After reading the title I defy anyone to stop the phrase “no shit” from escaping their mouth. The Third Geneva Convention is a treaty agreement that states, “No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever.” The document further states that, “Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to any unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind.”

Former US Army Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, who ran Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq until 2004, has said that outgoing Defense Secretary Rumsfeld specifically authorized the mistreatment of detainees. Karpinski says she had seen a letter signed by Rumsfeld allowing civilian contractors to use sleep deprivation and other methods during interrogation. “The handwritten signature was above his printed name and in the same handwriting in the margin was written: ‘Make sure this is accomplished’,” she said. “The methods consisted of making prisoners stand for long periods, sleep deprivation … playing music at full volume, having to sit uncomfortably … Rumsfeld authorized these specific techniques.” The Pentagon declined to comment on the matter.

She says she knew nothing about the other abuses at Abu Ghraib until the pictures surfaced, stating that interrogation was carried out by US military intelligence in another wing of the prison. Karpinski also says she raised the case of one unregistered inmate. “We received a message from the Pentagon, from the Defense Secretary, ordering us to hold the prisoner without registering him. I now know this happened on various occasions.” The Geneva Conventions also require all prisoners to be registered. Karpinski said she’d be willing to testify against Rumsfeld, if a suit filed by civil rights groups in Germany leads to a full investigation.

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