The Biscuit Breaker

One noteworthy document Reisner came by in August of this year is a court filing submitted by the defense in the case of Guantánamo detainee Jawad. It describes how the Afghan youth's mind had begun to unravel in September 2003. Jawad had been through a hellish ordeal in the 10 months since he'd been nabbed at the scene of a grenade attack against American troops at age 17. Afghan police beat him and broke his nose before handing him to U.S. forces. In prison at Bagram Air Base near Kabul, an American guard allegedly hurled him down a flight of stairs, according to a report his attorney filed with military investigators. At Guantánamo, he was kept alone in a cell for much of the time, which can be especially anguishing for a teenager. When an interrogator approached Jawad on Sept. 3 for questioning, he noticed the wiry teen talking to a poster on the wall, according to the court filing.

The interrogator asked a military psychologist to observe the next session with Jawad. Psychologists at Guantánamo are organized into Behavioral Science Consultation Teams, referred to informally as "biscuits." Little is known about the composition of the teams and their precise role. Detainees held at Guantánamo have complained over the years of beatings, isolation and sleep and food deprivation. But few documents detailing the precise role of biscuit psychologists have ever been made public. Col. Larry James, a senior biscuit team member at Guantánamo for about five months in 2003, told NEWSWEEK he and his colleagues mainly helped interrogators build a rapport with the detainees. "We're the ones who made sure prisoners aren't abused," he says.

Reisner says the Jawad case shows how psychologists can stray into ethically complicated territory when they participate in interrogations. The court filing says a biscuit psychologist observed Jawad being interrogated on Sept. 11 and then suggested he be pushed even further. "Based on the BSCT recommendation, Mr. Jawad was moved into isolation the following week," the document says.

The full assessment penned by the psychologist after the interrogation is redacted from the court filing. But NEWSWEEK discovered through two independent sources familiar with the report (who could not be named discussing sensitive material) that the psychologist not only eased interrogators' worries, but also encouraged them to continue to dial up the emotional pressure on Jawad: "He appears to be rather frightened, and it looks as if he could break easily if he were isolated from his support network and made to rely solely on the interrogator," according to an excerpt of the report read to NEWSWEEK. The psychologist recommended that Jawad be moved to a section of the prison where he would be the only Pashto speaker, and be moved again if he somehow began to socialize in his new block. The psychologist also suggested that interrogators emphasize to Jawad that his family appeared to have forgotten him: "Make him as uncomfortable as possible. Work him as hard as possible."

The psychologist's name can be gleaned from a court witness list, but multiple e-mails sent by NEWSWEEK asking for a reaction went unanswered. The court filing goes on to say that two weeks after the start of his isolation, Jawad gave his interrogators a detailed account of the events surrounding the grenade attack (that did not implicate himself). But his mental condition deteriorated further and in late December 2003 he tried to commit suicide. "If the goal was to break him, the psychologist succeeded," says Maj. David Frakt, Jawad's military defense attorney. The chief of prosecution in the Guantánamo trials, Col. Larry Morris, declined to comment. A Pentagon spokesman said, "Our policy is, and always has been, to treat detainees humanely."

There's no indication Jawad was subjected to physical abuse as a result of the psychologist's advice. But Reisner thinks psychologists, military or civilian, should never be put in the position of legitimizing any form of abuse. He believes they can contribute in more general terms to the country's national security and still remain within the profession's ethical framework. "If we have knowledge that says in certain circumstances violence is more likely, we certainly should make that information available," he says. "If we have information that helps interrogators not to get violent or sadistic in their interrogations, we should certainly make that available."