FBI 'saw no prisoner abuse'

FBI agents who interviewed detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq did not witness any abuse or take part in any mistreatment, FBI Director Robert Mueller said.

Mueller said that FBI rules prohibit agents from taking part in interrogations involving force, the threat of force or coercion and they are obliged to report any such incidents they see.

“In the cases where we have been handling interviews, particularly over in Iraq, it has been done according to our standards and there has been no waiver of that,” Mueller said in evidence to the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington.

Mueller said the FBI’s standards for interrogations differ from those of the CIA and Defence Department.

Although no agents witnessed abuse in Iraq, Mueller said that “upon occasion” agents have raised objections about the way certain interrogations overseas are handled.

“Where we have seen that, we have brought it to the attention of the authorities who were responsible for that particular individual,” Mueller said.

He declined to say how many FBI agents were stationed in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The FBI, Mueller added, subscribes to the theory that an interrogation technique of developing rapport with a suspect or witness “may be as effective or more effective than other ways”.

In addition, use of coercion can get a statement thrown out in a US court if a judge finds the person did not make it voluntarily.