Report faults FBI handling of agents' Gitmo complaints: paper
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A new Justice Department report praises FBI agents for refusing to join in the U.S. military's abusive questioning of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan, but faults the bureau's for responding slowly to complaints from its own agents about the tactics, The New York Times reported on Saturday.
Citing people with knowledge of the still-secret report, expected to be released as early as Tuesday, the Times reported that the department's inspector general's office is said to have concluded that no FBI agents participated in the rough interrogations by the military.
But the report is also expected to take the bureau to task for its slow response to agents' complaints about the tactics, and for its unclear guidelines and training on handling the complaints, the Times said.
"The FBI should be credited for its conduct and professionalism in detainee interrogations in the military zones," the newspaper quoted the inspector general as saying in the report.
One FBI memo referred to "torture techniques" that were used by military interrogators, with agents describing inmates who were handcuffed in a fetal position for up to 24 hours at a time, the newspaper reported. They were intimidated by dogs, made to wear women's undergarments and subjected to strobe lights and extreme temperatures, it said.
"Could we have done more, more quickly? Or could we have provided better guidance?" asked an FBI official with knowledge of the report who said the answer was likely yes. But, he added, "It was difficult to tell agents what the rules were because we didn't know ourselves," the Times reported.
The inspector general's office refused to comment on the investigation, which began more than three years ago, and many details remain unknown, the Times said, including whether it will address CIA interrogations that may have been witnessed by FBI agents.
FBI Director Robert Mueller said on Friday that the agency was helping to get information from detainees and prepare terrorism cases against suspects at Guantanamo Bay despite differences with the CIA over interrogation techniques.
"The policy of the bureau ... is not to use coercion," he said in an appearance at the National Press Club, adding "I will speak for the FBI."
