A newly inaugurated President Obama issued an executive order banning torture on his second full day in office. The executive order required all U.S. interrogations to comply with the guidelines in the Army Field Manual (AFM) on Human Intelligence Collector Operations. While the AFM guidelines were a huge step forward in protecting detainees from abuse, the AFM includes an appendix, Appendix M, which contains cause for concern. Appendix M is intended to allow detainees to be separated, however it can be read as allowing:
- Sensory deprivation.
- Sleep deprivation.
- Prolonged isolation.
NRCAT is working with other human rights groups to remove or at modify Appendix M to ensure that it can not be read as authorizing torture. NRCAT has also responded to news articles about possible "Appendix M interrogations" by reaching out to allies in the Administration to express our concerns and to ask for information regarding those interrogations.
