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Obama administration releases highly anticipated CIA interrogation report

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

[JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday released a much anticipated 2004 Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) inspector general report detailing controversial interrogation techniques. According to the report, interrogators threatened suspects' family members and conducted mock executions. The report also details other controversial techniques such as waterboarding and acknowledges that interrogators used techniques that they knew had not been approved by DOJ lawyers. A heavily redacted version of the report was released last year, and Monday's release, which is still redacted, came after several delays to allow government officials more time to decide which information could be released and which should be withheld in the interests of national security. The special report on counterterrorism and interrogation practices, authored by John Helgerson, was released pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The release of the report comes as US Attorney General Eric Holder announced Monday that the DOJ will "open a preliminary review" into allegations of prisoner abuse by CIA interrogators during the Bush administration. Also Monday, a presidential special task force on interrogations and transfer policies issued its recommendations calling on the Obama administration to create a specialized interrogation group to question top terrorism suspects. The White House confirmed the creation of a special panel Monday that will be spear-headed by the FBI, rather than the CIA.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on August 24, 2009 (boomark / email).