethic of reciprocity
Ethic of reciprocity
The Golden Rule or ethic of reciprocity is a maxim, ethical code, or moralitythat essentially states either of the following:* : One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself....
regarding warring powers' treatment of those captured on the battlefield.
Detainee Treatment Act
On July 25, 2005 Senator John McCainJohn McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
— a POW and torture victim during the Vietnam War — submitted an amendment to a military spending bill, intended to restrict all US government interrogators from using interrogation techniques not authorized in the Army Field Manual.
On October 20, 2005 Vice President Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
met with McCain to try to convince him to agree that his amendment should only apply to military interrogators. Cheney wanted to continue to allow civilian interrogators, working for US intelligence agencies, to use more extended interrogation techniques. McCain did not agree.
McCain's amendment passed, and is now called the Detainee Treatment Act
Detainee Treatment Act
The Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 is an Act of the United States Congress that prohibits inhumane treatment of prisoners, including prisoners at Guantanamo Bay; requires military interrogations to be performed according to the U.S...
.
Plans to revise the manual to allow extended techniques
On April 28, 2005 Defense Secretary Rumsfeld announced that the Army would be revising the manual. The revised manual would have spelled out more clearly which interrogation techniques were prohibited.On December 14, 2005, the New York Times reported that the Army Field Manual had been rewritten by the Pentagon. Previously, the manual's interrogation techniques section could be read freely on the internet. But the new edition includes 10 classified pages in the interrogation technique section, leaving the public no indication about what the government considers not to be torture.
On June 5, 2006 the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
reported that the Pentagon's revisions will remove the proscription against "humiliating and degrading treatment", and other proscriptions from article 3 of the third Geneva Convention
Third Geneva Convention
The Third Geneva Convention, relative to the treatment of prisoners of war, is one of the four treaties of the Geneva Conventions. It was first adopted in 1929, but was significantly updated in 1949...
.
The LA Times reports that the State Department has argued against the revisions because of the effect it will have on the world's opinion of the United States.
In 2006 there was an ongoing debate over whether the interrogation section should be classified. The New York Times reported that the Pentagon was considering making the interrogation section public once again, but the Pentagon made no formal announcement of its intentions.
On September 6, 2006, the U.S. Army announced the publication of Field Manual (FM) 2-22.3, "Human Intelligence Collector Operations." The Army's news release stated that Field Manual 2-22.3 replaces Field Manual 34-52 (published in 1992). The new manual specifically prohibits many of the controversial enhanced interrogation techniques (including "waterboarding
Waterboarding
Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over the face of an immobilized captive, thus causing the individual to experience the sensation of drowning...
") which brought the matter to public attention, and also stipulates that the list is not all-inclusive of prohibited actions.
See also
- Detainees in CIA custody
Online versions
- .html version of FM 34-52, circa May 8, 1987
- .pdf version of FM 34-52, circa September 28, 1992 (Current version, soon to be replaced.)
- .pdf version of Field Manual FM 2-22.3, "Human Intelligence Collector Operations.", circa September 6, 2006 (It replaces Field Manual 34-52.)
External links
- Torture: Proposed New Army Field Manual Is a First Step but Must Apply to Everyone, Human Rights FirstHuman Rights FirstHuman Rights First is a nonprofit, nonpartisan human rights organization based in New York City and Washington, D.C....
, April 28, 2005 - Statement of Senator John McCain Amendment on Army Field Manual, July 25, 2005
- Cheney Plan Exempts CIA From Bill Barring Abuse of Detainees, Washington Post, October 25, 2005
- No Place for War Crimes: Redrafting the US Army Interrogation Manual, JURISTJURISTJURIST is an online legal news service hosted by the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, powered by a staff of more than 40 law students working in Pittsburgh and other US locations under the direction of founding Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Professor Bernard Hibbitts, Research Director Jaclyn...