"Rectal Feeding," Threats to Children, and More: 16 Awful Abuses From the CIA Torture
On Tuesday morning, the Senate intelligence committee released an executive summary of its years-long investigation into the CIA's detention and interrogation program. President George W. Bush authorized the so-called "enhanced interrogation" program after the 9/11 attacks. The United States government this week has warned personnel in facilities abroad, including US embassies, to be ready in case protests erupt in response.
The full report includes over 6,000 pages and 35,000 footnotes. You can read the executive summary here. Here are some of the lowlights:
1. The CIA used previously unreported tactics, including "rectal feeding" of detainees (p. 100, footnote 584):
2. CIA officers threatened the children of detainees (p. 4):
cia threatened children
3. Over 20 percent of CIA detainees were "wrongfully held." One was an "intellectually challenged" man who was held so the CIA could get leverage over his family (p. 12):
wrongfully held detainees
4. One detainee, Abu Hudhaifa, was subjected to "ice water baths" and "66 hours of standing sleep deprivation" before being released because the CIA realized it probably had the wrong man (p. 16, footnote 32):
abu hudhaifa sleep deprivation
5. The CIA, contrary to what it told Congress, began torturing detainees before even determining whether they would cooperate (p. 104):
torture before questioning
6. CIA officers began torturing Khalid Sheikh Mohammed "a few minutes" after beginning to question him (p. 108):
ksm tortured within minutes
7. The CIA planned to detain KSM incommunicado for the rest of his life, without charge or trial (p. 9):
incommunicado forever
8. During waterboarding sessions, KSM made up a story that Al Qaeda was trying to recruit African-American Muslims?in Montana (p. 118):
montana muslims
9. In 2003, Bush gave a speech at a UN event condemning torture and calling on other nations to investigate and prosecute torture allegations. The statement was so at odds with US practices that the CIA contacted the White House to make sure enhanced interrogation techniques were still okay (pp. 209-210):
bush un torture remarks
10. The CIA torturers told CIA leadership that torture wasn't producing good information from KSM. But CIA leaders didn't relay that information to Congress (p. 212):
cia misled congress on torture
11. A detainee was tortured for not addressing an interrogator as "sir"?and for complaining about a stomach ache (p. 106):
detainee sir
12. CIA officers cried when they witnessed the waterboarding of Abu Zubaydah (p. 44):
cia crying abu zubaydah
13. Within weeks of his arrival in CIA custody, Zubaydah was "on life support and unable to speak" (p. 30):
cia life support
14. Bush Justice Department official Jay Bybee, who is now a federal judge, told Congress the torture of Al Qaeda detainees led to the US capture of Jose Padilla. That wasn't true (p. 207):
bybee padilla
15. The secretary of state wasn't informed when the CIA made secret deals to open detention facilities abroad (p. 123):
secretary of state not informed
16. Even President George W. Bush wasn't informed where the facilities were?because he feared he'd "accidentally disclose" the information (p. 124):
bush didn't know
Peace!
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/12/cia-torture-report-abuses-rectal-feeding
On Tuesday morning, the Senate intelligence committee released an executive summary of its years-long investigation into the CIA's detention and interrogation program. President George W. Bush authorized the so-called "enhanced interrogation" program after the 9/11 attacks. The United States government this week has warned personnel in facilities abroad, including US embassies, to be ready in case protests erupt in response.
The full report includes over 6,000 pages and 35,000 footnotes. You can read the executive summary here. Here are some of the lowlights:
1. The CIA used previously unreported tactics, including "rectal feeding" of detainees (p. 100, footnote 584):
2. CIA officers threatened the children of detainees (p. 4):
cia threatened children
3. Over 20 percent of CIA detainees were "wrongfully held." One was an "intellectually challenged" man who was held so the CIA could get leverage over his family (p. 12):
wrongfully held detainees
4. One detainee, Abu Hudhaifa, was subjected to "ice water baths" and "66 hours of standing sleep deprivation" before being released because the CIA realized it probably had the wrong man (p. 16, footnote 32):
abu hudhaifa sleep deprivation
5. The CIA, contrary to what it told Congress, began torturing detainees before even determining whether they would cooperate (p. 104):
torture before questioning
6. CIA officers began torturing Khalid Sheikh Mohammed "a few minutes" after beginning to question him (p. 108):
ksm tortured within minutes
7. The CIA planned to detain KSM incommunicado for the rest of his life, without charge or trial (p. 9):
incommunicado forever
8. During waterboarding sessions, KSM made up a story that Al Qaeda was trying to recruit African-American Muslims?in Montana (p. 118):
montana muslims
9. In 2003, Bush gave a speech at a UN event condemning torture and calling on other nations to investigate and prosecute torture allegations. The statement was so at odds with US practices that the CIA contacted the White House to make sure enhanced interrogation techniques were still okay (pp. 209-210):
bush un torture remarks
10. The CIA torturers told CIA leadership that torture wasn't producing good information from KSM. But CIA leaders didn't relay that information to Congress (p. 212):
cia misled congress on torture
11. A detainee was tortured for not addressing an interrogator as "sir"?and for complaining about a stomach ache (p. 106):
detainee sir
12. CIA officers cried when they witnessed the waterboarding of Abu Zubaydah (p. 44):
cia crying abu zubaydah
13. Within weeks of his arrival in CIA custody, Zubaydah was "on life support and unable to speak" (p. 30):
cia life support
14. Bush Justice Department official Jay Bybee, who is now a federal judge, told Congress the torture of Al Qaeda detainees led to the US capture of Jose Padilla. That wasn't true (p. 207):
bybee padilla
15. The secretary of state wasn't informed when the CIA made secret deals to open detention facilities abroad (p. 123):
secretary of state not informed
16. Even President George W. Bush wasn't informed where the facilities were?because he feared he'd "accidentally disclose" the information (p. 124):
bush didn't know
Peace!
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/12/cia-torture-report-abuses-rectal-feeding
