Fears of backlash as US releases CIA torture report
A programme of “enhanced interrogation” used by the CIA on terrorism suspects after the 2001 attacks was far more brutal than the agency admitted, misled key officials and failed to secure information that foiled any threats, a US Senate report said on Tuesday.
The report said the CIA misled the public and policymakers about the programme, much of which was developed, operated and assessed by two outside contractors.
The report followed a five-year investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee into the programme, meant to extract information from al Qaeda and other detainees held in detention facilities around the world.
The CIA and many senior members of the US administration have said the programme was effective and foiled a number of terrorist plots.
Obama says CIA torture ‘contrary to our values’
Reacting to revelations contained in the 600-page Senate report, US President Barack Obama has said that the CIA’s torture of al Qaeda suspects was “contrary to our [US] values.”
“That is why I unequivocally banned torture when I took office, because one of our most effective tools in fighting terrorism and keeping Americans safe is staying true to our ideals,” Obama said.
FEARS:
Earlier, American embassies were on heightened alert Tuesday amid fears of a backlash to a long-delayed US Senate report into the CIA’s brutal interrogation of Al-Qaeda suspects after the 2001 attacks.
White House officials confirmed Monday they expect the report to be published, even though US Secretary of State John Kerry warned late last week about the impact it could have around the world.
While heavily redacted, the report is expected to be a damning indictment of a secret program under the administration of former president George W. Bush to question dozens of terror detainees.
Since coming to office in 2009, President Barack Obama has sought to distance the United States from past deeds and outlawed harsh interrogation techniques which he has denounced as “torture.”
“We have heard from the committee that they do intend to release the report tomorrow,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.
“Prudent steps” had been taken to boost security at US facilities and diplomatic missions abroad in case the report triggers a wave of fury, he added.
The report is understood to cover the treatment of around 100 terror suspects rounded up by US operatives between 2001 and 2009, after the September 11, 2001 attacks by Al-Qaeda which destroyed the World Trade Center in New York and damaged the Pentagon.
The suspects were subjected to waterboarding, stress positions and other harsh methods, in a series of interrogations either at CIA-run secret prisons or the Guantanamo Bay US military base in Cuba.
US media said the report is also expected to reveal that the CIA misled the White House about the details and success of the program.
“We tortured some folks,” Obama said in August, talking about the contents of the report.
The CIA’s defenders insist the methods saved American lives by helping to uncover Al-Qaeda’s network, while critics say they ran contrary to US values and hardened anti-American attitudes.
The 6,200-page report has been prepared by the US Senate intelligence committee. Its chairwoman, Senator Dianne Feinstein, sparred for months with the administration over proposed redactions.
