Interrogation: A Complete Manual 0915179598, 9780915179596

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INTERROGATION A Complete Manual

by Burt Rapp

Netther the author-nor the publtsher assumes any responstbtltty Jor the use oJ mtsuse oJ tryformatton contained in fhis book It ts soldJor Cntertatnment purposes onlg! Be Wqmed!

INTERROGATION:

ACOMPLEIEM by Burt

RaPP

Loompanlcs Unllmited Port Townsend, Washinglton fl*l

TABLE OF COIVTENDS I

Introduction . The Htstory of Interro$ation. Interro$ati6n in the Media ....

the Balics...

The Psychologr of Interrogation The Interviewer's Qualities A Close Look at Lies The Interrogation Locale

Rapport.....

INTERROGATION:

A complete Manual

01987 by Loompanics Unlimited All Rights Reserved Printed in USA

lnterrogation Tactics .. Tactics, Part II: Consolidating the Interrogation Technological Methods

Torture.....

The C'estapo and Other Secret Soviet Interro$atlon and

Rrbltshed bp Loompanics Unlimited PO Box 1197 Port Townsend, WA 9g36g

rsBN o-915r?9_59_8 l,tlnq of Congress Catatog Card Numbcr g7-gllol

.

Pollce

"Bralnwashing"

Sovtet Interro$ation and

". ...... L2 18 ..... 27 ..,.. 37 ...... 46 .. 58 ....62 .... 66 6

.

"Brainwashlng," Part II Interrogatlon Fatlures .. How to Sunrlve Interro$ation.. Future Prospects

.. 9l

....

99

...119

..

'. 163 ... L76 . 185

.. 193 ,....2O5 ....225

INTRODUCTION

Interrogation has gone through many phases, because of its usefulness in criminal investi$ation' counter-espiona$e, and even suppression of religious heresy. In ancient times, the simple and obvious method for dealing with reluctant confessors was torture. During the Nineteenth and Tiventteth Centuries, we've seen a proliferation of interrogation techniques, and many refinements in the methods. The emphasis now is not on physical torture, although this is still available as a last resort, but on psychological persuasion and coercion. Interrogators have been very inventive. Many workers in the field have made intense efforts trying to use scientific methods to extract information.

Some examples are "truth sertlm," the "po$graph," and the "voice stress anal-yruer."

Unfortunately, all of these methods have had their problems, and none has lived up to the promises of their originators and boosters. While in many countries the techniques of interrogation are straightforward, in the Soviet Union and the United States there have been some radical departures from traditional methods because of special local conditions.

The Soviets brought psychollgical

interrogation to a llgh polish,. usiirg pivrovian methods of conditioning and aeprivation. With few, if any' restrictions on"g5o-"ry the ui:havior

of ttre secrei i"oti"., they have had room to Aevetop and openly-apply methods that would be UanneO in mair'-*.It".r,

countries.

In the United States, where there have been judicial restrictions on -police interrogation methods dl{ng the last two dLcad; iMiffi;;,'b"?lu"oo, interrogation has become much more subtle, :t9.,), yth emphasis on refined psvchor"gi"J'*Jiiroa" that can't be used to discredit-i in court. ig tlg- psy_chologiqr equivar.rrt "onr.ssion o? IhJ" U.atiig suspect with a wet.towel so as not to t.ae-m"rt"." degree,' haslargelyGen abandoned, Itre_ _fnir{ with occasional conspicuous *c6ptions. _ Ove{aying _all of this has been a mass of propaganda. During WWIL and the followed, there h-avE been'accusations "ota--w.illiri"t, of n*t"rity

and coercive methods applied t" ilr. 1"._y:" iil".. Many of,these w€re based o" of fact, but the main effect of the prgpagalda ""gg.ts lias been to promote an.impression that t6e Fohce of tfr"-olfr;;:;#;r. sadistic brutes, and the Olmocratic police are solicitous of the jigrrts of ttre-'accused. This is a simplified view of eirents, and- the rawla"i^i" -,rsej*;y;;ir". ii.t oas l!9ry is a repertoire of

-.tt il.'ffi 3..f;i',flxi.T',r."lit."l?%,tf,,l;:it,rr* gen t any differences betrveen iil ;;;i-o;;#;r" involved. peoole tend-

get deal from the police in the West, to "-f"ir., price of many obviously guilty people "rtrioigirli'tt. gofiE irlr. Any study - of interrog-ation, especially that of the differences between iire mettr'oos ;d-U^ iir. Western police and count"r_.lpio"age agencies and

those of the Eastern Bloc, is inevitably impeded by ideologies of the parties involved. Many are ready to believe the worst about the Soviets and to completely disregard any shortcomings of our side.Arriving at a balanied view is extraordinarily difficult because of the ideological and emotional overtones accruin$ to the simple facts. Despite the similarities in methods between the police forces of the democratic and totalitarian iegimes, their ends are different in certain stgnificant ways. One net result that's easy to see is th;t the Eastern Bloc countries have lar$e and elaborate border guard forces, usin$ physical fortifications such as the "Berlin Wall," to keep their populations in. By contrast, the United States has the proUlem of guarding a very porous frontier to keep illegal immi$rants out. PRACTICAL NOTES It's lmportant to distinguish at the outsetbetween an "interro$ation" and an "intetwiew." An interwiew is a talk wi[h someone whom we can call a "friendly witness," someone who is willing to help and who presumably has no reason for untruthfulness. The person maybe a witness to a crime, or a crime victim. i{e or she may be a relatlve or nel$hbor of the

accused, although this sometlmes brings ln problems with bias and an effort to -protect -the accused. Generally, the interview is an effort to elicit accurate information from a nomlnally cooperative person.

An interrogation is a talk with the accused or a coconspirator. The subject nominallyhas something to conceal. An attitude of outward cooperation may be simply a tactic for masking deception.

3

There lsn't a sharp distinction between situations which call for an interview and those wrrictr-Jgnify an lnterrogation. This is because in many insta?ces the interwiewee's role may not be clear. A businessman w!9 reports arSon may have fire himself to collect the insurance. A ..r€rpe victim,, ""i tt. may be exaggerating or confabulatin{ in i-"pi.it or revenge. In cases of mutual combatlthe actounts from each side will often differ greaily, -"f.irrg ft difficult to decide who was the -aggrissor, uniess testimony. Evfr this'""r, U" _thgre's- lhird-party tainted if the third party is a close friend ororre oitt e combatants. Thus, we see that witnesses can be

biased,

Finally, this book will take a look at the future of interrogation, because further developments and

of techniques are inevitable. We'll present techniques and what they portend, examine even venturin$ into areas that right now are only science fiction. This is useful because, as almost everyone living in the Twentieth Century,knows, todays sciencC fiction is often tomorrods fact. refinements

if not outright deceptive.

This volume will cover the subjects of interwiews 3n$ iltgrro.gations as thoroughly as posstLte-.'W.,U Iook at the interpersonal tdchniques, the problems of detecting deception, and survey the ilegal

methods, such as torture. This "rr"r, last is n-ecessarv, not to encourage the use of torture, but to -"tt'ln. reader aware that- such things still happ.rr. Eo*. interrogators, furthermore, feel that thev ie iusiifiea in uging torture, or at least illegal ,".f't oa" of

coercion.

Throughout, this will be a practical guide for the flterrogator, not an academic study. T1ere is some history involved, to give, the read6, p"i"p.J". regarding how w-e go1 where we are "toilay Lra-to allow him to understand the mistakes oiirt. pa"t. history is also important to avoi