An amendment by Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-New Hampshire) to the current Defense Authorization Bill (SA 1068) now before Congress would roll back the 2009 Obama executive order against torture by re-establishing a secret ‘classified’ set of interrogation techniques and then attaching them to the current ‘Army Field Manual’ on human intelligence collection [4]. But whether the amendment passes or not, the existence of certain interrogation techniques as used currently by the US military and intelligence services in the ‘Manual’ do not comply with international norms, such as the Geneva Conventions.

A recent United Kingdom high court ruling on the use of hooding prisoners as a detention or interrogation technique indicated that use of any form of sensory obstruction, such as use of blindfolds, goggles or earmuffs, in place of hooding, which is outlawed, could only be temporary and ‘only for the time and extent necessary to preserve operational security.’ British military and security officers are directed not to work with governments that do not observe these rules.

Yet currently, use of goggles and earmuffs as a form of sensory deprivation used on prisoners is part of ‘Appendix M’ of the ‘Army Field Manual.’ Their use is part of something called ‘Field Expedient […]