The Transport Canada publication titled Survival in Cold Waters: Staying Alive was used by CIA interrogators to set limits on dousing detainees with cold water. (Transport Canada)

A survival manual produced by Transport Canada was used by U.S. interrogators to set limits on dousing detainees with cold water, according to documents released this week.

Newly declassified CIA documents, which were released by the U.S. administration, indicate the Canadian-made handbook was used to fine-tune cold-water interrogation techniques on "high value prisoners" being held at prisons, including the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The previously top-secret CIA memos were turned over to the American Civil Liberties Union as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.

A CIA manual, intended for medical officers monitoring the interrogation of suspects, describes 20 methods of interrogation. Water dousing — which the manual said could be combined with nudity, stress positions and slaps — was ranked fifth most severe on the list of methods.

The 2005 CIA manual refers to the Transport Canada publication "Survival in Cold Waters: Staying Alive" to set the limits on cold water exposure. The 92-page Transport Canada document, which is available online, was written for seafarers and boaters and outlines conditions that can induce hypothermia and lead to death.

Canada's Foreign Affairs department says it's aware of reports that Transport Canada material has been used by the CIA.

"This is a regrettable use of a publicly available document intended to save lives," the department said in a statement to CBC News.

Manitoba professor Gordon Giesbrecht's research on cold water survival helped form the CIA manual. He said it is disturbing to think his work may be used to cause pain.

"It's very upsetting," he said.

'Safe to undertake'

Water dousing, which differs from waterboarding, can include repeatedly dousing detainees with water or immersing them in cold water at intervals over a time period of up to six hours.

"In our opinion, a partial dousing … would therefore be safe to undertake within these parameters," the CIA memo said.

An image that appears in Transport Canada's Survival in Cold Waters: Staying Alive guide shows readers how to position themselves while waiting for rescue in cold water. (Transport Canada)

Based on the research included in the Transport Canada manual, the CIA memo recommends that detainees be placed in water ranging from 5 to 15 C for up to 60 minutes at a time. It added the detainee could be allowed some time to warm up and then be placed back in the water.

"These standards are derived from submersion studies, and represent two-thirds of the time at which hypothermia is likely to develop in healthy individuals submerged in water, wearing light clothing," according to the CIA memo.

The interrogation method should be stopped if there is evidence of hypothermia, the memo states.

"Materials that were meant to help ensure that people can better survive when they are immersed in cold water was in fact being used in this program to ensure that cold water could be used to inflict the maximum pain and suffering possible," said Alex Neve, head of Amnesty International Canada.

Though it is impossible to control how Canadian publications are used, it is incumbent on the Canadian government to express that it is "very upset to see that this information was used this way," Neve said.

Christine Collins, president of the Union of Canadian Transportation Employees, said it is "appalling" and "unacceptable" to learn that a Canadian government document was used to help facilitate the interrogation of the detainees.

"To take this type of document, which is clearly intended to save lives, to see the information manipulated in this manner, needs to be addressed," Collins said.

The Canadian government should express its condemnation of the use of Canadian safety expertise for the interrogations, Collins said.