Valerie Caproni

June 10, 2008

Statement of
Valerie E. Caproni
General Counsel
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Before the Committee on the Judiciary
United States Senate
Hearing on
"Coercive Interrogation Techniques:
Do They Work, Are They Reliable,
and What Did the FBI Know About Them?"

June 10, 2008

Good morning Madame Chairwoman, Ranking Member Specter,
and Members of the Committee. It is my pleasure to appear
before you today to discuss with the Committee the
Inspector General's report - "A Review of the FBI's
involvement in and Observations of Detainee Interrogations
in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan, and Iraq." The FBI is
pleased that the Office of the Inspector General (IG)
credited the FBI for its " ...conduct and professionalism inthe military zones of Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan, and
Iraq."

The primary mission of the FBI is to lead law
enforcement and domestic intelligence efforts to protect
the United States and its interests from terrorism. FBI
intelligence derived from Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo
Bay has led to numerous investigations to identify and
disrupt terrorist threats in the United States and has
provided important intelligence in ongoing investigations.
We were also pleased to see the conclusion of the IG that
"the vast majority of FBI agents in the military zones
understood that existing FBI policies prohibiting coercive
interrogation tactics continued to apply in the military
zones and that they should not engage in conduct overseas
that would not be permitted under FBI policy in the United
States." The IG credited the FBI for deciding in 2002 to
continue to apply FBI interrogation policies to the
detainees in the military zones. The report found that
"most FBI agents adhered to the FBI's traditional rapportbased interview strategies in the military zones..." The IG also "found no instances in which an FBI agent participated in clear detainee abuse of the kind that some military interrogators used at Abu Ghraib prison." The IG credited "the good judgment of the agents deployed to the military zones as well as guidance that some FBI supervisors
provided."

Consistent with the FBI's long history of success in
custodial interrogations, FBI policy is to employ the same
non-coercive, rapport-based interview techniques when
interviewing detainees encountered in military zones that
we employ in every aspect of our mission, whether in the
United States or abroad. As the IG's report emphasizes,
the FBI chose not to participate with other government
agencies in joint interrogations in which techniques not
allowed by the FBI in the United States were used. When
confronted with the question whether the FBI should join
agencies using more aggressive interviewing techniques, FBI
Director Mueller decided that the FBI would not do so. As
the IG report notes: " ...the FBI has consistently stated its belief that the most effective way to obtain accurate
information is to use rapport-building techniques in
interviews."

The IG found that FBI employees, for the most part,
sought to resolve any concern that they had with the
interrogation techniques used by other agencies by either
reporting them to their supervisors or by working directly
with the other agencies.

As the IG report notes, after the Abu Ghraib
disclosures, the FBI issued written policy which reaffirmed
existing FBI policy and reminded FBI agents that they were
prohibited from using coercive or abusive techniques. The
policy directed agents that they were not to participate in
any treatment or interrogation technique that is in
violation of FBI guidelines and that FBI agents were
required to report any incident in which a detainee was
either abused or mistreated. The policy relied on the
education, training and experience of the FBI agents to
have a sufficient understanding of the words "abuse" and
"mistreatment" and to use the same sound judgment required
to make such determinations while executing their duties
domestically.

All allegations of detainee mistreatment during the
course of interrogations were reviewed by FBI Headquarters
and referred to the appropriate agency for investigation.

Conclusion

In short, FBI agents performed admirably in a war-zone
environment unfamiliar to many of them. The FBI will
continue to use rapport-building techniques when conducting
interviews in the military zones. Additionally, as
Director Mueller has stated, "The FBI will continue to
provide comprehensive training and pre-deployment
preparation to our agents and other employees who may be
assigned to military zone These individuals perform a
vital function in dangerous environments in order to
fulfill the FBI's post-9/ll mission to develop intelligence
and prevent terrorist attacks."

I appreciate the opportunity to appear before the
Committee, and look forward to your questions. Thank you.