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CIA releases documents describing Guantanamo detainee torture, abuse

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on Monday released redacted documents that describe the alleged torture and abuse of Guantanamo Bay detainees in CIA custody, transcribed from Combatant Status Review Tribunal hearings. The documents, released pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), concern detainees Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Majid Khan, Abd al-Rahimal al-Nashiri, and Abu Zubaydah. Although they are still considerably redacted, the transcripts contain new information that was not made available in previously released versions. In his testimony, Mohammed, the self-proclaimed architect of the 9/11 attacks, told the tribunal that he lied to the CIA after being tortured during questioning. Khan maintained that any information the tribunal obtained from him was obtained through "agencies who physically and mentally tortured" him. Suspected USS Cole bomber al-Nashiri told the tribunal that investigators used to drown him in water to get him to admit to untrue allegations, a likely reference to waterboarding. Zubaydah described months of physical and mental torture during which he almost died that resulted in injuries to his eye, stomach, bladder, and reproductive organs. The tribunals were held to determine if the detainees qualified as "enemy combatants." ACLU lawyer Ben Wizer, who led the FOIA suit, addressed the release of the documents and the need for non-redacted versions of them: The documents released today provide further evidence of brutal torture and abuse in the CIA's interrogation program and demonstrate beyond doubt that this information has been suppressed solely to avoid embarrassment and growing demands for accountability. There is no legitimate basis for the Obama administration's continued refusal to disclose allegations of detainee abuse, and we will return to court to seek the full release of these documents.Director of the ACLU National Security Project Jameel Jaffer urged the US government to "make good on its commitment to transparency" by holding officials accountable and stopping the suppression of information regarding torture and abuse.Last week, a federal judge allowed a torture lawsuit to proceed against former Bush administration lawyer John Yoo. The suit against Yoo alleged that the legal scholar endorsed enhanced interrogation techniques that led to torture and was the first time a judge has allowed a suit to proceed against a government lawyer for involvement in the interrogation memos, also released as the result of a FOIA request by the ACLU. Last month, a number of organizations called for the drafters of the memos to be disbarred. Also in May, former JFK speechwriter Ted Sorensen told an audience at the University of Nebraska College of Law that the lawyers from the Department of Justice (DOJ) who had authorized the use of enhanced interrogation techniques had "disgraced not only their country but their profession." In April, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee renewed his call for the formation of a non-partisan "truth commission" to investigate torture allegations. Also in April, UN special rapporteur on torture Manfred Nowak insisted that under international law the US must prosecute DOJ lawyers who drafted the memos. President Barack Obama has said that he would not rule out the possibility of prosecuting lawyers who authored the memos.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on June 16, 2009 (boomark / email).