A military investigation into reports of prisoner abuse at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, recommended that the base's former commander be reprimanded, but a top general rejected the recommendation, a congressional aide said.
Investigators recommended that Major General Geoffrey Miller be reprimanded for failing to oversee the abusive interrogation of a detainee thought to have valuable information, the aide said.
US Southern Command Commander General Bantz Craddock instead referred the matter to the army's inspector general, said the aide, who described the unreleased report on condition of anonymity.
Craddock concluded that Miller had not violated any US laws or policies, the report said, according to the aide.
The investigation found that interrogators violated the Geneva Conventions and army regulations three times, the aide said.
The investigation also found that interrogators' behavior did not reach the level of torture or inhumane treatment, although it described instances of abuse or inappropriate action by interrogators, according to the aide's description.
The investigation was conducted by Air Force Lieutenant General Randall Schmidt and Army Brigadier General John Furlow after allegations by FBI agents of abuse at Guantanamo surfaced last year.
Craddock, Schmidt and Furlow were set to brief the Senate Armed Services Committee on their findings yesterday.
One report found female interrogators inappropriately touched detainees. Investigators said that a female in one case smeared what she described as menstrual blood -- it was fake -- on a prisoner, but they recommended no action on the allegation because it happened some time ago.
It found that an interrogator put perfume on a detainee. The investigation recommended that interrogators no longer use such actions to pressure prisoners.
Interrogators also threatened one high-value prisoner by saying they would go after his family. This was in violation of US military law, the investigation found.
Military interrogators were found to have impersonated FBI and State Department agents to prisoners. This practice was stopped after the FBI complained.
Interrogators also improperly used duct tape on a detainee. An FBI agent said a prisoner was bound on the head with duct tape, his mouth covered, because he was chanting verses from the Koran.
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