Summary: Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual – 1983, CIA

Sunday, January 31, 2010

By Syed Maqbool Hassan

This article summarises the controversial CIA Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual of 1983. The methods of interrogation of CIA have always been subject of controversy and their methods often utilize techniques which are not suitable for questioning from human point of view.

Although, in other countries, the use of force, pain and physical punishment is common, but USA is more in limelight as it ignores the rights of people and countries, imposes war on them and and then tortures their people. In this way, the developed hatred helps people find out the way prisoners are mistreated and questioned by US military and CIA. Have a look at the pictures on the left, do you think that they were abiding by this manual. To give you more evidence of US Military torture, watch these three videos shown below:

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-5511717742437253654

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-1152672679054212861

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/12/3/us_interrogator_in_iraq_says_torture

We now start the summary of the manual that lists the most important part which is about Coercive Techniques:

Prohibition Against Force:

The use of force, mental torture, threats, insults or exposure to inhumane treatment is not allowed by international and domestic law and should not be used as it also gives unreliable results. Having used force, it is also the possibility that the subject may later give adverse publicity to the methods used for interrogation.

But, psychological ploys, verbal trickery, non-violent and non-coercive techniques are allowed according to this manual.

The theory given in the manual does not allow force but ground reality is that all these techniques are in use by CIA and US Military. Mental torture, threats and insults are those techniques also utilized by even common people on daily basis. Here, in the left picture, a US Military prisoner is shown who made bitten by guard dog and then tortured.

Introduction:

Opening Remarks:

The questioning of people like prisoners of war, defectors, refugees, illegal immigrants, agents or suspected military intelligence agents is not new and to interrogate them, CIA does not advice force techniques that gives unreliable results as by using force, the source then says what interrogator wants to hear.

There are two types of techniques that we are going to discuss:

1. Coercive

2. Non-coercive

Here, we shall limit ourselves to Coercive techniques:

Coercive Techniques:

Theory of Coercion:

The purpose of all coercive techniques is to induce psychological regression in the subject by bringing a superior outside force to break his will power to resist. As the subject regresses, his learned personality traits progressively fall in reverse chronological order and he cannot deal with complex situations, utilize his creativity, resist frustrations and repeated stressful events.

There are 3 major principles of Coercive techniques:

1. Debility (Physical Weakness):

For centuries, this method has been used by interrogators. It involves exposure to extremes of heat and/cold/moisture, prolonged exertion and deprivation of sleep. When these techniques are used on the subject, his physiological resistance is reduced and results in lesser psychological resistance capability. Some questioners believe that threats of debility are more useful to manipulate subject than debility itself as the subject may adjust himself according to debility. Have a look at the released POWs at Japan after WWII.

Another method to destroy the subject’s psychological resistance is to discrupt patterns like imposing irregular timings, quantities of meal and sleep deprivation which are not according to a pattern but irregular and for varying durations so that the subject’s sense of pattern is lost and he is disoriented.

2. Dependency:

The subject is completely dependent upon questioner to fulfill his basic needs.

3. Dread (Intense Fear and Anxiety):

If the subject has a vague or unknown fear for long time, then this fear can induce regression. But, if the fear materializes, he may lose the fear and finds that he can hold out and give resistance. But, prolonged fear may also take the subject into defensive apathy which is not good for questioning. When USA invaded Philipines, its military used waterboarding against Philipinos there.

Objections to Coercive Techniques:

A. Coercive techniques are used for brainwashing purposes with the difference that in brainwashing, the focus is to condition the subject’s stimulus-response bond and acceptance and adoption of the beliefs, behaviour or doctrine alien to his world for propaganda purposes only.

B. It is not possible that decrease of physiological energy will result in reduced ability to recall and communicate accurately to such an extent that he cannot do it.

Once a confession is obtained, the pressures on him are lifted as per questioning plan so that the subject feels an award for being cooperative and he can give the information accurately.

Justification for Coercive Techniques:

These techniques are reserved for those people who have been trained or have developed ability to resist non-coercive techniques.

Coercive Techniques:

A. Arrest:

The manner and timing should be chosen to give big surprise and maximum amount of discomfort and are particularly early morning hours. At that time, the subject’s mental and physical resistance will be at its lowest. The subject will feel intense feelings of shock, insecurity and psychological stress and shall not be able to adjust to situation.

B. Detention:

A person’s sense of identity depends upon a continuity in his surroundings, habits, appearance, actions and relations with others. Detention should make the subject feel cut off from these links to the maximum extent and any thing reassuring. There should not be any monotonous or any other routine so he will become disoriented and experience fear and helplessness.

C. Deprivation of Sensory Stimuli:

Solitary confinement acts on more persons as a powerful stress. A person who is cut off from extra sensory stimuli turns his awareness inward and projects his unconscious outward. The symptoms produced by teh subject are superstition, intense love of any other living thing, perceiving inanimate objects as alive, hallunications and delusions. The subjects may feel this technique as creating unbearable stress and anxiety.

D. Threats and Fear:

The threat of coercion brings more weakness and regression than the coercive techniques itself. For example, the threat to inflict pain is more damaging than the immediate sensation of the pain itself.In fact, most people underestimate their capacity to withstand pain. In general, direct physical brutality creates only resentment, hostilityand further defiance.The effectiveness of the threat depends upon the personality of the subject and his belief that the questioner can or cannot carry out the threat. Anger from questioner is a sign of fear of failure.

A threat should give some time for subject to comply and is most effective when joined with subject rationalization of compliance and the subject must be given some escape route.

The threat of death is useless as it creates hopelessness and subject thinks that he would get death in both ways (cooperation or non-cooperation with questioner) and may also think that the threat is a bluff.

If the subject ignores the threat and refuses to comply, then the threat must be carried out otherwise subject may gain strength and think that the threat was a bluff. He may also not comply to any further threats.

E. Pain:

People can react to pain differently but everyone’s threshold of pain is different due to conditioning.

For example, in the case of standing attention, the questioner is not inflicting pain by himself but the standing activity produces pain by the prisoner himself. As long as he maintains this position, the subject may attribute to the questioner the ability to do something worse. This decreases his energy and emotional strength but the techniques hould not be used for long time or damage.

To avoid intense pain, people produce false confessions and soem people can enjoy the pain stimulating processes resulting in delay of results from questioning.

F. Hypnosis and Heightened Suggestibility:

Hypnotism does not extract reliable answers but “Heightened Suggestability” can show a subject that he has been hypnotised by saying a comment and supporting the comment by actual feelings created from false ways. This is known as “Magic Room Technique” and an example is that the questioner may say that the cigarette will become bitter and he will then give the prisoner a cigarette that was made bitter by mixing other materials. In this way, the questioner will make the prisoner believe that he has now been hypnotised and he should believe whatever the questioner is saying.

G. Narcosis:

There is no drug in the world that can make anyone say all the information that a questioner wants. The questioner can use a “Placebo Technique” by giving a harmless sugar pill to the prisoner. Then he would tell the prisoner that he is given a drug that will make him speak all the truth about everything the questioner wants to know. The prisoner then uses this pill as an excuse for cooperation and he is told that as his drugged, nobody can blame him for telling the truth now. Th eprisoner will find escape from his depressing situation which is his only get away route from the situation.

H. Regression:

All the techniques that have been described above were used to create regression.

Regression cannot be allowed beyond a point where it cannot be reversed so a psychiatrist will be necessary to reverse its effects after questioning. The questioner can also provide rationalisation to subject by saying:

1. “They made you do it”.
2. “All the other boys are doing it”.
3. “You are really a good boy at heart”.

Non-Coercive Techniques:

Now, we shall give some non-coercive techniques that if not used carefully, will be in abuse category:

A. Persistent manipulation of time
B. Retarding and advancing clocks
C. Serving meals at odd times
D. Disrupting sleep schedules
E. Disorientation regarding day and night
F. Unpatterned “Questioning Sessions”
G. Nonsensical questioning
H. Ignoring half-hearted attempts to cooperate
I. Rewarding non-cooperation

I hope that you now understand the contents of the manual as well as the practice done by US Military and CIA.