Official guidelines for interrogation permitted abuse, according to an NBC News report:
The [Geneva] conventions state specifically that while being interrogated, prisoners “may not be threatened, insulted or exposed to any unpleasant ... treatment of any kind.”
But the list of approved U.S. guidelines allows interrogators to subject prisoners to sleep and sensory deprivation for up to 72 hours and force them to hold “stress positions” for as long as 45 minutes, threaten them with guard dogs, keep them isolated for longer than 30 days and manipulate their diets.
Senators challenged Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz over the rules at a hearing Thursday of the Armed Services Committee.
“A bag over your head for 72 hours — is that humane?” asked Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I.