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The CIA has tortured terror suspects close “to the point of death” by almost drowning them during its interrogation sessions post 9/11, the Telegraph reported on Monday. The report published comes only a few days before the US Senate publishes a declassified variant of its Torture Report, a 3,600 page document based on reviews of millions of CIA documents. The report’s publication is currently being delayed due to a dispute over contents of the 480-page summary that will be declassified.
The British daily, quoting a security source, described the torture dealt to at least two al-Qaeda suspects, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of 9/11. According to its report, the torture far exceeds the usual measure of waterboarding admitted by the CIA so far.
“They weren’t just pouring water over their heads or over a cloth. They were holding them under water until the point of death, with a doctor present to make sure they did not go too far. This was real torture”, the daily quoted its source.
The Telegraph added that a second source familiar with the report that it contained several accounts of CIA interrogations which would “deeply shock” the general public.
The Democrat chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee Dianne Feinstein, who had authored the report, promised that it will expose “brutality that stands in stark contrast to our values as a nation”. The report is supposed to accuse the CIA of grossly lying about the usefulness of torture.
The report is being opposed by senior Republicans, Bush-era officials, including former US Vice President Dick Cheney, and Bush-era officials, who argue that the report is politically motivated and poorly researched.
Previously, the CIA has admitted that it utilized black sites to put at least three al-Qaeda detainees to “enhanced interrogation”, namely Mohammed, the alleged USS Cole bomber, alleged senior Bin Laden aide Abu Zubaydah and Abd al Rahim al Nashiri.
