A newly-released Senate report on CIA interrogation techniques offers an in-depth look at some of the brutal tactics used by US intelligence during the so-called War on Terror. The report says that the CIA lied about the harshness of its techniques, and that the techniques furthermore failed to garner useful intelligence information.
The practices as described are abhorrent. Compiled from the 500-page executive summary that was made public (the 6,000-page report remains confidential), here is a selection of how the CIA to attempted to coerce information from detainees.
From the section of the report that addresses the detainment of Saudi terror suspect Abu Zubaydah in 2002:
From the section discussing the detention and interrogation of al-Qaeda member Khalid Shaykh Muhammad:
Again, from a passage discussing the detention of Pakistani terror suspect and legal US resident Majid Khan:
From a section that discusses interrogations of both Abu Zubaydah and Khalid Shaykh Muhammed:
There are mentions of “wallings”—slamming detainees against a wall—throughout the report, often accompanied by other types of physical abuse such as slapping, and forced nudity. Here is one such example, from the interrogation of Yemeni prisoner Ramzi bin al-Shibh:
