Pentagon not pursuing Guantanamo report

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon plans no action as a result of a newly released FBI report on detainee abuse at the Guantanamo Bay military prison, a spokesman said Wednesday, asserting there is nothing new in the report.

"The idea that this is new is misguided and misleading," said Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman.

"These are things the department has thoroughly investigated and where allegations have been substantiated, disciplinary action has been taken," he said.

Documents released Tuesday by the FBI focused on harsh interrogation techniques used by military officials and contractors when questioning so-called enemy combatants at the facility the Pentagon set up in Cuba for terrorism suspects.

FBI agents documented more than two dozen incidents of possible mistreatment at the facility, including one in which a detainee's head was wrapped in duct tape because he chanted the Quran and another who pulled out his hair after hours in a sweltering room.

Some military officials and contractors told FBI agents that the interrogation practices had been approved by the Defense Department, including directly by former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The documents were released in response to a request by the American Civil Liberties Union, which is suing Rumsfeld and others on behalf of former detainees who say they were abused.

Many of the incidents in the FBI documents have already been reported and are summarized in the ACLU's lawsuit, though the report notes some smaller details about some of the incidents that are new.

The records were gathered as part of an internal FBI survey in 2004.

Asked Wednesday if the Pentagon plans any follow-up to the report, Whitman said: "No, it's already been thoroughly investigated."

The department has said that a dozen reviews of detention operations found no policies that condoned the abuse some individuals engaged in.

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Associated Press writer Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

Copies of the documents can be found at:

http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/guantanamo.htm

Source

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