Policies Proscribe Forms of Torture; U.S., U.N. Rules Prohibit Use

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Byline: Bill Gertz, THE WASHINGTON TIMES

U.S. military guidelines and international conventions bar the types of treatment of prisoners depicted in recently released photographs; specifically, mental torture, such as mock executions and abnormal sleep deprivation.

Robert Maginnis, a retired Army officer, said the photographs published so far showing U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners could be viewed as torture under U.S. military regulations and international conventions.

"It's very clear from the regulations that they are prohibited from doing what they did in those pictures," Col. Maginnis said in an interview.

Torture is defined in the …