Camp Delta Standard Operating Procedures (March 2003)

The Camp Delta Standard Operating Procedures is Joint Task Force Guantánamo's manual for running the main prison camp at Guantánamo Bay. Dated 28 March 2003, it carries a cover page authorising its use by the then camp commander, Major General Geoffrey Miller. The 238-page document, marked unclassified but 'For Official Use Only', covers procedures ranging from the use of pepper spray and the conduct of searches to detainee mail, religious items and Muslim burial.

Reporting focused on two areas. The manual set out four levels of access for the International Committee of the Red Cross, the first of which was 'No Access: No contact of any kind with the ICRC', although the military had told reporters that the ICRC had full access. It also described a Behavior Management Plan under which newly arrived prisoners were kept for at least two weeks without Red Cross or chaplain visits or a Koran, intended, in the manual's words as quoted by the Miami Herald, to 'enhance and exploit the disorientation and disorganization felt by a newly arrived detainee'.

Military spokesmen confirmed the manual's authenticity but said detention operations had 'evolved significantly since 2003' and that the ICRC by then had access to all detainees (Miami Herald). We later published the 2004 edition and, in 2012, the original 2002 manual.

I published the manual through WikiLeaks on 7 November 2007; it was subsequently reported by Wired, Reuters and the Miami Herald. According to correspondence we published, US Southern Command's information security manager asked on 14 November 2007 for the document to be removed because it was marked For Official Use Only. It remained online.

The source of the manual has not been publicly identified. Its authenticity was confirmed by US military spokesmen at the time (Miami Herald).