INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Torture Report Reveals ‘Brutal’ CIA Tactics, Public Misled

By Dustin Wicksell
Published on: 06:50 PST, Dec 9, 2014

An explosive senate report on the CIA’s use of harsh interrogation techniques, which critics have branded as torture, was released on Tuesday and it concludes that the actions of CIA interrogators were not only ineffective, but more brutal than the public has been led to believe.

According to CNN, the report amounts to a condemnation of the interrogation tactics, which were poorly managed, flawed, and resulted in fabricated information. The torture report also concludes that the CIA misled the public, the White House, and Congress on the nature of the program, which failed to provide actionable intelligence necessary to save lives.

An executive summary of the report reveals that conditions for detainees were much harsher than the CIA has previously admitted. In addition, multiple detainees subjected to the techniques developed mental problems, including hallucinations and paranoia, while some attempted to mutilate themselves.

The report concludes that detainees were forced to stand on broken feet or legs, and in some cases subjected to “rectal feeding” for no discernible medical reason, Vice reports. Detainees’ lives, as well as those of their family members, were also threatened by CIA interrogators, according to the report. One prisoner was threatened sexually with a broomstick, and another detainee died of hypothermia while at a CIA black site.

“In many cases, the most aggressive techniques were used immediately, in combination and nonstop,” the report concludes.

“Sleep deprivation involved keeping detainees awake for up to 180 hours, usually standing or in painful stress positions, at times with their hands shackled above their heads.”

High-value al Qaeda suspect Abu Zubaydah was left unresponsive after a period of intense waterboarding, according to the report. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, confessed mastermind of the September 11 attacks, meanwhile, was subjected to a series of near drownings.

The report also finds that the CIA program detained 119 people, and that at least 26 were held “wrongfully,” in some cases without information to justify their imprisonment. The CIA had previously said that only 100 detainees passed through the program, according to Democratic Senate aides.

As the International Business Times reports, the findings were the result of a five-year investigation, beginning in 2009, of the CIA’s enhanced interrogation techniques. The release of the executive summary of the report prompted a range of responses from lawmakers.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney has defended CIA operatives, refusing to change his stance on the torture program, as the Inquisitr previously reported. The CIA released a scathing response to the report before it was unveiled on the Senate floor, asserting that it was “unknowable” whether the agency could have garnered the same information through alternative methods.

Though the entire torture report is 6,700 pages long, a 525 page executive summary, along with a minority rebuttal, was released after extended debate between the CIA and the Senate committee.

[Image via CNN]

Share this article: Torture Report Reveals ‘Brutal’ CIA Tactics, Public Misled
More from Inquisitr