Testimony of the Joint Interrogation Group Chief

This is an excerpt from a summary of an interview that took place on 10 January 2005 at a conference room in the Commissions Building, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. On 29 March 2005, at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, Investigating Officer BG John Furley declared under penalty that said summary was true and correct. The summary was released by the US Government on 15 June 2006 under a FOIA request by the ACLU, who made it public on June 19, 2006.

I am the current [as of 1/10/05] Joint Interrogation Group (JIG) Chief. I work for the Defense Intelligence Agency. I was deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (GTMO) for a two year assignment. I took over the JIG in late summer 2003.

During the course of the interview I was asked about what I knew about detainee abuse at Guantanamo. I was specifically asked about the following acts: Inappropriate use of military working dogs, inappropriate use of duct tape, impersonation of or interference with FBI agents, inappropriate use of loud music and/or yelling, sleep deprivation, short-shackling, inappropriate use of extreme temperatures during interrogation, and inappropriate use of sexual tension as an interrogation technique, to include lap dances and simulated menstrual fluids.

I have personal knowledge of the following:

I am not aware of any military working dogs being used in an interrogation [REDACTED] When the FBI complained about military interrogators impersonating FBI, we discussed the issue and the practice was stopped. I do not believe that it violates any laws, but the practice was stopped.

[REDACTED]

I am aware that [REDACTED] was given a Letter of Reprimand by LTC [REDACTED] for her involvement, as the NCOIC, of the "lap dance" incident. She was one of the best interrogators. In fact, I believe that Major General Miller sponsored her so she could obtain a commission.

The interrogation teams and the individual interrogators draft the interrogation plans and the approaches to be used for the interrogation. If the plan doesn't involve techniques requiring additional approval, as detailed in the 16 April 2003 SECDEF [= Secretary of Defense] Memo, it is approved by the ICE [= Interrogation Control Element] Chief. If the approaches require additional approval, the interrogation plan is forwarded to me for review and if necessary, notification is sent to SECDEF. If a response is not received within 7 days, I instruct the interrogation team to proceed with the implementation of the approach.

The atmosphere at JTF-GTMO has gradually improved during my tenure. The pressure in the beginning was tremendous because of the need to get information. The atmosphere was tense and the agencies didn't always get along. This is not the case now (Enclosures to the Schmidt-Furlow Report (Part 1), p. 839).

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